What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama

Look at that cover! It is lovely and cozy and so very welcoming. The pile of books, the view out the window, the potted plant, the cute polar bear mug with tea or coffee, and the gorgeous cat. 

So would it be wrong for me to have presumed that a cat would be front and center in this story? I think not! I also checked out the covers of a few other international editions of the book, which also have cats. 

Ultimately, I was disappointed by the lack of cats in this book. There are cats only in the second chapter, which features a bookshop that sells coffee, books about cats, and has resident cats that wander around, which sounds absolutely delightful. But alas, no cats actually live at the library, and neither was the librarian a talking cat (hey this is Japanese lit, anything can happen – see, THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS by Sosuke Natsukawa). 

On the other hand, if you were looking for a book that doesn’t necessarily feature cats, this book features a small community library and a librarian whose book recommendations are absolutely spot on for the various visitors who come seeking her help, whether it be a new retiree at loss for what to do, a woman sidelined at work after having a baby, or a 30yo adrift in life. 

It has BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD vibes, like THE KAMOGAWA FOOD DETECTIVES (by Hisashi Kashiwai) I read a few months back. But WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS IN THE LIBRARY is maybe more successful because we follow the various characters more thoroughly, seeing from their POV before they finally hit the library. It leaves you feeling warm and cozy, so it’s a perfect winter or monsoon season read, along with your hot drink in a cute mug.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives – Hisashi Kashiwai

This book has Before The Coffee Gets Cold vibes. As in, it’s set in one place (an eatery in Kyoto), there are a myriad of characters that rotate into the eatery looking for help of some sort, and the owners provide help and knowledge. There is that vibe of reminiscences and nostalgia, but in this case, no magic happens of any sort, and instead some footwork and investigation by this retired policeman – although we aren’t really given that much details into how that all happens. But somehow Nagare KAMOGAWA and his daughter Koishi make it happen. 

This is a book for foodies for sure. The people looking for help are all looking for a particular food that they may had once eaten, maybe when they were kids, or with a loved one who’s now gone. And so it has all those feel good, sentimental erm feels that go along with this kind of story. 

A gentle and heartwarming read that just makes you hungry for Japanese food. 

What is one dish that you would want to taste one more time? I think for me, it is my late grandmother’s Kong Bah, a stewed pork dish that’s popular in Singapore. It’s served inside a soft steamed plain bao. When I was a kid, we would have Sunday dinner with my grandparents and other relatives. Usually there would be some meat dishes, stir fried vegetables, maybe a steamed fish, and a soup. The kids would go to pick out the food we wanted and sit at the small table on the front patio. The adults would sit at the round table and eat together. My grandmother didn’t cook Kong Bah every Sunday, so it was a treat when she did. I remember requesting for her to cook it for my birthday. I sometimes make Kong Bah for my kids now, but I guess I always wondered what her recipe for it was. Am I remembering that it was extra tasty or was it because of nostalgia-tinted tastebuds?