notanotherbookreview

NOVELS WHERE TIME IS POROUS  DAYS AT THE TORUNKA CAFE By Satoshi Yagisawa Satoshi Yagisawa's DAYS AT THE TORUNKA CAFE ( November 2025 Harper Perennial ) also looks at a cultural artifact that is out-of-time, in this case, not a person, but a place in  modern Tokyo, Japan. Like his previous book, Days at the Morisaku Bookshop, the Cafe, on a narrow side street, is an unexpected place, known to locals and the "initiated." It is a place "where the passersby are more likely to be local cats than tourists." Who goes there and why? There's no profit motive in the location, no advertising, what's the attraction? Fabulous perfect coffee, each cup individually milled, after customer selection, for a customer's taste. Aromas are mesmerizing, the cafe owner's satisfaction a visible smile. Oddly, the cafe owner's teenage daughter, Shizuku Tachibaba, hates coffee and never drinks it. A hidden mystery of the Cafe. The owner himself, seems too relaxed, ele...

  The SECOND CHANCE CONVENIENCE STORE is a novel about a convenience store that's a million-copy international bestseller from Korea. Unless a Noble-winner, books from Asia aren't often translated for our audiences. Because of the bestseller status, I cynically expected this story to be simple, sentimental, outside our sophisticated book culture of ideas and bestselling romantasy novels. Yet the characters and setting are so unexpected, real and heart-rending, it nullifies our western cultural expectations. Stories of  "second chances" are rare, especially if failure involves "cliches"--addictive behaviors, homelessness, mental illness or other misfortunes better left to the Salvation Army. We may be subconsciously superstitious; a "cross-your heart "prayer (there but for the grace of God/chance go I), when we pass unfortunates in the street or drop a dollar in a plastic cup. Korea isn't all that different. Like us, they are believers in the ro...