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What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
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What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
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Bretnie
(last edited Dec 07, 2023 07:03PM)
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Dec 07, 2023 07:03PM
Space to discuss the 2024 TOB contender What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama.
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I'm about midway through. It's giving Mrs. Piggle Wiggle for adults.
I’m in the audiobook now and it’s painfully cheesy/cutesy/sentimental, as some of us suspected. Why can’t I enjoy cute books with nice happy “moral of the story/happily ever after” endings? Why do I need books where terrible things happen and everything is messy and the endings are more realistic than “happy”? Lol I wish I could enjoy this, and it’s possible I would have about 6-10 years ago, but it’s fairly cringey with my current taste in books… I’ll see if I can make it to the end.
2 questions - 1) "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle for adults" in a good way or a bad way? 2) How does everyone pronounce P-W? Despite the plain spelling which indicates I'm "wrong," I've always heard it/read it as "pig-lee-wig-lee"? (Also, currently reading a P-W Treasury (3 books) with my kids and they adore it, as do I.)
Karen wrote: "2 questions - 1) "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle for adults" in a good way or a bad way? 2) How does everyone pronounce P-W? Despite the plain spelling which indicates I'm "wrong," I've always heard it/read it..."I used to listen to the recordings while driving my daughter around when she was little. It was pronounced as written, Pig-glll. I loved those books too. I grew up reading them, and listening a few years ago I actually remembered some of the stories.
Karen wrote: "2 questions - 1) "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle for adults" in a good way or a bad way? 2) How does everyone pronounce P-W? Despite the plain spelling which indicates I'm "wrong," I've always heard it/read it..."Listen, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (pronounced to rhyme with giggle, methinks), was my jam as a child coming up in the late 70s, early 80s, but this book is maybe just as simplistic, a little less magical, and I don't know, just more boring than Mrs. P-W books were to me as a child. I have a bit of a fondness for it because my young adult daughter was recently diagnosed with autism and sometimes really simple stories where the main character learns something about how to be a person in the world kind of appeal to me on the level of being reminded of some things that might help my daughter (and at least one of the characters in the book reads as autistic to me), but otherwise, meh.
Ironically, the library does not have a physical copy of the book, and the ebook has a waiting list 40 people long. You could say that what I am looking for is not in the library.
I’m midway through and struggling to continue. I decided to read because it made the short list, but I’m finding myself distracted by thoughts of all the other books on my bookshelf that I want to read. I’m going to try to stick with it. Maybe.
Finished this one today - Audible. I adored half of it and was meh on the remainder.
It was an easy listen.
I finished this one today and I almost feel guilty for not really liking it. I liked the last three sections better than the first two, and as a parent to an only child who has recently left for college I was definitely moved by a couple parts of the book. But overall not for me. And it was such a gentle book that I feel bad for saying that!
Kyle wrote: "Ironically, the library does not have a physical copy of the book, and the ebook has a waiting list 40 people long. You could say that what I am looking for is not in the library."What you are looking for is not this book.
It was a short and easy read, but honestly, I don’t know what the organizers were thinking. Maybe it is more interesting in Japanese.
It's just so very saccharine, and very rote. Person has problem, magical librarian provides books and one SPECIAL book that has hidden meaning and solution to life's problem hidden inside. Repeat 4-6x.
All of this. Thank you, Tim and Kip. I was feeling like the Grinch, giving this little book 2 stars when the rest of Goodreads was out there rhapsodizing about it. Subtle, it was not.
Risa wrote: "All of this. Thank you, Tim and Kip. I was feeling like the Grinch, giving this little book 2 stars when the rest of Goodreads was out there rhapsodizing about it. Subtle, it was not."
Yes, I felt bad about being such a grump about this one, but at least I'm in good company now. ;)
Ha I'm in the minority on this one too! I really enjoyed this one. I managed to listen in one go on a long flight after Thanksgiving, where all I wanted was a peaceful, engaging, easy book. I picked this one randomly off the longlist and didn't even read the summary, so it was a sort of fateful read for what I wanted during stressful travel.It ended up as one of my favorite literary fiction reads in 2023. I like the idea of subtle magic, unexplained. Subtle connections between separate stories. And a sense of wonder that a person's needs could be fixed with a seemingly off-topic book.
Rachel wrote: "It ended up as one of my favorite literary fiction reads in 2023. I like the idea of subtle magic, unexplained. Subtle connections between separate stories. And a sense of wonder that a person's needs could be fixed with a seemingly off-topic book."I also loved this little book and your last sentence. I'm a librarian. I field questions similar to what our characters ask Sayuri on a near daily basis, I wish I had her ability to suss out the real question being asked and add that one book that changes everything on top of answering the question at hand. I also loved how the smallest thing like a chldren's book has the power to change the way an adult moves through life.
This seemed less like a narrative and more like a long-form parable. Similar to Mitch Albom’s Five People You Meet in Heaven (or the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books others have mentioned). Like the story is a vehicle to demonstrate an ideology with narrative and writing style a secondary concern. Once I determined what the author was trying to do, I was able to meet the book on its own terms and appreciate it for what it was, although that’s not typically my cup of tea.
I finished this yesterday also. It was very sweet but not my thing.
Oh ALSO. Did anyone else feel like the theme of the book is supposed to be “Books Are Magic!”
But the actual theme of the book you come away with is “Having a Job Under Capitalism Sucks Unless You Can Find Purpose in it, Here Are a Few Coping Strategies You Can Try.”
Theresa wrote: "Oh ALSO. Did anyone else feel like the theme of the book is supposed to be “Books Are Magic!”
But the actual theme of the book you come away with is “Having a Job Under Capitalism Sucks Unless ..."
Yes, and entrepreneurship gets more than a bit of the "magical thinking" treatment here. Just start your own business, and, so long as you are passionate about it, All Will Be Well!
I am a former school and public librarian so it was heartwarming but slight. I think an episodic series where the librarian helps a new person each week would be very cute. I would watch it.
Oh, no, I'm falling under the spell of the book?! I was annoyed by the first patron and the second one didn't really register. It wasn't until the mom who wanted to be an editor followed by the kid artist, that was I really drawn into the stories. It's a very sweet book, saccharine even, and twee and cozy. Had no idea there were library cozies.Anyway, I'm about 50 pages from the end but had to chime in about the nearly fat-phobic descriptions of the librarian, how every visitor had a seeming distaste for her body, and how incongruent it felt with the rest of the book and its otherwise charming sympathetic tone. I know one patron described her as Baymax from Big Hero Six. Am I wrong? Am I being overly sensitive?
Bob wrote: "Anyway, I'm about 50 pages from the end but had to chime in about the nearly fat-phobic descriptions of the librarian, how every visitor had a seeming distaste for her body, and how incongruent it felt with the rest of the book and its otherwise charming sympathetic tone. I know one patron described her as Baymax from Big Hero Six. Am I wrong? Am I being overly sensitive?"Haven't read it but I know size-shaming is very common in Japan, so I'm guessing you're not being overly sensitive. Sad that it carries over into contemporary literature.
Elizabeth wrote: "Haven't read it but I know size-shaming is very common in Japan, so I'm guessing you're not being overly sensitive. Sad that it carries over into contemporary literature..."This is pretty common in contemporary Australian literature, too.
I did not see it as fat-phobic or size-shaming. I saw it as a way to show how unique she is and how different she is from everyone else around her. Her size as described seems almost non-human. It is interesting to read everyone's reactions when they first see her.I did wonder if the character could have been made a bit more friendly or approachable. For someone who works in a library, she sure seemed to be a person of few words.
And what a cushy job when you can spend all day felting during working hours!
It was ok, a bit repetative and predictable.
I think that the sweetness is a disguise, it camouflages some deeper takes on work, family, etc. I really enjoyed it, but cozy works for me. The size-ism did bother me a bit, but since she was heroic in some ways I let it go.
