Bookshop Woman: My Year Transforming Lives--One Book at a Time

Description: This international bestseller is the true story of a devoted book lover who finds connection in the vast sea of Tokyo by recommending to strangers the book that will change their lives.

"I'm the manager of a very unusual bookshop. I have over ten thousand books in my vast memory bank, and I'll recommend the perfect one for you."

Nanako Hanada is a passionate book lover who manages the Village Vanguard, an iconically eccentric bookstore in Tokyo. But her story takes a turn with the breakdown of her marriage. Spending her nights alone in Tokyo's four-hour capsules, she's finding herself rather isolated. That's until Nanako finds the meet-up site Perfect Strangers.

Perfect Strangers isn't a dating site--it's where people meet for thirty-minute bursts to find friendship or romance, build a network, or just share ideas. She sets up her profile promising to recommend people "the book that will change their life." In the ensuing year, Nanako meets hundreds of people, a ragtag range of strangers who happen to believe in the power of a great book. Soon she discovers that she can connect with just about anyone, and bustling Tokyo begins to feel like a welcoming--if a bit quirky--small town.

Written with comforting humor and populated by a delightful cast of Tokyo-ites, The Bookshop Woman is a soul-stirring book about a bookseller's self-discovery. Here she shares what every bookseller knows: Books can be joyful paths toward meaningful connections.

Review Quotes: "Nanako Hanada's charming memoir is an ode to the power of books: how they connect us, help us understand each other, show us new paths, and ultimately change our lives. What a gift for bibliophiles."
--Jane Mount, founder of Ideal Bookshelf and author and illustrator of Bibliophile

"Perhaps even more joyful than reading a great book is the feeling that comes with putting that same book into someone else's hands. The singular pleasure of recommending books is at the heart of The Bookshop Woman, a delightful romp and true story of how books forge friendship and community. If only we could all be so lucky to have a Bookshop Woman in our lives."
--Evan Friss, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop

"The Bookshop Woman is a lovely and vulnerable adventure tale, except that it's real life! Ms. Hanada spends a year traveling all over Tokyo and way out of her comfort zone, meeting strangers and connecting them with their perfect book. You'll be inspired by her open spirit. A reminder that the bookish among us can also be the bravest among us."
--Annie Spence, author of Dear Fahrenheit 451

"Popular in Japan when it was first published in 2018, this humorous and touching memoir has been deftly translated into English, and Nanako's empathic listening skills and broad knowledge of books will be inspiring to librarians, bookshop staff, and other book lovers."
--Library Journal