Published By: Scribner
Pages: 320
Released On: 18/09/2025
Translated By: Philip Gabriel
The Night Library is no ordinary library. Within it are found the rarest and most unusual collections – the books of deceased famous writers; the books they wrote; the books that inspired them; the books they loved.
All Otaha Higuchi wants to do is work with books. However, the exhausting nature of her work at a chain bookstore, combined with her paltry salary and irritating manager quickly bring reality crashing down around her.
She is on the verge of quitting when she receives a message from somebody calling themselves ‘Seven Rainbows’, inviting her to apply for a job at a library with no name, a place referred to simply as ‘The Night Library’.
After successfully passing the interview, Otaha arrives at The Night Library and her sunny personality immediately earns her comparisons with Anne of Green Gables. For the very first time she feels she has found her place in the world. As well as a treasure trove of books, the library houses a group of likeminded literary misfits, including a legendary chef who prepares incredible meals for the library’s employees at the end of each day.
Together they embark on a series of bookish adventures. But when the library’s mysterious owner decides to temporarily close the library, Otaha and her friends fear that it may not reopen and that the peace they have found there will forever be lost to them.
Is their friendship and their faith in the value of books strong enough to save it? And what will remain if it isn’t?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I have made my love for Japanese fiction very clear, and with this one focussed on books, I thought it would be a winner, but sadly it wasn’t.
It’s not the smoothest translation I’ve ever read. Now, the extent of the Japanese I know is the numbers 1-5, which I learned when I was about 8 years old, and so this isn’t a comment on how accurate the translation is, only that it’s a bit clunky to read and difficult to lose yourself in.
It is very thin on plot, which I don’t particularly mind as long as there are characters good enough to focus on, but again they were quite thin too.
It is a very easy book to read, not overly complicated or busy, and nothing much happens. It’s quite flat, but a gentle read that will pass a few hours.
I’m used to Japanese fiction being quite whimsical and magical – which I know is a generalisation – but that’s what I was expecting and it didn’t come.
It was a pleasant read but not one I’d hurry to recommend. I did consider DNF-ing it on several occasions but because there wasn’t anything obviously bad about it, I kept reading in the hope that something would happen, but it didn’t.
The premise was interesting but it failed in its execution.
Books By Your Bedside 