The Bookshop Woman

Pick it up: If you're feeling low and want to make more of an effort to meet new people. If you're fond of reading about books, bookshops, booksellers in general.

Nanako Hanada finds herself at the crossroads - her marriage is over, she has no steady place to stay, her job (in charge of books) at the once-wonderful Village Vanguard store is now far from satisfying, with corporate increasing non-book merchandise with a dwindling focus on books. Human connection is what she craves, and so she signs up to a website/forum where she has the opportunity to meet with a total stranger for 30 minutes. The site is more about forming a connection, not necessarily romantic. Hanada advertises her skills as a bookseller, offering to make a book recommendation at the end of the 30-minute meeting.

Over the course of a year, her experience is a mixed bag. But she gains in confidence and her ability to connect with new people improves significantly. The books she recommends to the over 70 people she meets will be mostly unfamilair to English language readers. But that probably won't matter so much. 

The book covers the aspect of recommending books in quite a bit of detail. This resonated with us as booksellers, as we are often in this position, and without the time to get to know the customer at all, for us to dig deep into what we think they might enjoy.