The joy of browsing books in a bookstore is not so dissimilar to the joy of reading. Of course it is something that cannot be quantified in page numbers, but reading what is on the cover and the back—the title, author, publisher, etc.—still counts as reading part of the book. You don’t even need to open the cover and flick through; I believe you have already crossed the threshold to reading the book. This thought allows me to walk around bookstores or the library for as long as I like. And, although I can’t say this too loudly as people would call me crass for it, I enjoy looking at other people’s bookshelves. When I see sticky notes sticking out from the tops of the pages, I want to snap the book open and see what’s inside. Is this a truly unorthodox reading style?

Every February, I look forward to the Readers’ Recommendations  issue of Misuzu (published by Misuzu Shobo). In this annual issue, a team of 152 “experts” selected by the editing team give the five books that particularly interested them that year. By a simple calculation, that is a total of 760 or so books. This “bookshelf” is easy to read through without getting distracted. This year has involved even more people than last year (the 2023 edition) where they interviewed 139 experts and seems to get bigger every year. The selection is grand, the featured books covering a whole range of fields—literature, art, economics, healthcare, politics, world history, ancient history, welfare—with small introductions from each person who is making the recommendations. As I read through it, I feel that, in a way, this one book represents the essence of 2024. Of course, the recommendations inside aren’t limited to those published in 2024—the experts are asked to give the five books that interested them which they read in 2024 regardless of the year of publication—but I feel that this brings out a certain flavor that can’t be found in the year’s publication schedule. Even if you ignore this side to it, if you’ll excuse me repeating myself, I think there is a real joy leaping between various people’s bookshelves and seeing what titles they are recommending. It’s the unique joy of knowing that there is always something new to read.

Readers’ Recommendations 2024
The Year in Books as Selected by Experts
192-page A5 book. 800 yen (tax not included).
ISBN    　978-4-622-09759