On Tour: The Friday Bookshop by Sawako Natori

There are books about bookshops, and then there are books about the kind of bookshop we desperately wish we could visit.

Welcome to The Friday Bookshop by Sawako Natori, translated by Yui Kajita.

From 14th September–4th October, an amazing group of UK LBT Crew reviewers will be joining us for a three-week physical Bookstagram Tour celebrating this 256-page Japanese literary fiction title from Berkley and Penguin Random House.

About The Friday Bookshop

Hidden inside a rustic train station north of Tokyo is a cosy little bookstore with a rather special reputation.

Rumour has it that the Friday Bookshop will help you find the perfect book for that particular moment in your life, even when you don’t yet know what you’re looking for.

College student Fumiya visits as a last-ditch attempt to find a book for his ill father. Initially disappointed by the shop’s seemingly ordinary appearance, he soon discovers there’s much more to it.

There’s a café where the food menu changes daily according to the chef’s whims and an enormous underground book vault, lovingly created from an abandoned subway platform.

At the centre of it all are three quirky friends who have known each other since high school.

Fumiya, who has never really been a reader, becomes so enchanted by the shop that he eventually starts working there part-time.

Through the people he meets, the books he discovers and the food he enjoys, Fumiya begins to understand the joy of reading and how books can connect us to other people and help us navigate life’s twists and turns.

About Sawako Natori

Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1973, Sawako Natori is a novelist and freelance scenarist for games and audio dramas.

She won the Train Station Booksellers Award for The Lost and Found Corner at Penguin Railway in 2015. Her other novels include Noah’s Ark in the Library, Books Awaiting at the Literary Inn and The Galaxy Library.

Yui Kajita is a literary translator and illustrator originally from the Japanese countryside. Her translations include Run with the Wind by Shion Miura and The Samurai Detectives by Shotaro Ikenami. She holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Cambridge.

Tour Schedule

Week One

14th September
@inwordsandvoice
@the_bookmagnet
@whatisloureading

15th September
@Malloch_books
@sistersplusbooks
@bianca_reads_books

16th September
@chaptersofvicki
@Book_dragon_gems
@they_told_me_to_write_so_i_did
@helenandherhobbies

17th September
@jac_in_a_book
@readsleepgame
@katsbookcave

18th September
@bookswithchloesarah
@Daisyhollands
@thereadingislander

19th September
@storybookgaming
@cypresscornerreads
@alwaysreadingbetweenthewines
@fantasy.bookworm01

20th September
@booksbakesbloomsandtea
@Hmg.reads
@bookishlifeblossoms

Week Two

21st September
@pugwash18
@theweebookworm
@tays_bookcorner
@libby_lovesreading

22nd September
@turningpagesturningheads
@lornabookfan
@Jessicasbookshelf___

23rd September
@katsbookishbanter
@readabookandlearnanewword
@bek.is.reading
@_lozzieloves

24th September
@thelibraryofamy
@thecosy_booknook
@read_colour_repeat

25th September
@cosycaffeinatedchapters
@khas_reads_
@bluefairybugsbooks

26th September
@welshmumof3boys
@kims.arc.avenue
@thebookmummyuk

27th September
@feistylittlereader
@confession_of_a_reading_freak_
@fatguyreading
@sarahlouises.booknook

Week Three

28th September
@bookwormlou3189
@readxer
@epicreadsandcoffee

29th September
@Hey.Bubbah.Reads
@joellereadsbooks
@thesjadventures

30th September
@Stitchysbooknook
@my_evergrowing_tbr_shelf
@hannahsbookishjourney
@whatlexreadnext

1st October
@that_alto
@bookishwithgeorgie
@kgiuls

2nd October
@the_bookshelf_2023
@miss_p_reads
@pause_theframe

3rd October
@Steffs.chapter
@kellys.bookcorner
@piggindani_reads

4th October
@xkateareadsbooksx
@i.do.reviews.2026
@meganreads.books
@hales2385

A HUGE thank you to every one of our fabulous reviewers taking part in this three-week tour. We have such an incredible crew joining us for this one, so please visit their posts throughout the tour and show them plenty of LBT Crew love.

Buy the Book

Buy The Friday Bookshop

Add The Friday Bookshop on Goodreads

Follow the Tour

@Sawako_Natori
@BerkleyPub
@PenguinRandomHouse
@LoveBooksTours
@LBT.Crew

Books, friendship, food and a magical little bookshop hidden inside a train station.

We have a feeling our crewbies are going to fall completely in love with this one.

Authors / Publishers

Offering successful book tours, bookstagram tours, cover reveals and blitzes. I would love to work on the promotion of your book. For new and previously released titles. All genres are welcome. Use my contact form to drop us an email or download our info kit here.

https://kellylacey.com/love-books-tours/.

If you have any questions, please email lovebookstours@gmail.com and we will be very happy to talk you through our services and answer your questions.

Please note our first reply sometimes hides in the spam folder. So please check there if you don’t get anything in your inbox. As we reply to each query.

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