Healing Fiction

Long popular in Japan and Korea, these books—feel-good novels with elements of magical realism—are taking off in translation.

This list includes titles that are available digitally as an e-book, an e-audiobook, or both.

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Updated November 13, 2024
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Before the coffee gets cold
Kawaguchi, Toshikazu
Paper Book
The million-copy bestselling series about a cosy Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time. Toshikazu Kawaguchi's uplifting Before the Coffee Gets Cold, translated from Japanese, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could...
Tales from the cafe : a novel
Kawaguchi, Toshikazu 1971-
Paper Book
From the author of the international bestseller Before the Coffee Gets Cold, this book follows four new customers who hope to travel back in time in a little Japanese café. In a back alley in Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more...
THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS : A NOVEL
Natsukawa, S?
Paper Book
AN INDIE NEXT PICK! From the #1 bestselling author in Japan comes a celebration of books, cats, and the people who love them, infused with the heartwarming spirit of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles. Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the...
What you are looking for is in the library : a novel
Aoyama, Michiko 1970-
Paper Book
A TIME BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A WASHINGTON POST BEST FEEL GOOD BOOK OF 2023 For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, a charming, internationally bestselling Japanese novel about how the perfect book recommendation can change a...
The Kamogawa food detectives
Kashiwai, Hisashi
Paper Book
WATERSTONES BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2023 PICK The Kamogawa Food Detectives, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. What...
The Restaurant of Lost Recipes
Kashiwai, Hisashi/ Kirkwood, Jesse (TRN)
Paper Book
We all hold lost recipes in our hearts. A very special restaurant in Kyoto helps find them . . . Tucked away down a Kyoto backstreet lies the extraordinary Kamogawa Diner, run by Chef Nagare and his daughter, Koishi. The father-daughter duo have reinvented...
We'll prescribe you a cat
Syou, Ishida 1975-
Paper Book
A cat a day keeps the doctor away... Discover the award-winning, bestselling Japanese novel that has become an international sensation in this utterly charming, vibrant celebration of the healing power of cats. Tucked away in an old building at the end of a narrow...
The Marigold Mind Laundry
Yun, Jungeun/ Tan, Shanna (TRN)
Paper Book
Welcome to the Marigold Mind Laundry, where we wash away the stains from your heart. In this enchanting tale--a blockbuster bestseller in Korea--the enigmatic owner of a magical laundromat that erases people's painful memories must learn to find her own peace...
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop
Hwang, Po-rŭm
Paper Book
**AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER** WATERSTONES BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2023 PICK WOMAN & HOME NOVEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH iPaper TOP FICTION PICK 'An absolutely charming novel that all bookworms will adore' Red
DallerGut Dream Department Store : the dream you ordered is sold out
Lee, Miye
Paper Book
|| THE NO.1 KOREAN BESTSELLER WITH OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD || 'These days I'm reading a book called DallerGut Dream Department Store and when they talk about the dream department store I can see it in my head. I imagine I'm shopping there as I read.'...
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
Yagisawa, Satoshi/ Ozawa, Eric (TRN)
Paper Book
The wise and charming international bestseller and hit Japanese movie--about a young woman who loses everything but finds herself--a tale of new beginnings, romantic and family relationships, and the comfort that can be found in books.  Twenty-five-year-old Takako has enjoyed a...
The Lantern of Lost Memories
Hiiragi, Sanaka/ Kirkwood, Jesse (TRN)
Paper Book
From acclaimed Japanese author Sanaka Hiigari comes a heartwarming, life-affirming novel about a magical photo studio, where people go after they die to view key moments from their life--and relive one precious memory before they pass into the afterlife. ...

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