A few days ago I wandered into an Ogaki Bookstore near the Kyoto train station and discovered some books by Murakami I’ve never seen in bookstores back home.

I wondered how I missed this particular gem by Murakami, but as I read the opening pages it all started to make sense…Novelist as a Vocation was published originally in Japan back in 2015 but didn’t make it abroad (in English) until 7 years later in 2022.

I bought the book and canceled all my afternoon plans. What I loved so much about this book in particular was it felt like he was just conversationally chatting with me over endless cups of tea—telling me bits and pieces of his life story on how he went from owning a jazz cafe in Tokyo to stumbling into an unconventional writing career and what he’s learned about himself, his perspective on life, and on being “a writer still in the ring” after so many years.

I’ve tabbed and highlighted this book to the brim and found myself finishing it at 3:30 in the morning the day after I bought it.

((As much as I love hunting down books that have long been on my TBR list...I love it even more when a book I didn't know I so badly wanted to read seeks me out instead.))