Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata , Ginny Tapley Takemori (Translator)

genre: contemporary fiction

Keiko Furukura has grown up in Tokyo not really feeling like she fits in anywhere.  With her extremely literal and logical brain, "humanness" can feel very foreign. But when she gets a job at a local convenience store, the rest of the world fades away and things suddenly make sense.  Organizing shelves, helping customers, getting the hot food ready - these tasks feel so RIGHT to Keilo that this part time store job is perfectly suited to the kind of life Keiko wants.  But society is not particularly thrilled with thirty-something year old women who work part time in a corner shop - and this book is a sharp look at what can happen when we let our need for societal conformity to be prioritized over our own self-knowledge.

I am so glad I picked this up for book club!  I felt so immersed in Japanese culture while also thinking about what it can be like living with a neurodivergent brain.  Keiko is a quirky and interesting character whose commentary on what it is to be human really struck a chord.  I loved how she described the comfort she found in the convenience store and the tasks it asked of her.  It DOES feel so good to be in a space where you know your role and you know you can do it well.