Matcha on Monday: Read It or Skip It?

Hi Readers!

I recently finished reading Matcha on Monday as part of the Women in Translation month. I have read all the books by the author and perhaps the time has come to stop. Read more to find out why it did not work for me.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

Discover the beloved early classic from the million-copy bestselling author of WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS IN THE LIBRARY

Across a bridge in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, a charming little matcha café – open only on Mondays – offers a beacon of light and healing to all who pass through its doors.

All throughout the week, customers flock to the Marble Café that’s tucked away behind the trees – except when it’s closed on Mondays, when the Matcha Café opens in its place, offering its clientele a warm cup of matcha and restoration to start the busy week ahead.
On this one day of the week, people from all walks of life frequent this cozy haven and experience the joys of human connection. Among them include:
• A singer who has just broken up with his lover
• An unsociable young owner of a tea wholesaler
• A husband who has made his wife angry
• A designer and owner of a lingerie shop
• A Kamishibai artist who doesn’t get along with his grandmother

This heart-warming story spans Tokyo and Kyoto over twelve months, bringing together a community of untold unfolding lives – all starting with a cup of matcha.

~~THOUGHTS~~

Matcha on Monday is the second novel set in the Marble Café, consisting of twelve stories, one for each month of the year. Similar to Hot Chocolate on Thursday, we see stories of different people who are somehow linked to the Marble Café. That constant theme was something I enjoyed reading. It made me ponder on how many invisible strings are around us but we will never know. In the book, what we see as a fleeting character in the current story becomes the main character in the next and so on.

As for the individual characters and stories, I found that they lacked depth. Some stories did not seem to have any point to them. They were just ordinary lives not really worth reading about. Now, don’t get me wrong. Ordinary lives written poetically become an instant favourite of mine, and writers like Jhumpa Lahiri and Shashi Deshpande do it with brilliance. However, now after reading Michiko Aoyama’s fourth book, I’m convinced it’s not something I enjoy. Maybe something is getting lost in translation, or maybe after the success of her first book, these are written at a faster pace with less thought and charm to them.

I have rated Matcha on Monday by Michiko Aoyama, translated by E. Madison Shimada at 2/5 stars!

Until next time,