Four Seasons in Japan + Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life.

Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley:
A finely drawn evocation of Japan, of youth, age, dreams, disillusionment, struggles and strength... A poignant and beautiful book.' Hazel Prior, author of
Away with the Penguins
From the author of The Cat and The City - 'vibrant and accomplished' David
Mitchell - a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick.
Flo is sick of Tokyo. Suffering from a crisis in confidence, she is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up and she's in a relationship that's run its course. That's until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a fellow passenger on the Tokyo Subway.
From the very first page, Flo is transformed and immediately feels compelled to translate this forgotten novel, a decision which sets her on a path that will change her life...
It is a story about Ayako, a fierce and strict old woman who runs a coffee shop in the small town of Onomichi, where she has just taken guardianship of her grandson, Kyo.
Haunted by long-buried family tragedy, both have suffered extreme loss and feel unable to open up to each other. As Flo follows the characters across a year in rural Japan, through the ups and downs of the pair's burgeoning relationship, she quickly realises that she needs to venture outside the pages of the book to track down its elusive author. And,as her two protagonists reveal themselves to have more in common with her life than first meets the eye, the lines between text and translator converge. The journey is just beginning."

2.Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life
"2014 offered The life-changing magic of tidying 2016 surrounded us with hygge
In 2017, we'll discover our ikigai Ikigai the Japanese secret to a long and happy life from the worlds longest living people.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
We all have an ikigai.
It's the Japanese word for 'a reason to live' or 'a reason to jump out of bed in the morning'.
It's the place where your needs, desires, ambitions, and satisfaction meet. A place of balance. Small wonder that finding your ikigai is closely linked to living longer.
Finding your ikigai is easier than you might think. This book will help you work out what your own ikigai really is, and equip you to change your life. You have a purpose in this world: your skills, your interests, your desires and your history have made you the perfect candidate for something. All you have to do is find it.
Do that, and you can make every single day of your life joyful and meaningful."