Wabi-Sabi

I absolutely loved this little book. It's as delicate and charming as a sakura tree in the spring!I highly recommend it!

Fantastic book!!!

Wabi Sabi caught my eye as the type of book I normally like to read with a bit of a twist. The emphasis of the blurb is put on the strange postcards turning up to our protagonist’s door and a creepy song causing him to trek to Japan to find the source – it seemed to me like it was going to be your typical thriller/horror/mystery with a cultural twist.I couldn’t have been more wrong.Wabi Sabi is an inspirational, uplifting read full of quote worthy sentences to live your life by. The postcards and ‘mystery’ is not at all the core plot of the book, and actually, our protagonist ends up taking a much larger spiritual journey than he does a literal one to Japan.Meet Samuel – a bit of a loser who lives alone with his cat and has just had his heart broken by the love of his life. Being a university lecturer, he’s dreading the boredom of summer vacation, and drifting into a deep depression. So, when a couple of postcards show up from Japan, he decides to visit Japan himself to work out who sent them and why.We find out the source of the postcards about half way through the book – it was at this point that I dropped a star on the rating and saw the book as a 4/5. I was just a little disappointed – I wanted there to be more drama and more excitement surrounding the mysterious postcards.However, when this stops becoming Samuel’s main motive for being in Japan, he decides to make his time there worthwhile. He meets a girl, he goes travelling, he learns about what a ‘Geisha’ is and even receives his very own shadow dance. His travels are much more than that, though – he learns about life, love and himself.For me, the ending of the book clawed a star back, making my final review of Wabi Sabi a surprising 5/5. The character’s individual plots are all tied up – one of which ended up with me quietly sobbing on the train, with a twist that I definitely didn’t see coming.Some reviews online criticise the book for not having much drama, and the storyline being a little unrealistic – whilst at first my thoughts were the exact same, my appreciation for the literature itself overruled my want for drama. Honestly, this is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. Every sentence is poetic, and I have scribbled a ton of quotes from this book down in my notebook because I liked them so much!Overall, this book really touched my heart, and I would happily read this over and over again. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves any form of ‘self-help’ or needs a bit of a pick me up through a tough time in life. Equally, though, anyone who enjoys learning about different cultures would enjoy this book – it’s made me want to visit Japan!Reviewed on Whispering Stories Book Blog*I received a free copy of this book, which I voluntarily reviewed

I found this book whilst rooting around on Amazon. I'd never heard of the title or the author. However, I decided to take a chance and buy it. So glad I did! Once I picked up this book I couldn't put it down and read it in a couple of hours. The story is well crafted. It deals with usual affairs of the heart but in an original and quirky manner. The characters have individuality and depth. The author describes Japan really well and makes you feel as if you are there. Also, I enjoyed learning about 'Wabi Sabi' , a concept which underlies the whole story. Indeed, it compelled me to do more research about 'Wabi Sabi'. All in all, a very enjoyable book. In fact, I found it so enjoyable that I have purchased "Love In Small Letters" by Frances Miralles. This book deals with the same characters but its storyline predates that of "Wabi Sabi".