Convenience Store Woman: A Fun Read for the New Year

Photo from Goodreads.

Emma Vlaski

4 / 5 stars

Despite being less than 200 pages, Convenience Store Woman effectively conveys the deep-rooted societal expectations placed on everyone while also immersing readers into the odd life of a convenience store worker.

The novella follows 36-year-old Keiko Furukura, a Japanese woman who has been working at Smile Mart since it opened 18 years ago. Keiko is happy with her life: All the food she eats comes from the store, she is meticulous about taking care of her body for the store, she knows exactly what will bring the most business to the store, and she is content with her life revolving around her minimum wage job. However, her family, friends, and coworkers all urge her to get a “proper job” or get a husband and have kids because how can anyone be okay with not climbing the social ladder and being nowhere near the norm? Yet, they do not understand that Keiko is working the perfect job for her, and she is in love–just not with a man. 

Reading this will make you laugh and weird you out (in a good way!) while helping you understand how society can be overly rigid about what should fulfill someone because a meaningful life takes a different form for everyone.