Top Ten Tuesday is a listicle created by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was created from a love of lists, books and creating bookish friends. Each Tuesday she assigns a new topic for others to join in with. Here is where you can learn more information about Top Ten Tuesday. Ad/Affiliate – Some of these books have affiliate links, you can read my disclaimer here.
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a genre freebie, so I have decided to share my top ten translated fiction titles on my TBR list. I have only gotten into translated fiction recently, but I am really enjoying it, and there are so many great books out there. A couple are sequels of books I have already read, another is one that I own and another I have on reserve at the library.
1. The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hishasi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
StoryGraph synopsis:
Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant called the Kamogawa Diner, run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father, Nagare. Customers who can find the hidden diner are treated to an extravagant meal, but it’s not the main reason for visiting…
The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as ‘food detectives’, capable of recreating a dish from their customers’ pasts that may well hold the key to forgotten memories and ongoing happiness. From the widower looking for a specific noodle dish that his wife used to cook to a first love’s beef stew, the restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to the past and a way to a more contented future.
A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.
2. The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida, translated by Bruno Navasky
StoryGraph synopsis:
Welcome to Tenderness!
A quaint seaside town in Kitakyushu, Mojiko is full of hidden delights. And one unexpected treasure is the 24/7 convenience store, Tenderness.
At first glance, it’s a store like any other.
Sure, it’s a bit odd that the handsome manager has his own fan club. And perhaps the customers are somewhat eccentric. But there’s a warmth about Tenderness that draws you in.
The bright lights are always on. The employees know you by name. And the shelves are stacked with delicious treats, from strong hot coffee to sweet parfaits, egg sandos to ramen, crispy fried chicken to refreshing soba.
After a while, you get the feeling that whatever you need might just be waiting for you here…
3. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa, translated by Alison Watts
StoryGraph synopsis:
Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.
But everything is about to change.
Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue’s dark secret is revealed, with devastating consequences.
Sweet Bean Paste is a moving novel about the burden of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. Translated into English for the first time, Durian Sukegawa’s beautiful prose is capturing hearts all over the world.
4. We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Maddison Shimoda
StoryGraph synopsis:
A cat a day keeps the doctor away…
Tucked away in an old building at the end of a narrow alley in Kyoto, the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul can only be found by people who are struggling in their lives and genuinely need help. The mysterious clinic offers a unique treatment to those who find their way there: it prescribes cats as medication. Patients are often puzzled by this unconventional prescription, but when they “take” their cat for the recommended duration, they witness profound transformations in their lives, guided by the playful, empathetic, occasionally challenging yet endearing cats.
Throughout the pages, the power of the human-animal bond is revealed as a disheartened businessman finds unexpected joy in physical labor, a young girl navigates the complexities of elementary school cliques, a middle-aged man struggles to stay relevant at work and home, a hardened bag designer seeks emotional balance, and a geisha finds herself unable to move on from the memory of her lost cat. As the clinic’s patients navigate their inner turmoil and seek resolution, their feline companions lead them toward healing, self-discovery, and newfound hope.
5. The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
StoryGraph synopsis:
Is three days with a cat enough to change your life?
The troubled and anxious of Tokyo are desperate to find out. They all have their problems – and they all want to believe that a feline companion from a unique pet shop can help them find a solution. But there are rules: they must be returned after three days, and they must always sleep in their own familiar blankets.
In The Blanket Cats, we meet seven such customers, including a couple struggling with infertility, a middle-aged woman on the run from the police, and two families in very different circumstances simply seeking joy.
But like all their kind, the blanket cats are mysterious creatures with their own unknowable agendas, who delight in confounding expectations. And perhaps what their hosts are looking for isn’t what they really need.
Three days may not be enough to change your life. But it might be enough to change how you see it.
Continue reading: Translated fiction titles on my TBR list
6. Notes from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop by Kenji Ueda, translated by Emily Balistrieri
StoryGraph synopsis:
To this shop come more customers with worries weighing on their hearts: a young girl being bullied by her classmates, a salary man facing the lonely prospect of retirement. With his quiet wisdom and careful attention, Ken Takarada helps each visitor fulfil their stationery needs, but also to express what lies within their hearts.
Hidden away in Tokyo’s Ginza district lies Shihodo, a hidden gem known only to insiders, with an abundant selection of fine stationery. Behind its counter stands Ken Takarada, the enigmatic shop owner whose warm presence draws those seeking more than just beautiful paper and colourful inks.
In this moving second volume, readers will see how the simple act of putting pen to paper can unlock healing, connection and understanding. Also learn about how Ken and Ryoko – from the neighbouring café Hohozue – met for the first time.
7. Best Wishes from The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, translated by Jordan Taylor
StoryGraph synopsis:
The Full Moon Coffee Shop is run by talking cats and normally appears on the night of the full moon to those in need – with one exception. Under the twinkling lights of Christmas Eve, the sagacious cats open their doors once more to the lost souls adrift in the bustle of the festivities.
Satomi catches wind of her boyfriend’s plan to propose on Christmas Eve, finding herself torn between him and her career in Tokyo. Her listless intern, Koyuki, has her own reasons for dreading the day ever since her father died in a tragic car accident. And Satomi’s sister-in-law, Junko, who has been estranged from home for the past two decades, receives the unexpected news that her elderly father is terminally ill.
This Christmas, the customers of the Full Moon Coffee Shop stand at a wintry crossroads in their lives – but with the help of some feline divinations, they will find and follow their stars into the new year.
8. The Nine Lives of a Bookshop Cat by Kentaro Utsugi, translated by Sylvia Gallagher
StoryGraph synopsis:
In his third life, Kinnosuke belonged to a famous author.
Now, in his ninth, he wants nothing more to do with humans, who bring nothing but trouble and suffering. Drawn to the city in search of food, he comes across the Hokuto-do Bookshop, owned by a curious woman who has already given a home to four contented cats.
Soon, Kinnosuke begins to notice the shop’s quirks: there are few customers, but it never goes out of business. No stock is ordered, but it never runs out of books. And the other cats also belonged to famous authors in previous lives. If he wants to know more of its secrets, he will have to reveal his own about the life he shared with the author.
At first, he is reluctant, but when a young aspiring writer faces tragedy, Kinnosuke is drawn into her struggle, confronting the bookshop’s hidden past to help keep her dream alive.
Release date: 26th August 2026
9. Hot Chocolate on Thursday by Michiko Aoyama, translated by E. Maddison Shimoda
StoryGraph synopsis:
Across a bridge, in view of seasonal cherry blossom, lies the Marble Cafe where a woman writes in a notebook and a young waiter prepares her favourite hot drink. Both wonder about each other and about the other lives of the clientele who frequent this magical cafe behind the trees ….
Without even realising it, we may touch and change someone else’s life.
Taking a walk along the river, cooking the best tamagoyaki, ordering hot chocolate, forgetting to remove our nail polish… The small, everyday acts that we do can offer unexpected encounters and ultimately change a life. HOT CHOCOLATE ON THURSDAYS connects twelve slice-of-life moments that open and close with a woman ordering her regular hot chocolate at the mysterious Marble Cafe.
What happens in between will touch and swell your heart, as we connect with a community of untold unfolding lives.
10. The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin, translated by Clare Richards
StoryGraph synopsis:
She rubbed the spoiled clay with her fingertips. Like a wound as it heals, the traces faded, and had soon vanished completely, as if they’d never been there at all.
Burnt out by her newswriting job, Jungmin abruptly quits; she’s worked tirelessly for years and she needs to make a change.
Now, after months of hibernation, it’s time to put her life back together. Venturing out into the streets near Seoul, she stumbles upon the Soyo pottery workshop. Drawn in by its light and warmth, and the smell of clay and coffee, Jungmin feels something unfurl within her…
Here, everyone has a story to share, and as the seasons change, Jungmin returns to herself. Pot by pot, plate by plate, Jungmin discovers that as her hands become busier, her mind becomes calmer, and her heart opens up like never before.
Are there any translated fiction titles on your TBR list?
Caroline ♡
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