There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job (by Kikuko Tsumura)

There's something about Japanese novels in translation that I just love; I'm not sure if it's the language or something about the approach to writing, but it's utterly delightful. This particularly reminded me of Convenience Store Woman because it's both specific and interior.  

There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job documents a series of quirky temp jobs held by a woman in her 30s who has burned out of her previous career and moved back in with her parents. We don't find out until the end what her career was, but it's kind of beside the point. We just enjoy getting to know each of these workplaces and each of her roles: writing advertisements for a bus company, for example, or composing trivia for cracker packaging.

One of my favorites of the year so far (along with another Japanese novel in translation, Breasts and Eggs).