The Nakano Thrift Shop Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (1984) With our never-ending to-do lists

With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules

and knowing what our end goals are

The term 'third way' has become a widely accepted

and a hideous death by piranhas

das Au-pair-Mädchen verschwand

The Nakano Thrift Shop Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (1984) With our never-ending to-do listsWhen Hitomi takes a job on the cash register of a neighbourhood thrift store, she finds herself drawn into a very idiosyncratic community. There is Mr Nakano, an enigmatic ladies' man with several ex wives; Masayo, Mr Nakano's sister, an artist who has never married; and her fellow employee Takeo, a shy but charming young man. And every day, customers from the neighbourhood pass in and out as curios are bought and sold, each one containing its own