japanese

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What an absolute waste of a great book cover.

Death on Gokumon Island (Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, #4) by Seishi Yokomizo

December 23, 2022 by narfna 1 Comment

I think I might be done with this series. It’s really lost its charm. I might give it one more go if they translate a fifth book, but it will be by hard copy not by audio. You expect a certain amount of clashing cultural mores when you read a book that was written over fifty years before, but when I read Agatha Christie, for instance, it’s usually just small stuff you can roll your eyes at and be like, ugh you dumb people in […]

The village of hysterical women.

The Village of Eight Graves (Kosuke Kindaichi, #3) by Seishi Yokomizo

November 3, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

Whaaaat the heck happened here. This was a mess. In fact, I had such a different reading experience with this third translated book in the Kosuke Kindaichi series that I kind of have to wonder if it was me and not the book, since presumably the English publisher chose to translate and publish this one third out of all the many, many available books in the series for a reason (and it’s not third in original publication order). I really wasn’t expecting to have such […]

Two Very Different But Sweet Autobiographical Manga

The Bride Was A Boy by Chii

Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu by Junji Ito

June 22, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

The breadth of non-fiction manga is on full display between these two very different books! The Bride was a Boy is a memoir about a trans woman’s experience falling in love and getting married. It’s also a basic primer on what being transgender is like and a good overview on the Japanese government’s policies on trans people. I know there are enormous problems in the US right now vis a vis trans rights, which terrifies me every day as a trans person, but I’m always glad we […]

I really wish I could put Fantasy and not History as a category

Stealing Home by J. Torres

April 25, 2022 by BlackRaven 2 Comments

I had forgotten I had a copy of Stealing Home by J. Torres, with illustrations by David Namisato. I knew when I saw the online copy, I wanted to read it, had wanted to for a while, so, I read it. It was not until the day after I finished, I found my hardcover copy. So, what joy for me! I can read it again. And this is one book you do need to read more than once. There is a lot going on, a […]

“‘That man’s lying.’ With that, he opened his suitcase and took out a blank telegram. After a few moments, he began to write. KATSUKO DEAD. SEND KINDAICHI.”

The Honjin Murders (Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, #1) by Seishi Yokomizo

March 3, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

A clever, meta little Japanese murder mystery, first published in 1946, by a man who was apparently a huge fan of the western Golden Age mystery. This is the first book in the Kosuke Kindaichi series that he wrote dozens of novels for. Kindaichi-san is very unlike his British counterparts, Poirot, Wimsey, or even Marple. He’s very young, and a bit of a slob, but he has a mind for mysteries. Here, he is brought to the scene of a wedding where the bride and […]

Like A Wes Anderson Psychological Thriller in Japan

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

September 7, 2021 by Claire Badger 1 Comment

I eagerly picked up Earthlings when I heard it was released. I loved Sayaka Murata’s English language debut, Convenience Store Woman, and was excited to see what the latest translation of her work had to offer. She has a unique and compelling style of prose, and a way of explaining the pressures of Japanese society that is sympathetic to her weird outsiders and totally rational in a slightly twisted way. The cover and back of Earthlings is full of praise for Convenience Store Woman, raving […]

MsWas on I was right to kidnap this book.That is a hilarious and inventive way to give that book. I will have to keep that in mind.
Emmalita on I was right to kidnap this book.Ok, but your gift giving game is excellent!
Emmalita on OK, I Need to Talk About These BooksThere are some books that are addictive even when they make us feel bad about ourselves after reading them. I can see how these books...
Malin on “One doesn’t need magic if one knows enough stories.”I really want to read this, I'm just worried that it being set in a fictional version of Norway is going to push some peeve...
Michellers66 on I was right to kidnap this book.I am not familiar with Benjamin Stevenson and delighted to try one of his books, think I will start with Either Side of Midnight per...

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