I absolutely love Banana Yoshimoto for her novel writing. And, truth be told, when I grabbed a copy of Lizard at Half Price Books, I thought it was a novel.

I got home, read the first story, believing it was a chapter in a novel. I got to the second story, and for a minute (or two or three) I was a little confused and disappointed. Not because the writing was bad (it's light and dark and brilliant!) But because I was expecting a novel.

When you are in the mood for a novel, it seems that only a novel will do. Well, I kept reading anyway, because the stories are facinating and beautiful, and I finished the whole book in one sitting. It was worth the momentary disappointment.

All of the stories have intertwining themes (life and death, supernatural, natural world), and Yoshimoto's writing just... floats. I love it.

I saw Mari's post about this one. He said it made him want to write, and I agree. He said it made writing look easy. Yup. It's true.

Good book. I recommend it for a rainy gray day, with a blanket and some tea, mmmm. Oh PNW. So gray. So, so gray.