Play Book Tag discussion
March 2023: Japan
>
Announcing the Tag for March
I will be reading the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which is a Top 100 Fiction Birthday Candle qualifier. Anyone who wants to is welcome to join me. Also, I remember on some other thread somewhere, that there were at least a few people interested in reading the House in the Cerulean Sea together, a buddy read in fact, for the Buddy Read Candle. Can those people interested remind me who they were or are, so we can figure out when to do it? I vote late March, early April.
Music was my first choice but I'm happy with Japan. I'll be reading The Honjin Murders. It just arrived at the library and is nice and short.
I'm happy with the result.Recommends:
Cold Enough for Snow
The Cat Who Saved Books
Memorial recommended with reservations, but I loved the part set in Japan
The Housekeeper and the Professor
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
I loved The Investigation but it is quite grisly, but beautiful at the same time.
This is what I have lined up, a cat heavy month
The Travelling Cat Chronicles
The Guest Cat
The Easy Life in Kamusari
Yay! I have quite a bit of Japanese crime fiction on my TBR. Some fantasy too. I have no lack of goodies to read.For those interested in historical fiction or literary fiction, I highly recommend the beautiful An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro set in post WWII Japan.
For those interested in exploring the Japanese Second Golden Age of Detective fiction - 1960s - I highly recommend Inspector Imanishi Investigates. Sujata Massey has an excellent mystery series set in Tokyo starting with The Salaryman's Wife.
I also recommend The Travelling Cat Chronicles.
Another I recommend highly is Clark and Division: from my review: I felt a powerful punch deep after I turned the last page and closed this book, contemplating what I just read. This one sneaks up on you. Yes, it is a complex, subtle mystery set during WWII. It is also a searing portrait told in the first person of FDR's War Relocation Authority ('WRA') created after Pearl Harbor that forced all of Japanese descent living on the West Coast out of their jobs, homes and possessions, sending them to 'internment camps' and eventual relocation elsewhere in the US, even American citizens or Nisei like Aki and Rose, born in California of Japanese born immigrants or Issei.
I have Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese Family and The Travelling Cat Chronicles on my bookshelf, so it will be one of those.I have to admit I am kind of excited to go to Japan after visiting England!
I plan to read:The Garden of Evening Mists and/or The Gift of Rain
All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki - Japanese character/author, set in the US
Housekeeper and the Professor - possible reread - it's been 10+ years since I first read it.
Other possibilities:
something by Murakami - I'm not sure which one to try.
Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World
Out or the Memory Police
The Elegance of the Hedgehog- set in Paris but it has 18 Japan tags
The Great Passage
Fifty Words for Rain
Travelling Cat Chronicles
Maybe something about Hiroshima or Nanking
Earthlings or another short quirky book
Spring Snow or Kokoro
I really liked
A Tale for the Time Being
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Pachinko
Convenience Store Woman (short)
My Year of Meats
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
Empire of the Sun
Happy with this tag! I took Japanese and visited Japan twice in high school, Unlike others, Meli, I remember virtually nothing now but still enjoy visiting in my reading.I will definitely be reading: How High We Go in the Dark and possibly The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet since I've owned it for ages.
I would really like to read a translated work as well so I will keep digging. Oh, perhaps the third Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Before Your Memory Fades.
Also adding The Swimmers and All the Lovers in the Night as possibilities.
I also recommend:
Ruth Ozeki
The Housekeeper and the Professor
Convenience Store Woman
Shōgun- loved this one in high school, not sure how it has aged.
Ann☕ wrote: "For anyone who likes nonfiction, Facing the Mountain: An Inspiring Story of Japanese American Patriots in World War II by Daniel James Brown is an option. I own the ..."That was a terrific book.
Probably "Spiral" (the sequel to Ring) for me although i do have IQ84 trilogy and 'A Little Life" and "Virus" and "Klara and the Sun" so actually quite a bit of choice for Japan on my bookshelf just not the TBR list.
Ann☕ wrote: "For anyone who likes nonfiction, Facing the Mountain: An Inspiring Story of Japanese American Patriots in World War II by Daniel James Brown is an option. I own the ..."Fantastic book Ann-you will love it I hope!
Yay, Barbara! Let me know when you start. I probably won’t get to it until a bit later in the month.
Booknblues wrote: "I'm happy with the result.Recommends:
Cold Enough for Snow
The Cat Who Saved Books
Memorial recommended with reservations, but I loved the part set..."
I LOVED The Cat Who Saved Books. Such a cute lil love letter to book lovers. I think it was quickly wrapped up in parts, maybe a lil hasty, but I still loved it.
Nicole R wrote: "It is time to finally read Pachinko."
I loved Pachinko. Such an epic story. Has an Apple TV adaptation as well, but I haven't seen it.
I would recommend Klara and the Sun. I think it's polarizing, some people love it and others are 'meh' on it, but I loved it. Favorite read of 2022. Quietly unsettling.
I am torn between Heaven and The Memory Police (by the same author of my beloved The Housekeeper and the Professor. I own them both, and this is the perfect excuse to get to them. The Housekeeper and the Professor does fit the tag and is a wonderful book if you haven't read it yet.In terms of recommendations, if you are interested in non-fiction, I thought People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo--and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up was a fascinating read.
I don't have a lot of fiction that I truly loved. Pachinko and Klara and the Sun were both very good, but not five stars for me.
I have several books labeled Japan under my Want to Read but none under my currently owned books! Doesn't mean I don't have any though. And I will be happy to use this chance to get some of the WTR from the library. Many Japanese books are quite short. On the other hand, I just remembered I do have Shōgun - over 1100 pages in paperback!
Robin P wrote: "I have several books labeled Japan under my Want to Read but none under my currently owned books! Doesn't mean I don't have any though. And I will be happy to use this chance to get some of the WTR..."I always wanted to read Shogun, but the length has definitely been off-putting. I feel I would like it though.
Anita wrote: "I am torn between Heaven and The Memory Police (by the same author of my beloved The Housekeeper and the Professor. I own them both, and this is the p..."I second People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo--and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up.... Very thorough and in depth, and probably one of the most compassionate in terms of how focused it was on the victim and her family.
Rachel N. wrote: "Music was my first choice but I'm happy with Japan. Same here. Not yet sure what I'll read, though :)
I don't have any books about Japan or written by anyone Japanese, so I will be reading one of the recommended books by other members. One in particular looks especially interesting, How High We Go in the Dark. It's being favorably compared to Station Eleven, which I really enjoyed. So I will probably give How High a go.
I don't know exactly what I will end up reading but I do have a variety of books planned. For historical mysteries I have: The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn and Claws of the Cat. I read The Dragon Scroll last month but it wasn't for me.
For nonfiction: A Beginner's Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations and The Wagamama Bride: A Jewish Family Saga Made in Japan are on my TBR.
Fantasy: A Thousand Steps into Night and The Easy Life in Kamusari
I also have lots of Manga. Lately I have been enjoying cat manga like Cat Massage Therapy Vol. 1 and Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan, Vol. 1.
I actually don't have a lot that fits. I already have Klara and the Sun on hold at the library, so hard to say when it will come in for me.I do plan to pick something else out, just in case it doesn't come in March.
RachelG. wrote: "I don't know exactly what I will end up reading but I do have a variety of books planned. For historical mysteries I have: The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn and [book:Claws of the Cat|16..."
Rachel, your nonfiction books sound really interesting to me. Pico Iyer has other books with Japan tags too.
DianeMP wrote: "I don't have any books about Japan or written by anyone Japanese, so I will be reading one of the recommended books by other members. One in particular looks especially interesting, How High We Go ..."That sounds good to me too. I had it on my tbr but didn’t know it fit this tag. I’m a sucker for anything compared to Station Eleven. I just found it on Hoopla.
I would like to read The Bells of Old Tokyo: Meditations on Time and a City but doubt I will be ableto squeeze it in. Plus I need to find my copy in my TBR Towers.
These are title I have read and recall fondly:The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd : novel,diary form, early 1900s thru WWII, Scottish woman abandoned with the love child of a Japanese nobleman/ diplomat makes a life for herself in Japan
The Strangeness of Beauty by Lydia Minatoya : novel in diary form , a young woman emigree returns to Japan from America with young niece to introduce her to her roots in a traditional samurai family, 1923-1939.
The Scent of Sake by Joyce Lebra: novel, 19thc Japan. Young woman is heir to a sake brewery and must make compromises to keep the business afloat.
Superintendent Otani mystery series :
https://www.goodreads.com/series/7933... a 13 book contemporary mystery series by James Melville written in late 1970s -‘92, Kobe Prefecture. Otani is “old school” and must contend with changing culture and modernization of Japan.
A Boy Called H: A Childhood in Wartime Japan by Kappa Senoh. Bio novel about a boy growing up in WWII Japan. 528pp!
Diane, someone just recommended that to me as well!
I have no idea what I'm going to read this time.Leading contender: Shinigami (mythological retelling)
I've also owned The Remains of the Day for almost two decades, so hopefully I can use this as motivation to give it another try. I couldn't get into it when I first bought it, but my reading tastes have changed quite a bit since then, and this seems like exactly the kind of thing that would hit different in your 40's than your 20's :)
Other possibilities from the TBR: My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 (manga) and The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story (fantasy)
RachelG. wrote: "Fantasy: A Thousand Steps into Night and The Easy Life in Kamusari"
I'm also going to take a look at these now. They both sound interesting, and the covers are so pretty!
I can recommend:Norwegian Wood
An Artist of the Floating World
A Man
The Memory Police
Convenience Store Woman
Silence
The Great Passage
Black Rain
All the Lovers in the Night
Cold Enough for Snow
The books that I'm considering reading are:How to Be an American Housewife
Touch
The Travelling Cat Chronicles
I really enjoyed Touch (part of it is set in Japan and other parts in Iceland and the UK).
Joy D wrote: "I really enjoyed Touch (part of it is set in Japan and other parts in Iceland and the UK)."I have Touch on my list for Iceland, but I’m glad to see it fits here too. (I mistakenly downloaded Claire North’s book of the same title. I read for awhile anyway and it definitely wasn’t for me. )
I really enjoyed Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan by Giles Milton, about the first encounter between Japan and England, and the first white samurai, set in the 17th century.
The Traveling Cat Chronicles is quite short and charming.
I have a backup read if "Klara and the Sun" doesn't come in for me: The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang
I read this one many years ago and loved itSilk by Alessandro Baricco
I also really liked these two by Gail Tsukiyama
The Samurai's Garden
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
Not sure what I'll read, but I'll stay away from most of Ishiguro's because they are mostly set in the UK.
Ishiguro has 2 (that I'm aware of) set entirely in Japan (in case anyone is interested):- A Pale View of HIlls
- An Artist of the Floating World
Yay!!! I love Japan!!!!For you romance lovers, I highly recommend:
Emiko Jean's duology
Tokyo Ever After and Tokyo Dreaming
I read Tokyo Ever After and loved it and just finished Tokyo Dreaming last week.
I have a recommendation. He is the Canadian "equivalent" to Bill Bryson, so travel + humour:
Hitching Rides with Buddha by Will Ferguson
(aka Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan)
... as he hitchhikes across Japan
This list may be helpful to anyone still looking for options!https://japanobjects.com/features/jap...
Anita wrote: "This list may be helpful to anyone still looking for options!https://japanobjects.com/features/jap..."
Wow .. that's some list!
LibraryCin wrote: "I have a backup read if "Klara and the Sun" doesn't come in for me: The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang"
I’ve heard that it’s powerful. I have it on my list of possibilities too, in case I’m feeling tough (or I read too many lightweight books).
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Woman in the Dunes (other topics)Snow Country (other topics)
Minka: My Farmhouse in Japan (other topics)
Surviving Hiroshima: A Young Woman's Story (other topics)
The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Emiko Jean (other topics)Gail Tsukiyama (other topics)
Alessandro Baricco (other topics)
Kappa Senoh (other topics)
Lydia Minatoya (other topics)
More...
The winner was:
Japan
Please share your reading plans and recommendations below.
Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as "Japan" on Goodreads, or be a book that is not yet shelved that way but you feel should be.
One way to find books to read for this tag is to please visit:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
We encourage people to link to additional lists below if they find them.
Happy Reading!!!