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nikitaaaart's reviews
46 reviews
The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes on by Franny Choi
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
The Country Without a Post Office: Poems by Agha Shahid Ali
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.0
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.25
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Takako moves in with her uncle whom she hasn't met in 10 years (and doesn't think well of him) after a bad breakup which led her to quit her job. Her uncle, Satoru owns a second hand bookshop named 'Morisaki Bookshop' in Jimbocho where she helps out during the day (she doesn't like reading either).
The first part of the book develops a relationship between Takako and his uncle, and a relationship with herself as well. It's a journey of a heartbroken and sad 25 year old Takako into a person who now finds the joy in little things in life and reading. This journey is accompanied by the friends she encounters over the period of her stay.
“Things were still knotted up inside me, but it felt like the more I walked, the more they loosened up.”
In the second section of the book, Momoko enters, Satoru's wife who left him 5 years without saying a word with a note asking him not to look for her. Confused and at a loss of words, Satoru accepts her like nothing ever happened. He sends Takako to find out why she's back in his life.
This is a sweet, feel-good, cosy story set in the lanes of a booktown and a cafe situated in Tokyo, Japan. The writing is quite simple as most Japanese translated fictions I've come across.
The first part of the book develops a relationship between Takako and his uncle, and a relationship with herself as well. It's a journey of a heartbroken and sad 25 year old Takako into a person who now finds the joy in little things in life and reading. This journey is accompanied by the friends she encounters over the period of her stay.
“Things were still knotted up inside me, but it felt like the more I walked, the more they loosened up.”
In the second section of the book, Momoko enters, Satoru's wife who left him 5 years without saying a word with a note asking him not to look for her. Confused and at a loss of words, Satoru accepts her like nothing ever happened. He sends Takako to find out why she's back in his life.
This is a sweet, feel-good, cosy story set in the lanes of a booktown and a cafe situated in Tokyo, Japan. The writing is quite simple as most Japanese translated fictions I've come across.
Scattered All Over the Earth by Yōko Tawada
funny
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I was quite caught up by the description of the book initially. A culmination of people brought together by their shared desire for longing and to explore the lost languages in a newfound dystopian world.
It's a story about a found-family of 6 strangers who travel to find people who are from Japan (named land of sushi in the book) which no longer exists. The story blends the themes of linguistics, environment and climate change, refugees, migrants and human rights all into one.
I really looked forward to reading this but it was a letdown for me. The story is a slow burn. In the last 50-100 pages, the pace is picked up only to be let down again by a disruptive ending. Turns out it is Part 1 of a trilogy so the story is left hanging. The other 2 books haven't been translated yet either. All in all it was an annoying experience, especially when you just started connecting with the story - it ends.
Would recommend reading it once all 3 parts are available altogether.
It's a story about a found-family of 6 strangers who travel to find people who are from Japan (named land of sushi in the book) which no longer exists. The story blends the themes of linguistics, environment and climate change, refugees, migrants and human rights all into one.
I really looked forward to reading this but it was a letdown for me. The story is a slow burn. In the last 50-100 pages, the pace is picked up only to be let down again by a disruptive ending. Turns out it is Part 1 of a trilogy so the story is left hanging. The other 2 books haven't been translated yet either. All in all it was an annoying experience, especially when you just started connecting with the story - it ends.
Would recommend reading it once all 3 parts are available altogether.