As we come to the end of August, I find myself with a number of books that I have finished for various blogging/bookstagram events where I have not yet written a review. I have found over the last couple of months that I have more books to review than I have days in the month spare in the blogging schedule. Today, I am therefore going to share some mini reviews books that I have read for various challenges or events which end today.
One of my blogging goals for this year is to review everything that I read by Australian authors, and all historical fiction novels. The books I am doing a mini review of today are books that don't fit into either of these categories. I do have some other books read but not reviewed which do fit into these categories and I will be reviewing them in September (hopefully!)
The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina
This was a lovely read. When Shuichi returns to his home town following the death of his mother, he doesn't realise that a young boy named Kenta had been spending time with her. At first, Kenta was wary of Shuichi but eventually they build a relationship. The way the story is told means that we just get a layer revealed, and then another layer and so on, until we find out the truth of Shuichi's life which has been shaped by his health issues.
The author is actually Italian but has lived in Japan for more than 20 years so clearly loves all things Japanese. I loved the way the author shared stories about Kenji which is Japanese calligraphy. It was interesting that the titular library was important to the story but didn't really appear until late in the story.
I've already picked up another book by this author which is called The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World.
This was one of the books I nominated for 20 Books of Winter. I read this in August, so this also counts for the Women in Translation month and the Books in Translation challenge hosted at Introverted Reader. The translator was Lucy Rand.
Rating 4/5
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
I had been really looking forward to reading this book since I first heard about it last year and I even requested it from Netgalley but the file format was painful so I didn't read it then. Earlier this year I went to hear the author talk at Melbourne Writers Festival and it was a really interesting conversation. However, it wasn't until my book club chose to read this book that I finally read it. We normally read on a theme but this month we agreed to all read the same book. It's fair to say it wasn't a really popular choice.
So what did I think? I will admit I struggled with it a bit. The story is that the main character, Rika, is a journalist who decides that she wants to interview a woman who has been convicted of killing three of her lovers. Kajii is an enigmatic character who is overweight and so people can't understand why she could attract so many men. Kajii is also very manipulative, even with Rika. From behind bars, Kajii manages to change Rika's life by interesting her to amazing food and has her reevaluating her life.
The subtext is about feminism and role of women in Japanese society, the pressure to look a certain way. However, there is also a lot about weight and fat shaming which I found a bit difficult. The words fat, weight and heavy appear more than 100 times in this book.
The book evoked quite strong reactions. One of our book club members declared that she had never hated a book more than she hated this one. My reaction is more muted. I am glad I finally read it, but I didn't love it mainly because of the repetitiveness and the fat shaming. I did love the food references and I am determined that at some point I am going to try rice with butter and soy sauce which was one of the first recipes Rika tried. I have seen this mentioned in various Japanese books.
It does also prompt an interesting question about why we get fascinated by women who kill, particular multiple people. Recently in Australia there is a case of a woman who killed three members of her extended family by feeding them poison mushrooms in a Beef Wellington and the case seemingly captivated the nation.
This was one of the books I nominated for 20 Books of Winter. I read this in August, so this also counts for the Women in Translation month and the Books in Translation challenge hosted at Introverted Reader. At 464 pages, this book also counts as a Big Book of Summer. I am also sharing this post with Weekend Cooking and Foodies Read. The translator was Polly Barton.
Rating 2.5/5
Dallergut Dream Department Store: The Dream You Ordered is Sold Out by Lee Mi-Ye
This book is a little bit different than my normal reads. The Dallergut Dream Department Store is somewhere we might visit in our dreams. There we can choose from a number of different floors where they specialise in different types of dreams. You could choose to dream of stardom or success, or loved ones who have passed on or dream of delicious food. You might wonder how we pay for these dreams? We pay with the emotions that these dreams elicit.
Penny starts working at the Dream Store and we join her as she meets the many colourful characters who work in the store. She is learning how the store operates by working in different roles, and soon finds herself working with the boss. Penny also meets the dream makers, some of whom are almost celebrity like figures
I think my favourite floor was the one where pets could come and get their dreams. Given the number of times we see our dog chasing rabbits in his dreams, it made me smile!
This author is Korean and the translator, Sandy Joosun Lee, was very enthusiastic about her role in translating this book.
I liked this enough that I have the next book out from the library to hopefully read soon.
This was one of the books I nominated for 20 Books of Winter and also counts for the Books in Translation challenge hosted at Introverted Reader.
Rating 3.5/5
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