Top Ten Tuesday: Books set in Japan

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I Did Not Finish (DNFed) (feel free to tell us why, but please no spoilers!). It's very rare for me to DNF a book deliberately. Do I put them down with the intention of picking them up again? Sure, happens every now and again. 

Instead of the DNF topic, I am going to share some Japanese books that I have read, and some that I want to read. This is because I am currently on a cruise from Tokyo to Seoul in South Korea, so it seems a fitting time for this topic. As I looked at the covers with just a couple of different choices I could have also called this Books Set in Japan with cats on the cover!

First the books I have read over the last couple of years:

The Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahaski- the second book is due to be released in the next couple of months (review)

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai- This the second book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series (review)

Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is the fifth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, but the only one I am going to include on this list

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - This book caught my eye when we were in San Francisco a while ago. I read this early last year.

What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama - I reviewed this last year for the Japanese Literature Challenge.

Books I Want to Read

Butter by Asako Yuzuki - I have wanted to read this since I first heard about it but haven't managed it yet!

The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imae Messina - Isn't this cover sweet!

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami - I saw a review of this over at Words and Peace and added it to my TBR list straight away.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki - I did commit to read this soon in my TTT post last week!

White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton - This is about a Korean girl who moves to Japan just before WWII

Have you read any of these or have any other recommendations?

Top Ten Tuesday: Not new!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Oldest (aka Earliest Published) Books On My TBR (submitted by Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits)

As I have a tendency to do, I have twisted this week's topic just a bit. Like most of us, I have a tendency to read new books, so my post this week is all about the books I have read this year that were published before 2020.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai - originally published in 2013. I have the follow up book ready to read on my Kindle. (review)

Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - originally published in 2018. Seeing this author at Melbourne Writers Festival is one of my highlight for this year. (review)

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - originally published in 2010. Interesting that the first three are all Japanese books.

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer - originally published in 1957. One of my all time favourite audiobook experiences is listening to Richard Armitage narrate the books of Georgette Heyer. I tend to listen to them every couple of years ago. Audible bliss!

Relish by Lucy Knisley -  originally published in 2013. This was a Cook the Books selection and a re-read for me. (post)

The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by Alexander McCall Smith - originally published in 2015. It had been a good few years since I had listened to or read one of the Precious Ramotswe books. Highly recommend the audio versions. Might be time for the next one.

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs - originally published in 2017 - Another Cook the Books selection (review)

Song of the Sun God by Shankari Chandran - originally published in 2017. I loved the first Chandran book I read so I decided to give this one a go on audio.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - originally published in 2001 - This is another Cook the Books selection. (review)

The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain - originally published in 2012 - I did do a bit of a Antoine Laurain binge this year. Another book I read by him was published on 4 January 2020 so just missed out on being counted for this purpose 

So, what have I learned from this? I am likely to read older books thanks to Cook the Books. I am also likely to read older books in translation or to listen to them on audio. And it must just be a coincidence that so many of the surnames of these authors start with a K right?

Top Ten Tuesday: First books

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Debut Novels I Enjoyed (A debut novel is an author’s first published book. You could also choose to share genre or age group debuts if you’d prefer, such as an adult fiction author’s first YA book or a mystery writer’s first romance.) (submitted by Angela @ Reading Frenzy)

I keep track of a lot of things on my two spreadsheets, whether a book is the author's debut or not is not one of them. So I am going to twist the topic a little bit and share the last ten books that I have read where I hadn't read the author before.

Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg - If all goes to plan I will be reviewing this next weekend.

The Itinerary by Penny Pentley - This was a fun trip through Europe

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs - I can't believe I hadn't read this author before now. (My review)

A New Dawn at Owl's Lodge by Jessica Redland - I would like to read more from this author (My review)

Come Fly With Me by Helen Rolfe - I will be reading my next book from this author soon  (My review)

The French Cookery School by Caroline James -  This was so much fun! Made me want to do a cooking course in France. (My review)

Invitation to Italy by Victoria Springfield - I'd be happy to visit Italy or France. Either one really. (My review)

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - i can't wait to see the movie of this! The cast looks stellar. 

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - I have the next book on my Kindle already.

The French Adventure by Jennifer Bohnet - Say yes to adventure! (My review)

This week....

 

I'm reading

I am pretty pleased to have finished reading two books this week. The first was A French Adventure by Jennifer Bohnet which I read for a blog tour. My review will be up in a couple of days. I also finished reading Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. I started it a couple of weeks ago, but had to put it aside. When I picked it up again I read it very quickly and liked it, although I did think that it  ended very abruptly.

I think I now have a few days where I can read whatever I like so I started reading Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. I am about 15% in and so far I love it! I can't wait to go and read some more tonight!!

I would like to point out that I posted 5, count them, 5 reviews in the last week! I can't remember the last time that happened!!

I do have two blog dilemnas at the moment. Whilst I always post on my Facebook page, I still, after all this time, have not quite figured out what to do on Instagram. I mean, do I want to post every post, or is it just some, or is it none at all?

My other blog dilemna is that I have been thinking about getting a new blog layout for approximately 4 years. I think my husband even gave me a blog redesign for Christmas one year, but I still haven't done anything about it. I would like it to reflect books, baking and travel. One day, I will surprise myself and just get it done. Anyone have a great blog designer they can recommend?

I'm watching

My husband has been very good since we met and always ensured that we go out for a nice dinner every year for Valentine's Day. I think it may have kind of crept up on us this year, so instead of going for dinner, we went to the movie to Anyone But You which stars Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. We still had dinner but it was only a burger and chips from Hungry Jacks. I was very pleasantly surprised by how funny the movie was. Yes, it was a bit silly, but we did laugh out loud. It took me quite a few minutes to realise that the movie was inspired by Much Ado About Nothing! The movie is set in Sydney, and it was a good taster for our upcoming visit to the city this weekend!

One of the key songs in the soundtrack for Anyone But You is Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield, and it has been stuck in my head for days!!

Here's the trailer

I started watching One Day on Netflix on the weekend, which is based on the novel by David Nicholls. I am about half way through and so far, so good. The story starts in 1988 and works it's way through the 90s. I think I am up to 1994. Watching this is giving me lot of memories from the music and fashion, and even the fact that there was no such thing as a mobile phones yet. How on earth did we manage back in the day!!  

We also watched several episodes of a series called The Secrets of the Imperial War Museum which was really interesting. We will definitely be spending at least one day at the IWM when we are in London later this year!

Life

I've been listening to Inheritance by Nora Roberts. Last week I listened to a section of the book where the main character tested her cooking skills by cooking a pot roast. Despite the fact that it is not really the right weather for it, I convinced my husband that we needed to make pot roast on the weekend, and it was delicious!! Have you been inspired to cook something just because you read about it? 

I was talking to one of my colleagues on Friday. She was at the hairdresser and I was like it must be about time for my cut and colour. Turns out it was last week! Ooops. Luckily I have been able to make a new appointment for Wednesday this week. I hope I remember this appointment!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Love

Blog Tour: Happy Ever After in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen

Blog Tour: Shout Out to My Ex by Sandy Barker

Blog Tour/Weekend Cooking: The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath

Sunday Salon: Two Japanese Literature Challenge Reviews

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

This week....

I'm reading

Last week I mentioned that I was reading a book called The Anywhere Hotel, which I had chosen for the theme of outside my comfort zone for my read on a theme bookclub. I have now finished this book, and I did like it a lot, to the point that I read the connected short story and bought the author's next book. The short story which was called How Captain Found the Anywhere Hotel. What you need to know about this title is that Captain is a dog!!

I then started and finished reading The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath. I loved this book from the first page, and I am looking forward to sharing my review for Weekend Cooking on Saturday! It will be a good one!

I have one more book to mention. I started reading Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. I haven't made much progress yet, but I expect to finish it this week.

I finished listening to Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, which is the third book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. Both of these last two books count towards the Japanese Literature Challenge.

I knew exactly what book I wanted to start listening to next, Inheritance by Nora Roberts. I did get a bit of a surprise when I started listening to the audiobook as there was an introduction. I didn't realise that it was Nora Roberts herself, so I was thinking, gee I am not sure I can listen to this whole audiobook. then I heard the actual narrator and I was reassured. I will say that the narrator, Britanny Pressley does very much sound like a Nora narrator - the same tones and intonations that I remember from other audiobooks I have listened to by this author!!

Have you heard that the New Release Challenge has a new home. It is now being hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review blog. I am excited to join in and have added a couple of my reviews from earlier this year already!

I'm watching

We started watching a new series of Great Kiwi Bake off. We watch any numbers of version of Bake Off, whether it is British, Australian, Kenyan and yes, Kiwi! This year there are new judges and one new host. I think that we need to watch a couple more episodes to get used to the new team!

Life

Well, it has taken a couple of months, but we finally have had a few hot summer days! Up until this week we had only had a couple of days over 30C. 

What else would you do on a very hot Sunday? Well, you would go and sit in the direct sun and watch a concert which features Aussie acts Bachelor Girl, Daryl Braithwaite, Noiseworks, Icehouse and ending with Scottish band Simple Minds! It was a great day out!  And one win for me....no sunburn!

 

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Have Read by Japanese Authors

The Naturalist of Amsterdam by Melissa Ashley

Weekend Cooking: Simple Noodles by Pippa Middlehurst

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge January Statistics

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Didn't Get to in 2023

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I Didn't Get to in 2023.  In order to find these books, I looked at previous posts of books that I was looking forward to. I did just have a thought that I should have just looked at this post form last year and see if i read any of those books! Next time!

So here are ten books I meant to read in 2023 but I never got to it!

Daisy and Kate by Meredith Appleyard - I have wanted to read this since I first saw the cover at the reader's retreat I went to last year.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - I can't believe I haven't read this year. I usually love Lisa See's books.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy - I was given this beautiful hardcover book at a work event, but I haven't actually read it yet.


The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley - Last year Pa Salt's book was released but I didn't read it as I still haven't read this book.

Inheritance by Nora Roberts - This is the first book in the The Lost Bride trilogy, and came out in November. I bought the audio straight away but haven't listened to it yet.


Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - I actually started listening to this over the weekend but when I started writing this post I had not so I am leaving it in!

A Woman's Work by Victoria Purman - I had a proper plan to read this before I went to the Australian Women Weekly exhibition in rural Victoria. However, one of these things happened and the other did not!


Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - I intend to read this in the next couple of weeks.

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker - I was very excited when this book came out. Still haven't read it.

Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati  - I even got to meet this author when I was in the US last year, but still haven't managed to read this book.

Have you read any of these books? Which book would you recommend I prioritise?

Six Degrees of Separation: Kitchen Confidential to The Burning Island

 

 

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz. 

 

This month's starting point is 

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

I am going to go with my first thought and see where that leads us, so my first pick is Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto.

I am planning to participate in Japanese Literature Challenge which is hosted at Dolce Bellezza so whenever I go to a bookstore I am looking for books that I might read. One of the ones that caught my attention in the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco was Days at the Marisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. If anyoone has any recommendatons of books to read for the challenge I am taking suggestions.

Recently I read another book set in a  bookstore that was originally published in a different language which was the Door to Door Bookstore which was originally published in German.

The most obvious jump from here is to another book about a bookstore, but instead I am focusing on the word door. I am also jumping to another genre and selecting the YA book Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

One of the characters in Lola is named Cricket, so my next choice is The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong. I read this book for my old book club and didn't mind it, but to be honest his later books are more appealing to me.

I am therefore choosing his book, The Burning Island, which won the 2021 ARA Prize for Historical Fiction.

Next month's starting point will be Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin