Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Things That Make Up My Perfect Day (Share the people, places, activities, foods, circumstances, etc. that make a day perfect for you. Go into as much or as little detail as possible!) This is such a good prompt that I did something very similar a couple of days ago for the prompt of happy! I am therefore going to go off topic this week and bring you books published under different names. It could be because the books were given different names in different markets, or they were given a post publishing revamp, or who knows why else publishers change the name of a book after it is released.
Sophia's Secret/The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - Yes, I am unashamedly using this same book in a TTT list two weeks in a row. Sophia's Secret was the original UK title. (my review)
People We Meet on Vacation/You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry - A lot of the time the title change is just for different markets. You and Me on Vacation was again the UK title, and because we are part of the Commonwealth we often get the same titles.
The Brides of Rollrock Island/Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan - The bottom cover here is the Australian title. I think I preferred both the title and the cover from overseas.
The Scandal/Beartown by Fredrik Backman - Sometimes the different titles are due to being published in different languages. For example, the book known as Beartown in English was originally published with a title that would translate to Scandal, but there was at least one edition that came out in English with that title. (my review)
The Chibineko Kitchen/The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi - I think the idea here was to really cash in on the role the cat plays in this book! (my review)
Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies/The Woman Who Wanted More by Vicky Zimmerman - It is interesting to me that the cover is so similar even when the title is so different.
The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine/The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson - I loved The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine and loved the title, but I do think that the bottom title is probably more accessible. (My review)
Falling for the Italian Dream/An Italian Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack - I am not sure why this one got changed. An Italian Wedding Adventure was a good title for this book. (my review)
The House at Riverton/Shifting Fog by Kate Morton - Finishing up with two older books. You can tell straight away that the top cover here was the Australian cover. Every historical fiction book being published around this time had a woman on the cover
Cross Stitch/Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Cross Stitch was the UK title, and it was the one I read!
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025 (New-to-you authors you discovered, new genres you learned you like, new bookish resources you found, friends you made, local bookshops you found, a book club you joined, etc.). I am going to use this as an opportunity to showcase some of the new to me authors I read last year.
All up I read 67 new to me authors which is hard to narrow down to just ten choices, so the first 9 of these authors are those that I read multiple books from. In other words, I enjoyed their first books enough to go and read more!
Finding that elusive 10th author to include on the list was a bit trickier. I thought I would pick one where I only read one book by them but I gave that book 5/5 rating. However, there are still four of those!
Claire Keegan - I know that I am late to the party with this one but I read two of Irish author Claire Keegan's books last year and I have already read another this year. I am going to run out of her books soon I think. Often her books are quite short but boy they pack a punch!
Claire van Ryn - Another Claire! This one is from Tasmania, and I really loved both books of hers that I read last year which I reviewed here and here. Birds play an important part in the stories and both covers are gorgeous! I will be excited about her next book for sure!
Emma Davies - Emma Davies is a British author. I enjoyed the two books I read from her and have now bought some of her earlier books. I reviewed her books here and here.
Emma Grey - I have mentioned Emma Grey several times now in my best of posts for last year. She is the only author that I have given 5/5 stars to both of the books I read from her last year. I reviewed them here and here. Can't wait for the next book which is out soon.
Hannah Bonam-Young - This is definitely a case of being last to the party. I read Out on a Limb and Next of Kin last year and I am looking forward to reading more this year!
Laura Imai Messina - Laura Imai Messina is Italian by birth, but she has lived in Japan for more than 20 years. I loved both of her books but so far I have only reviewed one of them. I have a friend who is a Japanophile and I was talking to her about this authors books, and she started to cry because she said that the stories just sound so Japanese. I don't think any more of this authors books have been translated into English, but if they are I will be reading them!
Mai Mochikuzi - At first I wasn't sure about the mix of human size, walking, talking cats, astrology and food but it is fun. I reviewed the first book here and the second book here.
Shari Low - I read three of Shari Low's books last year. They are mainly set in Scotland and feature a bunch of fun characters, and are often interconnected.
Yuta Takahashi - This is the author of one of several Japanese foodie series I am reading. This one features a restaurant where you can come to eat remembrance meals and get the chance to have one last conversation with the person you are remembering. I reviewed the two books here and here.
Jodi McAlister - In the end I chose this book because it is the only book by a new to me author that I rated 5/5 stars that I never got around to reviewing, for no other reason than I ran out of time. I also saw her at a couple of events last year as well! If you love smart, funny enemies to lover romances check it out! Highly recommend! One of the members of my book club read it and she absolutely loved it, and she is 80 years old!! I will definitely read more from Jodi McAlister
I now have a number of Japanese foodie related series on the go, and today I am sharing about three of them. For the most part, I find them to be very easy, smooth reads which is perfect when you are looking for a book to get lost in.
The Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai (translated by Jesse Kirkwood)
Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai is the third book in the Kamogawa Detective Agency series which is a series that I really enjoy. So far there are 11 books published in Japan, and I am really hopeful that we will continue to see these books translated into English.
There is no doubt that this book fits a very common structure for lots of these cozyish books. In fact, all three of the books I am talking about today have the same characteristics with short stories where the connection is that they feature the same main characters. Often, the story is about looking back to people who they miss.
In Menu, as in the previous books in the series, we have a several individual characters who come looking for the small restaurant in Kyoto which is home to the Kamogawa restaurant and is also home to the detective agency. And lets not forget also home to the cat named Drowsy
In each story, the character is looking for a very particular taste that brings back memories of a particular time in their life. Food, like music, is definitely a key that can unlock memories of particular people or situations. They come to the cafe and share what details, if any, they remember of the dish and then former policeman turned chef Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter Koishi then try to track down the exact dish. Then the customer returns two weeks later to see if they have been able to recreate it correctly.
In this book the dishes that he needs to recreate include
Kake soba
Curry and rice
Yakisoba
Gyoza
Omurice
Croquettes
I like that the food is very accessible. It's not fancy, and some times it is the merest change of an ingredient that changes the dish from just the every day to something that the customer remembers so well!
There are a lot of lovely little details in each story. For example, one of the customers is the person who makes the special lacquerware that they use in the restaurant. Having been to Japan I now have a much better idea of what they are talking about, as we had some meals that were served in some beautiful little bowls
Even though this third book is more of the same as the previous two books, the stories still delight me! Bring on the fourth book.
Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki (translated by Jordan Taylor)
When we travel we like to collect Christmas decorations. When we were in Japan last year, we looked in quite a lot of the tourist shops and didn't find any Christmas decorations anywhere. I was aware from previous reading that a Japanese Christmas cake is basically a fluffy strawberry and cream cake and that lots of Japanese people like to have Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas Day but that was about it in terms of Christmas traditions, which isn't all that surprising given that the majority religion is Shinto. It was therefore a bit of a surprise to realise that this book is a Christmas book.
This is the second book in the Full Moon Coffee Shop series which features giant talking cats, a magical cafe that generally only comes out on full moons and amazing sounding food and drinks. However, the magical cafe can also pop up anywhere in the week leading up to Christmas and this is when this book is set.
This time the stories are also a more connected than they sometimes tend to be in these styles of books. Satomi works hard and long hours in an advertising agency in Tokyo. She is afraid that her boyfriend is going to propose and that he is going to expect her to move away from the sitter. Koyuki is a temp at the same agency. She does good work but never seems to be able to convert her temp work into a permanent role. The final main character is Junko, who is Satomi's sister in law. She has long been estranged from her parents, but when she gets a message to say her dad is dying, she takes her young daughter to meet him for the first time.
For each woman, the encounters at the Full Moon Coffee Shop helps them to look at both their past and their present to understand what happiness might look like in the future.
I mentioned the fantastical sounding food. In this case there is a Cheese Fondue and Candy Apples, a New Moon Mont Blanc and Sparkler Iced Tea. Here is just part of the description of the tea:
"I have prepared this drink for you," he said placing a rather large glass in front of me. It was transparent and shaped like an ancient vase with no handles. Inside was tea, ice and a sparkler firing off bits of light. "It is Sparkler Ice Tea."
I brought my face close to the glass in astonishment, staring dubiously at the sparkler twinkling inside the liquid. How in the world does it work?
The master said, "Tea and memories are extracted like leaping sparks. It will be ready to drink when the sparks have scattered and the last fragment falls."
I read this one on a plane trip to Brisbane and it was the perfect way to pass the time.
This series currently has 6 books in the series. Once again, I will be looking for the next book in the series.
The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Cafe by Yuta Takahashi (translated by Cat Anderson)
The Chibineko Kitchen is in a small seaside village not too far from Tokyo. They specialise in kagezen, which are traditional meals offered in remembrance of loved ones. The twist here is that it is possible that, for the duration of the meal, you can have one last conversation with them, one last chance to tell them that you love them, and to say goodbye.
This book is the second book in the series, and once again we meet both Kai, the young man who runs the restaurant after taking over from his mother, and Kotoko, who was one of the people whose stories we read about in the first book. And then there is Chibi the calico cat.
There are four stories in the book
The first is about Nagi, a young woman who has been ill for most of her life. She has broken up with her boyfriend when he proposed to her because she thinks it would be unfair to marry her. Now, she has come to the restaurant to talk to her mother, who also died young.
Next, we meet a man named Keita who had basically shut himself in the apartment that he shared with him mother. When she dies, he takes on her job cleaning at the community aged care centre and begins to find a purpose.
The third story is about an older lady named Mitsuyo who feels isolated despite living at the aged care centre. She comes to the restaurant hoping to talk to her favourite singer.
And finally, Kumagai, who is in the same theatre group as Kotoko, visits the restaurant to see his son
What makes this book a little different is that you not only get the stories, but you also get the recipes for the food. They include
Tofu no Misozuke (Miso-marinated tofu)
Buta Bara no Kara-age (Fried pork belly)
Iwashi no Kabayaki-don (Soy glazed sardines on rice)
Shime no Kare (Curry using leftover hotpot)
There are currently 10 books in this series in Japanese but this is only the second one to be translated into English.
It is interesting that not only food and structure connects these stories. Cats also play a part in all three of these stories. The other connection is also that, even though some of these stories feature characters who have suffered great loss, particularly in Menu and Calico Cat, ultimately they are stories about finding hope and joy.
Saturday - Baked chicken fried rice Sunday - Curries, rice and roti Monday - Chicken Stir Fry Tuesday -Sausages in tomato sauce with mash potato Wednesday - Homemade pizza Thursday - Out for dinner Friday - Takeaway
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Satisfying Book Series (Maybe all the books were amazing or there wasn’t any second book syndrome or the final book wrapped everything up soooo perfectly.)
My list today will feature some of the more recent entries in a book series that I have read.
The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi - Like a lot of Japanese books this was a cute and satisfying read! This is the second book in the series. I reviewed the first book, The Chibineko Kitchen, here.
A Winter Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack - This is the second book in Leonie Mack's series which features adventure guides and weddings. (my review)
Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson - I only realised recently that Benjamin is an Australian author. This book, the first in the Ernest Cunningham mystery series, was a lot of fun!
The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida - I might be cheating a little bit with this one. There are currently four books in the series but this is the only one that has been translated into English....so far. I really hope we get to see more books in the series. (my review)
Waves of Change in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen - This is the third series that I have read by Maggie Christensen. I love her books. They are the ultimate comfort reads for me. (my review)
The Deadly Dispute by Amanda Hampson - i have read all three books that are out so far over the last few months. The next book in the series has just been announced and I will be reading it! (my review)
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - This is the first book in the Emily Wilde series. (my review)
Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee - This is the first book in the Dallergut Dream Department Store series which is by Korean author Miye Lee. (my review)
Beartown by Fredrik Backman - This is another first book in a trilogy and was a 5/5 read for me! (my review)
The Bookstore Family by Alice Hoffman - This is the fourth in a series of connected short stories. I still haven't read nay full length books by Alice Hoffman yet but I will because she really nails the short story format so I will be interested to see how she handles a longer story.
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 Imai 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?
I have done very badly in my reading for the Japanese Literature Reading Challenge which I signed up for this year and runs all through January and February. In my head, January should have been a month long extravaganza of all things Japanese, and then I could share a couple more reviews in February! Success! I did go and see a Japanese artist exhibition in January, but never really posted about it, and I have read one book this year, so ....not success?
The books that I do find myself reading when I read Japanese literature have quite a few similarities. Many of them episodic in nature - almost a collection of short stories. Most of them all seem to be looking at the people who are left behind and the grief they feel, and how grief is processed. Another series which has these similar characteristics is the Before the Coffee Gets Cold, which I have posted about previously. I have a friend who lived in Japan for a couple of years ago and we were talking about this recently which was an interesting conversation about the differences in cultures.
Today, I am going to share mini reviews of two books which both have food at their core and both have the similar episodic formats
The first is The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisash Kashiwai, which is the second book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series. I read and reviewed the first book in the series last year and really enjoyed it.
The idea of this book is that if you can find the restaurant you can tell them about a dish that has such perfect memories for you. The food detective, primarily former police detective Nagare Kamogawa, will then take the clues that you have provided and try to recreate the dish as authentically as possible. There is no magic in this series, unless you count the magical power of food to bring back memories
There are six stories in this book. They are:
A famous swimmer who wants to have another taste of the nori-ben that his father used to make, before they had a big falling out,
A food writer who busily critiques all of the food she is served but then wants them to recreate a hamburger steak which is her son's favourite.
A couple who run a traditional confectionary shop who want to track down a Japanese Christmas cake
A model looking for the fried rice that her mother used to make her
A man looking for ramen that replicates the one he used to have at university
A one hit wonder that had been waiting thirty years for her next hit to recreate a celebration meal but it didn't happen.
The descriptions of the food throughout the book are absolutely mouth watering. The Christmas Cake story inspired me to make a Japanese Strawberry Shortcake, which is their version. I posted about making that here.
The relationship between Nagare and his daughter Koishi who helps him with his detecting underlies the stories, particularly as they take care to honour their wife and mother who has passed away some time ago. And yes, there is a cat! It's name is Drowsy and it appears in all the stories.
There are currently 11 books in this series published in Japan, but only two have been translated into English so far. As soon as more have been translated I will definitely be reading them
The Chibineko Kitchen is the first book in The Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen series by Yuta Takahashi. It is also published with the title The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen.
I know that I probably shouldn't compare this book to either the When the Coffee Gets Cold series or the Yamogawa Food Detectives, but as I mentioned in the intro it is very difficult not too given the similarities in themes, the tone of the writing and the cats. There is one major difference with this book and that is there is a bit of a through story going through the four stories, more than there is in the other books I mentioned.
The Chibineko Kitchen is in a small seaside village not too far from Tokyo. They specialise in kagezen, which are traditional meals offered in remembrance of loved ones. The twist here is that it is possible that for the duration of the meal you can have one last conversation with them, one last chance to tell them that you love them, and to say goodbye.
In this book there are four stories.
The first is about a girl named Kotoko whose brother died and she is struggling with survivors guilt. She come to eat a fish stew made of a fish called fat greenling
The second story is about a young boy who shares an omelette sandwich with a young girl and then she disappears not long after!
The third is about making peanut rice for a neighbour of the restaurant
The final story is making beef hotpot and is for one of the main characters in the book
One of the points of difference to this book is that it actually includes the recipes. Some of them may be somewhat basic but they are there!
There are currently 9 books in the series. The second book comes out in English mid-year, and you can be sure that I will be getting my hands on it as soon as I can!
I know I have mentioned grief a lot here, but please don't think that these are heavy or depressing books. They are both very respectful of the people who are no longer in the lives of the characters for whatever reason, but there is also a joy and charm that lifts the books. As much as they are about looking backwards they are also about finding ways to move forward.
I have about four or five of these styles of books on my Kindle which I am hoping to read when I am visiting Japan and Korea in a few weeks time. That's my plan at any rate.
Saturday - Honey Pepper Chicken Stirfry Sunday - Leftovers Monday - Out for dinner Tuesday - Takeaway Wednesday - Zucchini, Tomato and Parmesan Risotto Thursday - Baked Tuscan Chicken and Pasta Friday - Mushroom Spaghetti Bolognaise
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page
Every year Sheila from Bookjourney asks us to share our first book of the year. I am usually still deciding what that book might be come 1 January, so I am always too late to share it with her, but here it is this year! And I have to say, it's a good one!
Also, note that shiny new Kindle Scribe! Yes, I am very excited that my husband got me one for Christmas!
I'm reading
I was very determined to finished Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang in 2024, as I really didn't want to carry it forward into 2025. Fair to say I didn't love it, but I read it for Cook the Books and it did provide plenty of inspiration for food to make. Expect that post in the next couple of weeks!
Whilst I started There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak my first book, I ended up then picking up A Love Like No Other by Kate Frost for a blog tour this week.
I then started The Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi which was a delight! I read this for Japanese Literature Challenge and my own version of January in Japan!
In other news, I decides to restart again at Storygraph for my 2025 reads. If you are on Storygraph, look me up! You can find me there as Margreads. I am also on Instagram as Intrepidreaderandbaker!
I'm watching
We really have only been watching bits and pieces. For example, we watched the Last Night of the Proms, and the Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood
Life
We finished our South Australian road trip, coming home via Adelaide and Mount Gambier! I am planning to do a post about all the big things, silos and art we saw along the way but for now here is the Big Lobster in Kingston SE and the Blue Lake in Mount Gambier.
One of the highlights was wandering around the Botanical Gardens in Adelaide seeing the 16 piece of art that are currently on show by famous artist Dale Chihuly. We really enjoyed the display. It would have been great to see it at night where it is all illuminated but we couldn't make the dates work!
After we got home we have been doing a lot around the house in terms of cleaning out the pantry and things like that, but not much more. The last couple of days in particular have been hot, hot, hot!
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