Tag: Japan

Book Review: Blood of Tyrants

Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik I listened to or read all the rest of these books and somehow skipped over this one, so I was glad to see what happened in the interim. I didn’t know who Junichiro was, for example, and missed how Temeraire and Izkierka came to have an egg and why …

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Book Review: Goodbye Things

Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki I would have rated this book as excellent if it had been able to convince a hoarder to embrace the tenets of minimalism. I would have rated it as acceptable if it had merely told me what I know about minimalism and not really cemented it. …

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Book Review: Asleep

Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto A friend handed me this, not telling me what to expect, and it turned out to be a very literary novel. It’s not really a novel, per se., but three long short stories or short novellas all on the theme of sleeping. The first short story is about a woman worried …

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Book Review: When You Are Engulfed In Flames

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris I got this book as an audiobook, and believe it is Sedaris’ best collection. I’ve also read DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND DENIM, and at least another one, but I can’t remember which one. I’ve also heard quite a few of his NPR readings and …

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Book Review: The Zen of Fish

The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, from Samurai to Supermarket by Trevor Corson If I had to give a 6 word review for this, it would be “good with fish, bad with people.” This book talks about sushi, from its origins to how it’s evolved over time. If you’re a sushi aficionado, this …

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