In Spring it is the Dawn

green tea and karinto

2009-11-26T23:55:00.022+09:00

I thought I'd join in a new meme (new to me, that is) this week as it combines two of my favourite things: books and tea. Thursday Tea is a weekly meme hosted by Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog. To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the answers to these questions: what tea are you drinking (and do you like it)? What book are you reading (and do you like it)? Tell us a little about your tea and your book, and whether or not the two go together.

Today's tea is an ordinary green tea. I don't remember where I got it from anymore because I put it into a tea canister and didn't think to make a note of it. I love all kinds of tea but green tea is great when you want something a bit refreshing, and calming at the same time. I know my Bodum teapot doesn't really match the Japanese pottery but it is great for making tea. And that's Bailey there in the background.

I thought I'd also include a snack, because the only thing better than tea and a book, is tea, a book and something sweet, right? But also because it ties in nicely with the current Hello Japan! mini-challenge which is focusing on Japanese food. Karinto is like a sweet cracker, made from deep fried bits of dough that are then coated with sugar, and maybe sesame seeds or peanuts like we had today. The slight sweetness of the karinto goes really well with hot green tea.

The book I'm reading is The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata. I have to admit I'm not too far into it yet but I'm enjoying it, and I have high hopes for it. Kawabata is a Japanese author, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and as the story is set in post-war Kyoto, it's a perfect match with both the green tea and karinto.

Tears of the Desert: A Conversation with Wendy of Musings of a Bookish Kitty

2009-11-25T18:30:00.004+09:00

Back in September, Wendy, of Musings of a Bookish Kitty, and I decided to read Tears of the Desert together, which we did, and then we chatted about it. But then bad timing, procrastination, life and what have you getting in the way, and we never got around to posting our thoughts on the book. Well here at last, our joint review. The summary was written by Wendy, the rest that follows is our conversation about the book.

Tears of the Desert: One Woman's True Story of Surviving the Horrors of Darfur
by Halima Bashir & Damien Lewis
Non-Fiction, 2008
Hodder & Stoughton, trade pb, 363 p.

In the winter of 2003, the Sudan Liberation Army and Justice and Equality Movement acted out against the injustice they saw taking place in their country. Black Africans were being oppressed and treated like second class citizens by the government. The government retaliated with more violence, taking it to an entirely different level. Not only were the soldiers in the rebellion targeted, but the innocent as well. Children and women are being raped, entire villages wiped out, and survivors are forced to leave the country or hide or risk certain death. The Sudan government controls the media within the country and has continuously tried to control the truth going out.

Halima Bashir is just one person who was caught up in the conflict. Her memoir, Tears of the Desert, is her attempt at giving voice to the hundreds of thousands of people who have been murdered and displaced by the Darfur conflict.

"Darfur. I know to you this must be a word soaked in suffering and blood. A name that conjures up terrible images of a dark horror and an evil without end. Pain and cruelty on a magnitude inconceivable in most of the civilized world. But to me Darfur means something quite different. It was and is that irreplaceable, unfathomable joy that is home." [pg 4]

Wendy: I am not really sure what draws me to books like this. The Holocaust has long been a part of history that has frightened and moved me. It is a time in the world’s history that is so painful, not to mention shameful. And not just for those who were directly involved. It is a blight on all our records. Stories about the Holocaust are told and re-told, the hope is that the same mistakes won’t be repeated. But they are. Again and again. The Holocaust was not the first instance of genocide nor was it the last. While the murder and rape of hundreds of thousands of black Africans in Darfur has not been labeled as genocide by the United Nations, it is still an atrocity that cannot be justified.

Nat: I know what you mean. Sometimes I shy away from these kind of books because I know that the stories told within will be painful and perhaps hard to read, but at the same time I think it's important for us to read these stories so we can be more aware of the terrible things that are unfortunately still happening in the world today. It's easy to be complacent while watching the news about countries half a world away from us, thinking that it doesn't affect us. But then the news, when it even reports it, only focuses on numbers and facts. Reading Tears of the Desert, and getting to know Halima and her family through the pages of the book, really put a human face on the tragedy occurring in Darfur.

Wendy: I appreciated how Halima Bashir told her story. I have read other books on Darfur that focus on the conflict and the atrocities. Halima wanted to offer a more well rounded picture, I think, and she did an excellent job for someone like me, who has never traveled to Sudan nor experienced a life like the one she has lived. The love for her country, her village and her family came through—I could not help but love them too. I was quite fond of her grandmother. She was so full of spirit. She may not have always been the wisest of women in her decisions, but it was impossible not to respect her.

Nat: The grandmother was quite the character, wasn't she? Some of her choices were more detrimental than helpful but she was a strong, determined, courageous woman and everything she did was out of love for her family. She ended up being a great role model for Halima and it seemed like a lot of Halima's later bravery was drawn from her grandmother's strength. Her grandmother would've been proud of her, I think.

I really enjoyed how Halima told her story too. I loved how she started off with her childhood, showing how happy she was growing up in her village, surrounded by her family. It's what made her story all the more moving for me, knowing that the bad was yet to come, but that it would come.

Wendy: No conflict arises out of nothing and it was interesting to see the growing discontent in the country through Halima's eyes, especially during her younger years. She is an amazing woman. She has so much courage and strength. Despite the odds that were definitely not in her favor, she continued to work toward her dream of becoming a doctor.

Nat: I have nothing but respect for her, for all she went through, for all she endured to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor, and to help her fellow Zaghawa. In the book she doesn't focus on the politics too much but of course some of it still comes through, mostly in discussions with her father. I'm admitting my ignorance here but one thing I hadn't really realized was the involvement of the British, by installing the Arabs to govern Sudan, in helping to create the atmosphere in which this conflict would eventually ignite.

'Back then the British came to our country for one reason,' my father continued. 'They came to take what they could for themselves. They took the land to grow their crops; they took the mountains to mine gold; and they tried to take the people to work for them. But we Zaghawa resisted, and we were never truly conquered.'

My father glanced at me, his eyes glinting. 'But you know the worst thing the British did? The very worst? When they left they gave all the power to the Arab tribes. They handed power to the Arabs. Now that's the sort of things you should be learning at school.' [pg 100]

Wendy: I was also really taken by her experiences as a refugee in England, the struggles she had to go through there. It must have been so difficult for her being in a strange country, surrounded by strangers and the unknown. While I have moved around a number of times in my life, it was always within my own country and I was never completely alone. My heart ached for Halima.

Nat: I found that part of her story interesting too. As if surviving, and managing to escape that hell wasn't hard enough, without having to fight to not be sent back there. I suppose in some ways she was lucky to have people who were willing to help her, but lucky seems the wrong word entirely considering all that she lost.

Most of the articles and interviews available online are from 2008, when the book came out, and I can't seem to find any updated information on the internet. I know that she has won her case and has been granted asylum in England, and I only hope that someday she will be reunited with the rest of her family. This was truly a touching story, and one that I think everyone should read.

Wendy: Like you, I scoured the internet in search of some sign that Halima was reunited with her family but to no avail. So many families in Darfur have been torn apart by the crisis. My heart goes out to those families.

Listen to an interview with Halima Bashir from the CBC (Part 3).
Listen to an interview with Halima Bashir on NPR, or read an extract from the book.
Watch an interview with Halima Bashir from SBS Dateline.
Read an article from the New York Times.

Buy this book at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.co.uk | BookDepository.com

In part thanks to Natasha's Darfur Awareness Campaign last year, when Jodie proposed The Year of Readers, as a way to bring literature into the lives of others by choosing a literary charity to support for the year, my thoughts quickly went to Darfur. As a result, since January of this year every book I've read and every book I've acquired has counted towards my donation to Book Wish Foundation.

Book Wish Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN: 26-1285319) with a mission to provide reading relief for people in crisis. In partnership with organizations that work on the ground in some of the most distressed places around the world, we support reading to improve education, mental health, and job training.

We focus on people in long-term crisis situations because they may face problems so grave that reading relief is not a major component of the aid they receive, although reading may have a great positive impact on their lives. Refugees, internally displaced people, school-aged children not in school, the homeless, the critically ill, and the desperately poor are among the populations we aim to reach.

One of the main projects of Book Wish is supplying English textbooks and aid to the people of Darfur in refugee camps in Eastern Chad. As an English as a Second Language Teacher, helping people to improve their lives through language and literacy, is something I can fully get behind. However, Book Wish doesn't just give books, they provide a variety of aid, and you can target your donation to specific projects, if you wish to do so.

Both Wendy and I chose to support Book Wish Foundation this year for the Year of Readers, and it was this that prompted us to read Tears of the Desert Together. And reading it just confirmed my desire to help in any small way I can. If you can spare even a few dollars, they could really use your help as well. You can contact either Wendy or I, or donate directly through the Book Wish Foundation website [Click on the link or the button above to access the Book Wish site], or consider the Book Wish Holiday Challenge: For each book you receive this holiday season, donate $1 to help someone less fortunate read.

Thank you again Wendy for reading along, and for putting up with me!

(#49 for 2009, Non-Fiction Five Challenge, Orbis Terrarum Challenge)

Also reviewed by:
Maw Books Blog
Diary of an Eccentric
Shhh! I'm Reading...
Bermudaonion's Weblog
Devourer of Books
The Printed Page
Bookworm's Dinner
If I've missed yours, let me know and I'll link to it here.

The small print: I purchased this book for my personal library. Links in this post to Amazon (including book cover) or The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

Sunday Salon: Reading Retrospective (October and November 2002)

2009-11-23T17:29:00.002+09:00

Monday Salon? I had most of this typed up yesterday but then it got late and here it is now Monday. I think it's still technically Sunday somewhere though, or if not we'll just pretend. Anyway, I didn't get around to posting my reading retrospective last month, so I thought I'd combine them this month. Taking a look back at my reading journal for 2002, the year I started recording what books I read, it was an interesting mix of books I read over those 2 months. However, the highlight would definitely be reading two more books by Sarah Waters, including the fabulous Fingersmith. I read her Affinity earlier in 2002, so I think it's safe to say that 2002 was the year I discovered Sarah Waters. What I can't believe is that I haven't read anything by her since! I've had The Night Watch waiting on my shelves for ages so I really must rectify that next year.

So, what else was I reading 7 years ago? I started off October with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I wrote in my journal that I was so glad to have finally read these, to read the original text instead of the Disneyfied version. As I've never played chess and don't have a clue about the rules, I'm pretty sure I didn't quite get all the references in Through the Looking Glass, but it was still a fun read. And I'm looking forward to the Tim Burton film of Alice in Wonderland coming out next year.

Next up was some Canadian lit, Martin Sloane by Michael Redhill. What I jotted down at the time: The characters, especially the absent Martin Sloane, linger long after the book is over. The story was perhaps a bit weak in places but emotional while remaining subtle, and in it's own way quite haunting. I do remember liking it, and as I still have my copy I should probably try to reread it someday. In mind I also associate Martin Sloane with Siri Hustvedt's What I Loved, another one I want to reread some time, or other literary fiction where art plays an important role.

Quite a few of the books I read during these two months were for online group reads. This was before I started blogging but back then I used to belong to several Yahoo Book groups, and I really have them to thank for getting me to read books I might not have otherwise. And it's thanks to those groups that I started compiling a wishlist and began collecting books at a faster rate than I read them. To look at my massive TBR (To-Be-Read) mountain of unread books now, all I can do is sigh. I don't regret it though.

The next book I read, Empire Falls by Richard Russo, was also a group read. I don't remember the discussion anymore and although I know there are fans of Russo, I wasn't particularly enamoured by this book. I have to admit that I don't even remember the story at all now either, but in my journal I wrote that I thought that other than the main character, the other characters weren't fleshed out enough. That the story had possibilities that just weren't realized. If I were to try another book by Richard Russo, which one would you recommend?

Then it was to Victorian England with Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. This is probably my least favourite of Waters' three Victorian novels but that's not to say that it wasn't also very good. It was definitely a very fun romp! Sarah Waters does such a great job at setting the atmosphere, and describing the characters, you can't help but become engrossed in her stories, at least I can't.

I ended October with Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. As it's a collection of loosely connected stories rather than a single narrative, perhaps unsurprisingly I liked some more than others. I've had Vreeland's The Forest Lover on my TBR stack for ages and really should try to read it sometime. I'm sensing a trend here. Looking back at these titles, I don't think I've read any of the authors since, and for most it's not out of not wanting to. My how the time flies!

I started November with some light reading, Bookends by Jane Green. I wrote in my journal, "not bad for chicklit although the main character's storyline was so very predictable." Well, it was chicklit after all.

Next up was the wonderful Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. A completely engaging, well-written, atmospheric, twisty story. My favourite of these two months and it even made my Top 5 List for 2002. If you haven't read it yet, you really must!

My next read was a play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, which I read before going to see it performed at the National Theatre in London. Glenn Close played Blanche and it was a truly fabulous performance. Ah, I really miss going to the theatre. Some of the big musicals do play in Japan but they're performed in Japanese by a Japanese cast! Besides the language comprehension issues, I just can't imagine watching something like Les Misérables, or Cats, in Japanese! Oh well, I'm glad I did get to see some great plays and musicals while we lived in England.

In reading, I ended November with another chicklit, Pastures Nouveaux by Wendy Holden, but it was one that I quite enjoyed. In my journal I called it "delightful British chicklit" that reminded me of a modern version of a Jane Austen story, and I'm a big fan of Jane.

So not a bad couple of months worth of reading. As for my reading this month here in 2009, it's not going as well I'm sad to say. I've really been struggling to read and blog this fall, a combination of a lack of time, and to be honest a little bit of burn out. I am hoping to get back in the swing of things soon though. And I am reading, just not as much or as quickly as I would like. Right now I'm in the middle of In the Wake of the Boatman by Jonathan Scott Fuqua and am quite enjoying it so far. I'm planning to start The Old Capital very soon, for the Japanese Literature Book Group, as the discussion date is fast approaching. The discussion will begin on Monday, the 30th so that leaves me a week. Plus I'm also still reading Northanger Abbey on my iPhone whenever I'm stuck in a train commuting, and am about half way through it as well. So some fun books on the go, if only I could find more time to spend actually reading them. I also posted my review of Big in Japan: A Ghost Story this week, which was another interesting release from Chin Music Press that reminded me a little bit of Ryu Murakami.

What are you reading this week? What were you reading in years past?

Have a good week everyone!

The small print: Links in this post to Amazon (including book covers) and The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

'Big in Japan: A Ghost Story'

2009-11-19T23:47:00.003+09:00

by M. Thomas Gammarino
Fiction, 2009
Chin Music Press, pb (ARC), 209 p.

While playing to lackluster crowds in their hometown of Philadelphia, progressive rock band Agenbite clings to the comforting half-truth that they’re doing better in Japan. When their manager agrees to send them on a shoestring tour of that country, however, they’re swiftly forced to give up their illusions and return Stateside.

All but one of them, that is.

Brain Tedesco, the band’s variously haunted chief composer, has fallen in love with a part-time sex worker – the first woman ever to have touched him – and his illusions have only just begun. What ensues is a Dantesque coming-of-age tale in which Brain must navigate the borderlands between fantasy and reality, past and present, sex and death – even as forces beyond his control conspire to undo him.

By turns compassionate and ruthless, erotic and grotesque, riotously serious and deadly funny, Big in Japan: A Ghost Story is a sparkling, gut-wrenching, face-melting debut novel. [From the back cover]

As you know, I’m always happy to read books that somehow relate to Japan, so I was thrilled when I was contacted by Chin Music Press about their latest title, Big in Japan, which just came out on November 1st.

What stands out for me about this book is how we really get into the brain of Brain! (sorry, couldn’t resist!) The main character, Brain (formerly Brian), is so socially inept and naïve, it’s hard to believe there actually are people like him out there. However, his awkward social maneuvers and the thought processes behind them did make for some amusing reading.

Brain wasn’t happy go lucky to begin with, but his gradual descent into despair was like watching the proverbial car crash in slow motion. What was fascinating though was following the process, and seeing the events, which ultimately led to the final scene. I never liked him as a character, but I almost felt like I understood how he could reach such a low point. The story was all a bit odd and unsettling, but mostly in a good way. The way that gets under your skin and stays with you even after you’ve finished the book.

I should warn you that the book does contain scenes of graphic sex and colourful language. If it were a movie, it would most likely be rated an R. As such the story was rather crude at times and one scene in particular was quite … um… revolting. A Western man’s obsession with Japanese women isn’t an original storyline in itself, and it’s taken here to the extreme, but when I occasionally wondered what the heck I was reading, Gammarino’s writing pulled me along and kept me engaged in the story. And when I closed the book after reading the last page, I couldn’t help feeling that underneath all the sordidness, at the heart of the story there lies something much deeper, almost philosophical, about human relationships and desire.

Review in Metropolis magazine
Music playlist for Big in Japan

Thank you to Jennifer of Chin Music Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Buy this book at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Chin Music Press

My Rating: 3.5/5
(#57 for 2009)

The small print: This book was received free of charge from the publisher for review purposes. Links in this post to Amazon (including book cover) and The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

'I Am a Cat' Volume One (JLit Read-along)

2009-11-15T23:58:00.008+09:00

Welcome to the Japanese Literature Read-along discussion of Volume One of I Am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume.

A little background:
Natsume Sōseki is the pen name of Natsume Kinnosuke. He was born in 1867, and is often regarded as one of the best Japanese writers of the Meiji era.

I Am a Cat was originally published as a short story (what is now chapter one), but because of its success, he was encouraged to develop the story further. I Am a Cat was published in ten installments, in the literary journal Hototogisu, between 1905 and 1906.

From the back cover:
I Am a Cat is the chronicle of an unloved, unwanted, wandering kitten who spends all his time observing human nature - from the dramas of businessmen and schoolteachers to the foibles of priests and potentates. From his unique perspective, author Sōseki Natsume offers a biting commentary - shaped by his training in Chinese philosophy - on the social upheaval of the Meiji era.

The original Japanese title of I Am a Cat, Wagahai wa neko de aru, has a much deeper meaning than the simple English translation. The language used is very formal, and highly inappropriate for an unnamed stray cat turned house cat. So the satire begins from the very title itself.

A bit of trivia:
Sōseki Natsume used to feature on the 1000 yen bill. This series was retired in 2004.

Vocabulary and Cultural Context
There are plenty of references, many of which I probably didn't catch myself, but these are some of the ones that I thought might enhance your understanding.
(Click on the links for more information. Page numbers refer to the Tuttle Publishing, Three Volumes in One Edition, ISBN: 080483265X)

He has a weak stomach and his skin is of a pale yellowish color, inelastic and lacking in vitality. Nevertheless he is an enormous gormandiser. After eating a great deal, he takes some taka-diastase for his stomach and, after that, he opens a book. (p. 6)
Taka-diastase is a digestive enzyme discovered by Dr. Jokichi Takamine in 1894.
Photo © Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

The next day, when, as always, I was having a pleasant nap on the veranda, the master emerged from his study (an act unusual in itself) and began behind my back to busy himself with something. At this point I happened to wake up and wondering what he was up to, opened my eyes just one slit the tenth of an inch. And there he was, fairly killing himself at being Andrea del Sarto. I could not help but laugh. (p. 10)

After the two men left, I took the liberty of eating such of the boiled fishpaste as Coldmoon had not already devoured. (p. 29)
Boiled fish paste, or kamaboko.
Image © www.kamaboko.com

From my same old place I watched his morose consumption of a typical New Year's breakfast of rice-cakes boiled with vegetables, all served up in soup. (p.30)
Rice cakes, or mochi, is made by pounding cooked rice until it is a sticky mass. The soup is called o-zoni, and the soup stock and types of vegetables included varies widely in the different regions of Japan, but it always includes mochi. The later incident of the cat dancing around the kitchen with mochi stuck in his teeth was very funny. Mochi is indeed very sticky, and even more so once the hot soup softens it up.

"My wife had earlier asked me, as a year's-end present to herself, to take her to hear Settsu Daijo. I'd replied that I wouldn't say no, and asked her the nature of the program for that day. She consulted the newspapers and answered that it was one of Chikamatsu's suicide dramas..." (p. 81)

"... They said that as they had used the very best quality, it would last longer than most memorial tablets. They also said that the character for 'honor' in Tortoiseshell's posthumous name would look better if written in the cursive style, so they had added the appropriate strokes."
"Is that so? Well, let's put Myoyoshinnyo's tablet in the family shrine and offer incense sticks." (p. 89)
A Buddhist family shrine, or butsudan, is still a common sight in many Japanese homes but seems to be less common with young Japanese.

Then, simultaneously erecting every single one of my eighty-eight thousand, eight hundred, eighty hairs, I shook my whole body. (p. 91)
The number 8 is considered a lucky number in Japan. It also has many occurrences in Buddhism and as such is considered an auspicious number for Buddhists.

But when, one of these days, some master sculptor, some regular Hidari Jingorō, comes and carves my image on a temple gate... (p. 92)
There is apparently some doubt as to whether Hidari Jingorō was a real person, but he is said to have carved the nemuri neko (sleeping cat) on one of the gates at Nikkō Tōshō-gū, a famous Shinto shrine in Nikko, to the north of Tokyo.

The proof that he has not attained enlightenment is that, although he has my portrait under his nose, he shows no sign of comprehension but coolly offers such crazy comment as, "perhaps, this being the second year of the war against the Russians, it is a painting of a bear." (p. 24)

He spoke excitedly, in a tone of voice appropriate to an announcement of the fall of Port Arthur. (p. 113)

"...But it's positively shameful that a citizen of Tokyo should never have visited the Sengaku-ji Temple." (p. 114)

We visited Sengaku-ji in March 2006.

A few guidelines for the discussion:
Feel free to discuss anything that happens in Volume One. That said, please beware that if you haven't yet finished reading Volume One, the COMMENTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. Please read at your own risk.

And speaking of warnings, DON'T READ THE INTRODUCTION, to the Tuttle edition at least. I should have known better but I read it and it spoiled the ending!

Also, if you have gone on to read further in the book, please wait to discuss specifics of Volume Two until next month. However, if you'd like to bring up a general question, please do so and that way I'll keep an eye out for it in my own reading.

You are welcome to post your thoughts or questions any time. Even if you haven't had a chance to start reading yet, please feel free to join in later. For those participating in the discussion, I would suggest checking the box to subscribe to follow-up comments so that you will be notified when new comments have been left on this discussion post.

If you have posted about Volume One on your own blog, please leave a link in the comments and I'll update this post with your links so that we can all visit.

I think it goes without saying, but please be respectful of other people's opinions. It's our different perspectives or insights that will make the discussion more interesting. And there are NO stupid questions! If there is something in the text that you wondered about, don't hesitate to ask about it. We may not know the answer but we can try to figure it out together.

I'd also like to let you know that I've created a Twitter account (@readingjapan) that I will use to post updates on both the Japanese Literature Read-alongs, and the Japanese Literature Book Group, plus any other Japanese literature that I review or come across. The main discussion will take place here, but you're welcome to take the discussion to Twitter as well if you like. If you do so, please use the hashtag #iamacat. For general Japanese Literature topics, use the hashtag #jlit. These will make it easier to search, or follow the conversation. I will always post all the information regarding the group reads on the blog here so don't worry if you aren't on Twitter.

OK, with that out of the way, here are a just few simple questions to get the discussion ball rolling, but please do feel free to comment on any aspect of the story.

What do you think of the story so far? The schoolteacher? The cat? The schoolteacher's 'friends' who are always telling tall tales?
Have you had any difficulties reading the first volume? Any burning questions?
What impression do you have of Japan from this portrayal?
As it's a satire, what do you think the author is saying about Japan, and this class of people?
What name would you give the cat, if you could? Or do you like the fact that he remains nameless?
(Your question here... )

The following participants have shared their thoughts on Volume One:
Gnoegnoe at Graasland
Terri B. at Tip of the Iceberg
Claire at Paperback Reader

The small print: Links in this post to Amazon (including book cover) contain my Associates ID. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

Sunday Salon: October in review

2009-11-14T23:56:00.135+09:00

Note: No, I haven't forgotten that today is the day our Japanese Literature Read-along group will begin its first discussion, on Volume One of I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki. I'll work on the post when we get back from our photo outing this afternoon. So stay tuned.

I've missed posting something for the Sunday Salon for a few weeks. First it was the read-a-thon, and then just life getting in the way. All I can say is that the one good thing about not being able to blog much lately, and therefore not able to visit other blogs, means that I haven't been adding many titles to my wishlist either. Since my wish list is already very very long, I suppose this is a small positive.

My reading is still going pretty slowly (I keep falling asleep pretty much whenever I finally sit or lay down with a book) but thanks to the read-a-thon I was able to read 6 books in October. That actually sounds better than it is though since most of them were quite short but they made for some enjoyable reading nonetheless.

I started off the month in a small town in New Mexico where I had to make some important changes to my life. Next it was to Edinburgh, Scotland where I discovered a shocking secret about my friend, Dr Jekyll. Then I spent some time attending the Cross Academy, where the students in the special night class are actually vampires. After that it was to District 12 and Panem, in the not so far future in America, where I battled for my life in the Hunger Games. My life was again in danger as I travelled in the dead of winter in the Mouse Territories in the year 1152. And finally I ended the month in a small town in Switzerland where some shocking things occurred and mass hysteria ensued.

Books completed
(click on the titles below to read my reviews; the book covers are linked to Amazon)
50. The Road from La Cueva - Sheila Ortego
51. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror - Robert Louis Stevenson
52. Vampire Knight, v. 1-3 - Matsuri Hino
53. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
54. Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 - David Petersen
55. The Vampire of Ropraz - Jacques Chessex (review pending)

Best of the month? It's hard to choose. The writing in The Road from La Cueva was lovely. The art in Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 was fantastic. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was fascinating, even knowing the outcome in advance. The Vampire Knight series and The Hunger Games were fun to read. And The Vampire of Ropraz was an intriguing look at human reaction and panic in the face of disturbing, unexplained events. I guess if I absolutely had to choose though I'd go with Mouse Guard, and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but really they were all good!

New-to-me authors: Five out of the six were new to me. The only one I'd read before was David Petersen with the first Mouse Guard book. Winter is the second in the series. I really enjoyed all of these books and hope to read more by all of these authors.
Books in Translation: 2 (The Vampire Knight manga series is translated from the Japanese, and The Vampire of Ropraz was translated from the French.)

Books in: 5 (3 purchased, 1 giveaway win, 1 for review: Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, which I've already read, The Summer of Ubume by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, Away by Amy Bloom, Hell by Yasutaka Tsutsui)
Books out: 3 (I was very late sending out the books from my Book Blogger Appreciation Week giveaways. Sorry.)

The Year of Readers: Reading for the Book Wish Foundation.
Money raised this month: $11
Total raised (year to date): $152

Reading Challenges Progress Report
(see sidebar for current challenges)

Completed
R.I.P. IV Challenge: 4 books

I ended up doing all my R.I.P. reading in October. I'd set out to complete Peril the First, to read 4 books, which I accomplished but I'd hoped to read quite a few more. Sigh. I'm halfway through Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and enjoying it all over again. This is one of the Austen titles that I haven't reread since I first did in my teens, quite a few years ago now, so, having forgotten much of it, it's almost like reading it for the first time. And I plan to read at least a couple more R.I.P. type books anyway in the next month or so. Thanks again for hosting, Carl!

Dropped
1% Well-Read Challenge

Joined
YA Dystopian Reading Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): 1/3
DystopYA Reading Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): 1/3

Ongoing
Dewey's Books Reading Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): 3/5
Lost in Translation Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): Completed - 16/6
Orbis Terrarum Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): 9/10
What's in a Name? 2 Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): 5/6
Herding Cats II: Attach of the Hairballs (until Dec. 31, 2009): Completed - 3
Manga Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): Completed - 7/6
Graphic Novels Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): 4/6
ARC Reading Challenge (by Dec. 31, 2009): Completed - Current ARC/Review status (for 2009): 14 read, 7 to go
Everything Austen Challenge (July 1, 2009 - Jan. 1, 2010): 2/6
Japanese Literature Challenge 3 (July 30, 2009 - Jan. 30, 2010): Completed - 3/1
Canadian Book Challenge 3 (July 1, 2009 - July 1, 2010): 1/13

Long-term Reading Projects (Total read in 2009)
Reading Japan Project: 16 (including manga, 1 in October)
Orange Prize Project: 0

October was also the first month of the Hello Japan! mini-challenge. Thanks to everyone who has participated so far. I hope you'll enjoy experiencing a little bit of Japan for many months to come.

Reading plans for November
The month is already half over but my first priority this month has been reading the first Volume of I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki for the Japanese Literature Read-along, and then I need to start soon The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata for the Japanese Literature Book Group at the end of the month. I also should focus on some review books that I'm a bit behind on, and then maybe a challenge book or two if I can squeeze them in as the end of the year, when many of them finish, is fast approaching.

Other random bookish news:
I've been wanting to buy some Persephone books for quite a while now, but have held off, as I just know that once I start I'll want them all, which will be very bad for my wallet. But I could no longer resist when I found about the Persephone Secret Santa, so I signed up and I can't wait to finally get my first Persephone book! I also need to choose one for the person I am Secret Santa for. I'm going to browse the Persephone website over the next couple of days but I'd love to have a place to start. So please tell me your favourite Persephone titles.

I've also joined the Book Blogger Holiday Swap which should be a lot of fun. Despite the fact that we're still getting some pretty warm days, mixed in with the cooler ones, I think I'm starting to get into the holiday spirit!

And I'm also excited because I just might be able to go to Book Expo America in New York in May next year! So yay for all the bookish goodness.
Have a good Sunday everyone, and happy reading!

The small print: Links in this post to Amazon (including book covers) or The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

'Mouse Guard: Winter 1152'

2009-11-14T18:20:00.002+09:00

Written and Illustrated by David Petersen
Fiction/Graphic Novel/Fantasy, published previously as 6 individual issues, this collected edition published Fall 2009
Archaia, hardcover, 180 p.

The Winter of 1152 turns out to be a cold and icy season, and the Guard face a food and supply shortage threatening the lives of many a mouse in the Mouse Territories. Some of the Guard’s finest – Saxon, Kenzie, Lieam, and Sadie, with the old grayfur Celanawe by their side – traverse the snow-blanketed Territories acting as diplomats to improve relations between the mouse cities and the Guard, and seeking vital supplies for their headquarters at Lockhaven. But hungry predators, the dangers of ice and snow, and a wrong turn into the haunted depths of the abandoned weasel tunnels of Darkheather place even so intrepid a band of Guardsmice in mortal peril. This is a winter not every Guard may survive… [From the dust jacket]

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 continues the story of the brave, loyal protectors of the Mouse Territories after the rebellion that took place in Mouse Guard: Fall 1152. The main characters are the elite members of the Mouse Guard, and it was wonderful to see them grow and develop a little in this collection. And despite the fact that it’s again a pretty straightforward adventure tale, there were some touching moments. Like in the previous book though, it’s all about the art. The colours are so vivid, and the detail is truly stunning. I don’t know what else to say about it so I’ll let the art speak for itself. I’ll just say that I think anyone who has enjoyed other books like The Tale of Despereaux, or movies like Ratatouille, will definitely love this series. Plus the good news is that Petersen is apparently working on a third series, Mouse Guard: Black Axe. Definitely something to look forward to.

For more information, visit the Official Mouse Guard website, and David Petersen's blog.

Buy this book at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.co.uk | BookDepository.com

My Rating: 4/5
(#54 for 2009, Graphic Novels Challenge)

Also reviewed by:
Read About Comics

All images © David Petersen

The small print: I purchased this book for my personal library. Links in this post to Amazon (including book cover) and The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

'The Hunger Games'

2009-11-08T14:53:00.004+09:00

by Suzanne Collins
Fiction/YA, 2008
Scholastic, trade pb, 455 p.

Winning will make you famous.
Losing means certain death.

In a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.

When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister’s place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.
[From the back cover]

To be honest, when I first heard about this book, I wasn’t all that interested in it. I’d seen the movie, Battle Royale, a few years ago and it sounded somewhat similar. Not to mention the other stories, like Nineteen Eighty-Four, Lord of the Flies, The Lottery, and the reality shows Survivor, and Big Brother that it’s been compared to. I wondered why people were getting so excited about a book that didn't seem very original, and I have to say that I’m really not a fan of reality TV. I do often like dystopian fiction though, and with all the hype surrounding this book, and these characters, on blogs and Twitter, I finally gave in. So I bought both books and set them aside for the read-a-thon. (This was a popular idea, as there were quite a few of us reading The Hunger Games during the recent read-a-thon). I haven’t got to Catching Fire yet, the second book in the trilogy, but I can say that The Hunger Games was a great read-a-thon book. It’s easy to read, and with lots of action and suspense, the story certainly kept me turning the pages. And even though we know that the main character will survive (1st person narration in her voice, and of course the fact that this is the first in a trilogy of books), it was still a very engaging, entertaining read. It may not be literary fiction but it was a lot of fun. It’s just the kind of book to get lost in for a few hours.

But again with the honesty, as much as I liked it, which I did, don’t get me wrong, perhaps more than I thought I would, I didn’t love it to bits like so many others have done. I had planned to read some other books during the read-a-thon as well but I could’ve just continued on with Catching Fire if I’d really wanted to. However, after reaching the end of The Hunger Games I just wanted a break from all the Drama, with a capital D. Somehow for me, the romance aspect of this story, so far anyway, is the least interesting part of it, and I guess I just felt it might be another love triangle à la Bella/Edward/Jacob, which I wasn’t quite in the mood for that weekend. I am curious to know how the rest of the story turns out though so I’ll definitely be continuing with the series. From what I understand, the second book ends with a cliffhanger so I think I’ll try to wait until closer to the release of book 3 before I read it.

Suzanne Collins website
Interview with Suzanne Collins
Read or listen to a sample chapter of The Hunger Games.

Buy this book at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.co.uk | BookDepository.com

My Rating: 4/5
(#53 for 2009, R.I.P. IV Challenge, YA Dystopian Challenge, DystopYA Challenge)

Also reviewed by:
1morechapter.com
Paperback Reader
Life and Times of a "New" New Yorker
The 3 R's
My Fluttering Heart
Devourer of Books
S. Krishna's Books
Monniblog
Medieval Bookworm
Stephanie's Written Word
Books I Done Read
GalleySmith
At Home With Books
Nothing of Importance
Stuff as Dreams are Made On
Maw Books Blog
Bibliolatry
Hello, My Name is Alice
Bart's Bookshelf
Shhh I'm Reading
Bookmarked!
Diary of An Eccentric
Farm Lane Books Blog
Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?
My Friend Amy
Bobbi's Book Nook
Lesley's Book Nook
Have I missed yours? Let me know and I'll link to it here.

The small print: I purchased this book for my personal library. Links in this post to Amazon (including book cover) and The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

'The Frozen Deep'

2009-11-06T09:00:00.002+09:00

by Wilkie Collins
Fiction/Classic
First published from August to October, 1874
Hesperus Press, pb, 103 p.

Exchanging vows of love with sailor Frank Aldersley the night before his departure on an Arctic expedition, Clara Burnham is haunted by the memory of Richard Wardour, and his mistaken belief that they will one day marry. With her gift of ‘Second Sight’, Clara foresees terrible tragedy ahead and is racked by guilt. Allied to different ships, the two men at first have no cause to meet – until disaster strikes and they find themselves united in a battle for survival. It cannot be long before they discover the nature of their rivalry, and the hot-tempered Wardour must choose how to take his revenge.

Based on the doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, and originally performed as a play starring both Collins and Dickens, The Frozen Deep is a dramatic tale of vengeance and self-sacrifice which went on to inspire the character of Sydney Carton in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. [From the front book flap]

I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this story right from the start, as I couldn’t help but smile at the short opening paragraph.

The date is between twenty and thirty years ago. The place is an English seaport. The time is night. And the business of the moment is – dancing.

It sets a nice scene, don’t you agree? I’ve been in the mood for a classic or two lately (I’m also in the middle of re-reading a Jane Austen) so this was a good fit, and it was good to finally read something else by Collins as it has been a few years since I read The Woman in White.

I have to admit that I think this was the first time I’ve ever read anything about that “doomed expedition to the Arctic” so I really didn’t know much about it. However, reading this short fictional account inspired me do a little research. OK, this consisted mainly of reading up on it at Wikipedia and a couple of other websites, but it was enough to provide some details about what actually happened. In Collins’ tale, names and events have been significantly changed, and it has a considerably different outcome than the historical reality. But I can understand why it would have still been a topic of much interest when Collins wrote the story about 30 years after the actual expedition, and even still is today.

As always, it was also interesting just to spend a little time in the 19th century, observing how their lives were different from ours now, and just how long everything took. In this day and age of cell phones and easy internet connectivity and even satellite phones, it’s hard to imagine waiting years for news!

Mrs Crayford rises, and puts down the volume that she has been reading. It is a record of explorations in the Arctic seas. The time has gone by when the two lonely women could take an interest in subjects not connected with their own anxieties. Now, when hope is fast failing them – now, when their last news of the Wanderer and the Sea-mew is news that is more than two years old – they can read of nothing, they can think of nothing, but dangers and discoveries, losses and rescues in the terrible Polar Seas.

As the story is told in just around 100 pages, there’s not a lot of room for detail so we don’t get to know the characters as well as I would've liked. I especially would’ve liked more on Clara, and her ‘Second Sight’. The ending was also what I expected yet somehow I was still kept wondering for sure right up to the last. Ultimately, it can’t compare to the depth and twisty-ness of The Woman in White, but it was an enjoyable read all the same. Collins is definitely a master storyteller. I’ve got a copy of The Moonstone on my stack that I’m looking forward to reading and hope to get to before too long.

Read The Frozen Deep online

Buy this book at: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.co.uk | BookDepository.com

My Rating: 3.5/5
(#56 for 2009)

I read this as part of The Classics Circuit Wilkie Collins tour which started this week and runs to December 10th. Visit the site for more information or see the full list of all Wilkie Collins tour stops.

The small print: Links in this post to Amazon (including book cover) and The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

Hello Japan! - November: Are you hungry?

2009-11-03T23:23:00.005+09:00

I'd hoped to get this posted a little earlier but here is the Hello Japan! mini-challenge for November. But first a quick recap for anyone who is new. Hello Japan! is a monthly mini-challenge focusing on Japanese literature and culture. Each month there will be a new task which relates to some aspect of life in Japan. Anyone is welcome to participate. You can post about the task on your blog. Or if you don't have a blog, you can leave a comment on the Hello Japan! post for the month. Everyone who completes the task will then be included in the drawing for that month's prize. For more information, just click on the Hello Japan! button above, or if you have any questions please feel free to email me at inspringthedawn AT gmail DOT com.

November's Topic

In a comment over on Paperback Reader's post for the October mini-challenge, one of Claire's readers jokingly asked if eating sushi counted towards the Hello Japan! mini-challenge. Then in a comment on October's link roundup, Kristen M. said about the next challenge [for November], "I hope it involves tempura". Well, you are going to get your wish! November is all about Japanese food. I hope you're hungry!

November's Task

This month the task is simply to eat Japanese food, take a picture if possible, and tell us about what you ate. You can go to a Japanese restaurant, or make something at home. It can be a favourite dish, or you can challenge yourself to try something new. The choice is up to you.

If Japanese food is something you haven't really tried before, or you would like some ideas of other types of Japanese food, check out these links, because of course it's not just sushi!

JapaneseFood.About.com: For lots of recipes, an introduction to Japanese cuisine, Japanese table manners, and much more.
Eat-Japan: Search for recipes by entering an ingredient (ie. tofu, shiitake, miso) in the Keyword Search. This site also has a listing of Japanese restaurants in the UK.
japan-guide.com: A list of popular Japanese food.
Book of Yum Blog: For a few gluten-free recipes including gluten-free vegetarian yakisoba recipe, some gluten-free vegetable side dishes and a couple others. :)

Or you could borrow a Japanese cookbook, like Harumi's Japanese Cooking, from your local library.

The main purpose of this month's task is simply an excuse to enjoy some good food, and maybe even learn a little something in the process. If, however, you don't have access to any Japanese food, no restaurants nearby, no supermarkets that carry Asian food, but you'd still like to participate, you can tell us what you would like to eat if you could, or you could look up something relating to Japanese food, Japanese chopsticks etiquette, for example, and tell us why you should never leave chopsticks sticking up vertically in a bowl of rice. And even those of you who are busy writing novels for NaNoWriMo this month, you still have to eat! ;)

November's Prize

One person who participates in this month's mini-challenge will be selected at random to receive this pair of chopsticks and chopstick rests.

Once you have completed the task, don't forget to come back here by the end of November and add the link to the Mr Linky below. Please submit the link to the actual post, not just to your top page, and please only submit links to posts relating to the Hello Japan! task for this month. All other links will be deleted. Thank you for your understanding!

Hello Japan! - October Link Round-up

2009-11-02T23:52:00.004+09:00

(Sorry for the delay in getting this post up, I've had some technical problems this past weekend coupled with a lack of time.)

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read or watch something scary, spooky or suspenseful in October for the first Hello Japan! mini-challenge. There was a mixture of books, movies, anime and manga, ghost stories, mysteries, and murder. So, without further ado, let's recap.

Perhaps not too surprisingly, one of the well-known writers of Japanese horror, Koji Suzuki, was well represented.
Mel U of The Reading Life read the book, Ring.

Gnoegnoe of Graasland watched the movie, Dark Water but also mentions the movie Ringu in her post as it is by the same director.

Teresa read Promenade of the Gods by Koji Suzuki, for which she wrote this mini-review:
When I first started this book, I thought it might be a nod to Murakami, as that is the last name of the main character and there's a husband who disappears at the start of the story. My son disagreed with me and I became less sure of my 'theory' as I read along, but it's still a decent mystery in any case. (It's not 'horror' as is his "Ring," which I've also read the trilogy of and think is better than this book of his.) I enjoyed the characterization of the main female character; and the send-up of the media and how it can be manipulated. Unfortunately, the text contains some sloppy translation and lazy editing.

Velvet of vvb32 reads also read Ring by Koji Suzuki, which she compares to the Japanese and American movie versions. But Velvet didn't stop there, she also read up on Japanese Female Ghosts, and watched two of the four ghost stories in the movie Kwaidan including Black Hair and the Woman in the Snow (Yuki Onna).

Natakiya of Bento Anarchy also read some of the Japanese ghost stories compiled by Lafcadio Hearn, and even made a Halloween bento with a cute tanuki.

Tineke Schaap of mylifeshesaid read Out by Natsuo Kirino. I had to chuckle at her comment about having a strong stomach, as it is quite graphic in places.

chasing bawa read Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino, which, like she says in her review, is a dark and disturbing story.

Kristen M. of We Be Reading read her first manga, The Cain Saga: Forgotten Juliet by Kaori Yuki, and in her post she also includes a great little introduction to manga.

su of su[shu] read Shadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe, calling it "the kind of story that you need to finish, and sit on for a few days before making any conclusion about it."

Bellezza of Dolce Bellezza read Oh! A Mystery of Mono No Aware by Todd Shimoda, a book I'm also eager to read.

Claire of Paperback Reader watched the movie, Battle Royale, about which she said "it is powerful in its subtleties and its cultural commentary on a Japan obsessed with youth, fashion and cuteness. Battle Royale should not be taken at face-value as an overblown violent film but as a fantastically exaggerated cultural comment."

Novroz at bokunosekai watched the anime, Natsume Yuujinchou about an orphan boy who can see and talk to ghosts.

And Terri B. of Tip of the Iceberg is still making her way through Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Akinari Ueda. I look forward to reading your thoughts on the stories, Terri.

I'd hoped to read The Summer of the Ubume by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, as it apparently delves into Japanese folklore and yokai, supernatural entities, but unfortunately October wasn't a great reading month for me so I wasn't able to get to it. Instead I read the first 3 volumes of the Vampire Knight manga series, on my shiny new iPhone. (Sorry, I couldn't resist, but it's my most favourite new toy in ages! ;)

So there you have some scary, spooky, suspenseful Japanese books and movies. I hope you all enjoyed the October task and perhaps got some ideas for future Japanese spooky reads.

But wait... there are a couple of prizes to hand out. For her sheer enthusiasm I arbitrarily decided Velvet should have one of them. So the Punk Kitty notepad and pen goes to Velvet. And by random selection, the little stuffed Halloween Kitty goes to Natakiya! (Natakiya, please email me at tanabata2000 AT gmail DOT com with your mailing address).

Stay tuned for the November task which will be up tomorrow. Again, I apologize for the delay.

The small print: Book covers in this post are linked to Amazon and include my Associates ID. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission to help support In Spring it is the Dawn. For more information visit my About Page.

'Vampire Knight, v. 1-3'

2009-11-01T23:57:00.004+09:00

Written and Illustrated by Matsuri Hino
Original Japanese title: ヴァンパイア騎士
Fiction/manga, 2005 (Japan), 2007 (English translation)
Published in the US by Viz Media

Yuki's earliest memory is of a stormy night in winter, wherein she was attacked by a vampire... And then rescued by another. Now 10 years later, Yuki Cross, the adapted daughter of the headmaster of Cross Academy, has grown up and become a guardian of the vampire race, protecting her savior, Kaname, from discovery as he leads a group of vampires at the elite boarding school. But also at her side is Zero Kiryu, a childhood friend who’s hatred for the creatures that destroyed everything he held dear, is now determined never to trust them. This coexisting arrangement seems all well and good, but have the vampires truly renounced their murderous ways, or is there a darker truth behind their actions. Is Kaname's infatuation with Yuki the beginning of a forbidden romance, or is it something in her forgotten past that draws him to her? Because in this world of secrets, nothing is as it seems. And the price of misplaced trust may even be worse than death. [From mangafox.com]

One of the first applications I downloaded onto my new iPhone (after Echofon for Twitter, and a couple of other essential ones) was an app for reading manga*. Then, since it was October and the season of Halloween, I decided to try out the Vampire Knight series, which I had heard about previously. I had soon read my way through the first 5 chapters comprising volume one. The first volume essentially just introduced the main characters but I was curious enough, so I kept going.

Volume 2 was a little more confusing as more characters were introduced, who I sometimes had a hard time keeping straight since they tend to look alike, at least to me. And I have to admit that the translation was sometimes pretty awkward. I should explain that the manga application for iPhone sources its manga from online websites onemanga.com, mangafox.com, or mangavolume.com, and these sites consist of scanlations, as they are called, done by fans**. These aren’t official translations, and one manga series is usually scanned and translated by different people. Sometimes it’s quite obvious that whoever translated a particular chapter, that their first language is not English. I think the original idea behind these sites is to provide English versions of manga that are not yet available in English, or that are harder to find. However, even when they have been officially published in the US, like the Vampire Knight series has, the publishers seem to accept these websites and the sites in turn, encourage their readers to buy the manga when they are available. Anyway, all that to explain that the version of the manga that I’m reading isn’t an official one, so it sometimes doesn’t quite read naturally. However, even the publishers themselves sometimes offer the manga online for free. The link below to read Vampire Knight online is actually through the American publishers website, and perfectly legit, but for me the convenience of reading on my iPhone instead of my laptop wins out over reading the official version.

One of the reasons I am enjoying this series is because of the art. It’s quite detailed, and even though I think some of the characters are too similar, it is quite fun to look at. I can certainly see where some of the cosplay costumes one might see around originated.

But back to the story… in the middle of volume 2 I wasn’t sure I’d bother continuing, but something kept me turning the pages, digitally, and luckily volume 3 was more interesting. And volume 3 has ended with a new character that I want to see what happens to so I guess I’m going to have to read on after all. The series currently has 11 volumes so we’ll see how far I get. I can honestly say though that at this point, while it’s fun to read this series on my phone when I’m waiting for the train, or whatnot, I doubt I’d continue with the series if I had to buy it.

Read Vampire Knight online

Buy Vampire Knight at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.co.uk | BookDepository.com

My Rating: (overall for volumes 1-3) 3/5
(#52 for 2009***, Hello Japan! October mini-challenge, R.I.P. IV Challenge, Manga Challenge)

Also reviewed at:
Bart's Bookshelf - volume 1
Bold. Blue. Adventure. - volume 1 & 2
Books & other thoughts - volume 1, volume 2, volume 3
Have I missed yours? If so, let me know and I'll link to it here.

*Incidentally, after I mentioned this on Twitter, I heard from some people working on a new, different manga app, which I was able to try out in a beta version. If you’re curious, it’s called MangaDL. They’ve just submitted it to Apple but I hope it gets approved because it has lots of great features that the first one I tried didn’t have.

**I would usually try to avoid these kinds of sites hosting unofficial translations, but there is also no way I would ever be able to buy all the manga that I’m remotely interested in. Since I’m still new to reading manga this also gives me an opportunity to try out some series without the risk of buying them but then not liking them (see my review of xxxHolic, vol. 1). So in my mind I’m equating it with borrowing books from the library. If I could read the Japanese originals I would be able to do just that, or be able to buy ridiculously cheap used copies, but since I can’t, and the English translations are considerably more expensive… Plus I won’t be keeping the downloaded chapters on my phone indefinitely, just until I’ve read them, and for any series that I do fall in love with, like Emma, I will buy them to add to my personal library. Just thought I’d clarify.

***For the purposes of my yearly book stats, counted as 1 book.

The small print: Links in this post to Amazon (including book covers) and The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror'

2009-10-31T15:53:00.001+09:00

by Robert Louis Stevenson
Fiction/Classic, 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', 1886; ‘Olalla,’ 1885; ‘The Body Snatcher,’ 1884
Penguin Classics, trade pb, 205 p.

Published as a ‘shilling shocker’, Robert Louis Stevenson’s dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll’s strange association with ‘damnable young man’ Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde’s true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity’s basest capacity for evil. The other stories in this volume also testify to Stevenson’s inventiveness within the Gothic tradition: ‘Olalla’, a tale of vampirism and tainted family blood, and ‘The Body Snatcher’, a gruesome fictionalization of the exploits of the notorious Burke and Hare. [From the back cover]

For a long time I never had any particular desire to read this, or any of the other horror classics like Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. I’ve never been into reading horror but over the last couple of years I’ve become much more open to it. It all started with the ridiculously addictive Twilight series, and then Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Vampire Chronicles, which surprisingly, to me, I really enjoyed. That led me to finally read Dracula. While it wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read, I was so glad to have finally read for myself what is often considered the origin of our modern day vampire fascination. After years of dismissing them I now seem to be a fan of vampire novels!

Well, as far as horror classics go, this year was Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’s turn. We stumbled upon the BBC TV series of Jekyll in the DVD rental shop so we watched the first couple of episodes and quite enjoyed it. Then preparations for moving this summer and all that entailed prevented us from watching any more and we didn’t get back to it until earlier this month. However, it was enough to make me curious to read the original. As it turned out, I ended up reading the book while we watched the show and that definitely added to my overall enjoyment. The TV series was not a straight re-telling so it was fun to see how they played with the original text, even having the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, showing up at one point.

As for the book itself, it was quite satisfying. Sure, Jekyll and Hyde embodying the dual nature of man is so ingrained in our collective consciousness that the story itself certainly held no surprise, but I enjoyed it all the same for the language and Stevenson’s storytelling. How much more fun it must’ve been though to read it back when it first came out in 1886, without any spoilers!

The two other tales included in this volume were also suitably spooky and atmospheric. The vampire tale, Olalla, is very gothic, set in an isolated house in the mountains in Spain. And ‘The Body Snatcher’ was a perfect R.I.P. tale with plenty of grave robbing and murder.

Again, I’m so glad to have finally read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, as well as the two additional stories. I suppose I’ll be reading Frankenstein too now. Maybe for next year’s R.I.P. Challenge. In the meantime, I’m now quite intrigued to read Valerie Martin’s Mary Reilly, about Dr Jekyll’s maid. I guess I can no longer say that I don’t read horror!

Read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde online (courtesy of Project Gutenberg)

Buy this book at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.co.uk | BookDepository.com

My Rating: 4/5
(#51 for 2009, R.I.P. IV Challenge)

Also reviewed at:
A Work in Progress
Becky's Book Reviews
Between the Covers
Bluestalking
BooksPlease
Educating Petunia
things mean a lot
The Zen Leaf
If you have also reviewed this title, let me know and I'll link to it here.

The small print: Links in this post to Amazon (including book covers) and The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

'The Road from La Cueva'

2009-10-29T23:53:00.005+09:00

by Sheila Ortego
Fiction, 2008
Sunstone Press, pb, 134 p.

Ana Howland is at a crisis point. As a constrained yet passionate woman, she finds few outlets for her desires in her role as mother and wife. She is subsumed by a controlling husband, but is craving her own fulfillment.

Her frustrations find outlet through a friendship with an eccentric neighbor and an affair with a man who respects her and nurtures her spirit and independence. Through hardship and grim determination, she learns to look with her own eyes, to feel with her own heart. She discovers a deep well of resilience and compassion, with room for growth and freedom. Her story is one of a leap of faith, away from despair and toward life at its fullest. Despite all odds, she navigates herself, through small but profound changes, into new ways of living, of relating to her friends, her daughter, herself.
[From the back cover]

This was a beautifully written story of a woman struggling to lead a life of her own choosing, trapped in a marriage by her overbearing, controlling husband but afraid to leave for the sake of their daughter. The story follows Ana as she comes to some realisations about herself and the people around her, and as she essentially learns how to become her own person. The author said in her guest post at Tip of the Iceberg that she “basically used [her] own life as material”, and the story did feel very real and personal.

The author is also a poet, and I think that careful wordsmanship comes through very clearly in her prose. There were some wonderful descriptions throughout, as well as some clever metaphors that beautifully express Ana’s struggle to become free.

He ran his fingers around the rim of the cup. “See how this isn’t even? The Japanese call this 'shibui', the flaw that makes something beautiful. The shape has to have some room, some freedom.” …. “Like with people,” he said, and she nodded.

As an aside, I loved this quote because I, too, admire the natural, 'flawed' beauty often seen in Japanese pottery. We don't have any really fancy dishes but some of my favourites are the ones that we picked up in Mashiko, one of the areas in Japan famous for pottery, quite a few years ago. Some might consider them rough, and asymmetrical, but I think they're beautiful.

She pictured how he must have looked when he wrote the letter, saw his hands, his chapped, strong, tender hands, as he penned it. … He hadn’t needed to say more. … The words lay cruelly on the thick gray paper.

She imagined him planning it while chopping wood or wedging clay, giving his anger back to the earth, to hold for him. He would hold the anger in while he was at work. It would still be waiting for him when he got home. The anger would sleep with him at night, wrapping itself around his heart like the parasitic mistletoe on the juniper trees. It would reveal itself in the pots he made, in crude, squat stoneware heavy with the weight of their emptiness.

I thoroughly enjoyed this slim novel and in fact, I would’ve been quite happy if it had been longer, but as it is, it’s a touching story with an important message. Namely, that no matter how we have ended up in a situation, whether through our own poor choices or not, we do have the power to change our circumstances, to escape if needed, if only we can find the strength within ourselves to do so. Truly, a lovely little book.

The author is working on her next book, apparently to be set in Canada, and I very much look forward to reading more by Sheila Ortego in the future.

For more information on the author or the book, visit Sheila Ortego's blog, and this article in the Huffington Post.

Thank you to the author, Sheila Ortego, for the opportunity to read this book.

Buy this book at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.co.uk | BookDepository.com

My Rating: 4/5
(#50 for 2009, ARC Reading Challenge)

Also reviewed at:
Tip of the Iceberg
Terra's Book Blog
Puss Reboots
If you have reviewed this book, let me know and I'll link to it here.

The small print: This book was received free of charge from the author for review purposes.
Links in this post to Amazon (including book cover) and The Book Depository contain my Associates or Affiliates ID respectively. Purchases made via these links earn me a small commission. For more information visit my About Page.

Two new books, green tea ice cream, and a couple of reminders

2009-10-26T23:58:00.003+09:00

A couple of books have arrived in my mailbox over the last week. The first is Hell by Yasutaka Tsutsui. You might remember that I recently read Paprika by the same author, which I read and reviewed courtesy of Alma Books. They then wondered if I'd be interested in trying another of his books and of course I said yes! Unexpectedly, they also sent along another copy of Paprika so expect a giveaway for that one at some point.

The second book, which only just arrived today, is Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I actually ordered this at the beginning of October so I was getting worried about it as the books I order from The Book Depository usually arrive quite quickly. Anyway, I'm glad it's finally here, even though I don't have time to read it quite yet.

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

So, has everyone recovered from the read-a-thon? As I mentioned, I didn't quite reach my goal of 1000 pages for this read-a-thon but it was certainly still a lot of fun to spend the weekend reading and blogging with over 300 other people from around the world! Thank you again to Eva, Nymeth, Hannah and Trish! And thank you to everyone who stopped by to cheer me on. Your comments were very appreciated!

In Read-a-thon Update 5 yesterday, I mentioned that H decided to make some ice cream, and that I'd post a photo. Well, here it is... homemade matcha (green tea) ice cream. I know the bitter green tea powder is often an acquired taste for us foreigners but I love it! And it's such a fun colour!

Also, a reminder that this is the last week of October, which means it's also the last week to get your links up for October's Hello Japan! mini-challenge, which was, in case you've forgotten, to read or watch something scary, spooky or suspenseful, and Japanese in origin. Even if you haven't done anything yet, you still have time. You could read a manga or a short story online, or watch a movie. And you don't have to do a full-fledged review, just tell us about what you read or watched. I'll be posting the round-up on November 1st, and announcing the November task shortly thereafter.

As well, the discussion of the first volume of I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki, for our Japanese Literature Read-along group will take place on November 15th. Of course you can always join in the discussion anytime. The discussion for Volumes 2 and 3 will start on December 15th and January 15th respectively, so there's still plenty of time to grab a book if you'd like to read along with us. Gnoegnoe of Graasland was reading I Am a Cat during the read-a-thon and she has me really looking forward to it!

Read-a-thon: Update (6) - And that's a wrap!

2009-10-25T21:19:00.003+09:00

It's now after 9 PM on Sunday here in Japan and the read-a-thon has officially ended. Wow! The time just flew by! I kind of gave up on reading during the last couple of hours and spent the time bloghopping instead. Along with a dinner break. So I didn't quite make my goal of 1000 pages but I had fun all the same, and it was great to see so many people reading together this weekend.

Total Time Spent Reading: 8 hours 35 min.
Total Pages Read: 723
Books Completed: 3

Food/Drink Consumed: We ordered sushi for dinner, which we had with more green tea.

Mood: Amused. As proof that I'm in the wrong time zone, because even though it's getting late, and I'm a little tired, I usually read at night in bed so I'm now in the mood to read again! LOL.

End of Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 6 since that's 3 AM in Japan and by then I was having trouble concentrating so I headed to bed for a few hours.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, or any fast-paced YA fiction. Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi, or any graphic novel, or manga. Generally anything fun, and easy to read.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope. You guys do such a fantastic job making this a truly wonderful event! Thank you!!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? All of it. Everything seemed to work seamlessly.
5. How many books did you read? Only 3 this time around.
6. What were the names of the books you read? The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 by David Petersen, and The Vampire of Ropraz by Jacques Chessex
7. Which book did you enjoy most? All of them for different reasons. Don't make me choose!
8. Which did you enjoy least? See #7.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't an official cheerleader but I tried to bloghop some and visit other readers. It took quite a while though and I wish I could've gotten around to more. I apologize if I didn't get by yours, but I hope you had a wonderful time! I really appreciate all the people who cheered, their support and enthusiasm truly helps to make this event so enjoyable!
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Oh yes, I'm sure to participate again! I still struggle with balancing reading and computer time so I think I may just do one, then the other next time (12 hours reading, 12 hours cheering), instead of trying to do both throughout. But it's such a fun event, I'm already looking forward to April!

Thank you Eva, Nymeth, Hannah and Trish! Dewey would be proud!

Read-a-thon: Update (5) - Final Stretch

2009-10-25T18:10:00.010+09:00

It's now a little after 6 PM on Sunday here in Japan. I spent some time visiting other blogs but I have to say that blog-hopping has taken much longer than I expected, plus it's so easy to get distracted so I haven't visited nearly as many as I would like. Whether I made it by to leave a comment or not though, I hope you're all having a great read-a-thon! As a result of blog-hopping, making ice cream, and doing the dishes (see Other Activities below), I really didn't start reading again until about 4 PM Japan time. Gah! With the hours quickly counting down, it's now that I always start feeling panicky about not having read enough. I did finally sit down with The Vampire of Ropraz by Jacques Chessex. A super slim novella that I just finished a few minutes ago.

Actual Time Spent Reading (since last update): 70 min.
Pages Read (since last update): 89

Total Time Spent Reading: 8 hours 35 min.
Total Pages Read: 723
Books Completed: 3 (The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 - David Petersen, The Vampire of Ropraz - Jacques Chessex)

Food/Drink Consumed: For lunch, a bagel sandwich, and sparkling water. Then later as a snack, senbei (rice crackers), and iced green tea.

Other Activities: H decided to make ice cream (the ice cream maker was one of our best purchases this past summer, homemade ice cream is delish!) so I helped with that a bit. Hopefully it'll be hardened enough to have some near the end of the read-a-thon and I'll post a picture. Then we did the dishes and some other tidying up.

Mood: A little disappointed that I haven't accomplished more, but having fun all the same. Why does the read-a-thon always go by so so very quickly?

It's hard to believe the read-a-thon is almost over already! Just under 3 hours left. For anyone who has been awake for the whole thing so far and is still up, you can do it!!! You're almost there!

BTW, just a note, especially to my regular readers, that even though I'm not replying to comments on my blog during the read-a-thon, I will do so tomorrow. So if you've asked a question you can expect a response.

Mini-challenge completed (since last update): The Page 23: "I'd rather read..." Mini-challenge

Read-a-thon: Update (4) - Up and at 'em!

2009-10-25T12:34:00.002+09:00

It's now 12:30 PM on Sunday afternoon here in Japan. Yikes! We're already into Hour 16 of the Read-a-thon! Only 8 more hours to go, guys! As you can see I'm up again after having a nice sleep. I slept a bit longer than I wanted to but the bed was so warm and comfy, it was hard to get up. I took Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 with me to bed and I did manage to read for a while before I fell asleep. Then I finished the rest of it off while having breakfast a little while ago.

Actual Time Spent Reading (since last update): 70 min.
Pages Read (since last update): 180

Total Time Spent Reading: 7 hours 30 min.
Total Pages Read: 634
Books Completed: 2 (The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 - David Petersen)

Food/Drink Consumed: Tea and toast.

Other Activities: Zzzzzz.....
Mood: A little sad that I missed so many great mini-challenges. And still a little sleepy. I plan to spend another hour or so blog-hopping and then get back to reading.

Mini-challenge completed (since last update):
Wisdom of Age mini-challenge

Read-a-thon: Update (3) - Oh so sleepy!

2009-10-25T03:06:00.000+09:00

It's now 3 AM on Sunday morning here in Japan. I haven't been doing much reading at all since my last update almost 6 hours ago (really! 6 hours? Where does the time go?). I finished The Hunger Games and then spent longer than I should have looking at my shelves to come up with something for Bart's Mini-challenge. And then I've been round a few bloggers and cheerleaders to leave comments.

Actual Time Spent Reading (since last update): 70 min.
Pages Read (since last update): 88

Total Time Spent Reading: 6 hours 20 min.
Total Pages Read: 454
Books Completed: 1 (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)

Food/Drink Consumed: Just some iced green tea, water, juice - not all at once.
Other Activities: The boys were demanding attention so I played with them for a bit.

Random Fact: H was away during the afternoon but he came back and was watching baseball on TV this evening so I took my book to the bedroom. As I get older, I seem to prefer reading in quiet. ;)
Mood: Sleepy! My eyes are dragging down and feeling dry, and I'm having a hard time concentrating. So I'm going to take a book to bed with me but I don't think I'll last too long. My plan is to sleep for about 5 or 6 hours (I'll be setting my alarm) and then to spend a couple of hours on the computer catching up and cheering some of the other readers on. So don't expect to see me for several hours, but I will be back later. Hope everyone's having fun!

Mini-challenges completed (since last update):
Where in the World is the Read-a-thon? - Added my location to the Google Map, the first one in Japan.
Bart's Mini-challenge - Came up with a couple of possibilies: Something might happen in the woods after dark.

Read-a-thon: Fun with Titles

2009-10-25T01:48:00.003+09:00

Bart's Mini-challenge asks us "to pull three or four books off of your bookshelves and use them to form a sentence, from the book titles..."

As he warned, I spent far too long looking at my bookshelves to come up with these, but I think I was needing a break after The Hunger Games, or at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it! And I know we were only asked to do one but I kind of stumbled upon the second one while I was searching the shelves for the books in the first one so I thought I'd include it too even though it's not entirely grammatical.

Something might happen in the woods after dark.

Lying awake after you'd gone, gone for good.

Hope everyone's reading is going well.

Read-a-thon: Update (2) - On Your Mark, Get Set, ... Go!

2009-10-24T21:20:00.004+09:00

It's now past 9 PM on Saturday evening here in Japan and the 24 Hour Read-a-thon has officially begun. Since my last update at 7 PM, I read for another 65 minutes and only have about 80 pages left to go in The Hunger Games. So I should have my first book completed by the next update.

Actual Time Spent Reading (since last update): 65 min.
Pages Read (since last update): 86

Total Time Spent Reading: 5 hours 10 minutes
Total Pages Read: 366
Books Completed: 0

Food/Drink Consumed: Had some dinner, not terribly exciting just leftovers from yesterday, but including Japanese style flavoured-rice...yum.
Other Activities: Fed the boys (aka the cats) their dinner too.
Random Fact: It's raining out, which really is great curling up on the sofa and reading weather!
Mood: Eager to get back to The Hunger Games as it's in the last stretch now. And I'm looking forward to the read-a-thon proper now that it has officially begun! Yay!

Introduction meme:

Where are you reading from today? Tokyo, Japan
3 facts about me … I'm addicted to chocolate. One of my favourite things is having a warm cat curled up beside me while I read. I'm blonde, which means I really stand out in Japan.
How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? 10, although I don't expect to get all of them read.
Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? Not specifically although I would like to read more than 1000 pages. This is my third read-a-thon, and for the first one I only read 605 pages. For the second I read 948 pages, which was very close, so this time I'd like to better that. I'm also planning to spend more time cheering other readers on this time. I hope to visit everyone who visits here and then see how many others I can get to.
If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time? I posted some tips on my Read-a-thon post earlier in the week, but mainly I'd say 'variety' is key. To keep from burning out on reading, read several short or fast-paced books, change the position where you read (bed, sofa, etc), have a selection of snacks on hand, check out the various mini-challenges. In other words, mix things up a bit. There are so many ways to enjoy the read-a-thon, the most important thing though is simply to have fun!

Happy reading everyone!

Read-a-thon: Update (1) - Oh so hungry!

2009-10-24T19:05:00.001+09:00

It's about 7 PM on Saturday evening here in Japan. The read-a-thon hasn't officially started yet but I started reading about 6 hours ago, taking a few short breaks here and there.

Actual Time Spent Reading: 4 hours 5 min.
Pages Read: 280

Food/Drink Consumed: Reading The Hunger Games seems to be making me hungry! I've already been into my stash of junk food, and had some chips, ginger ale, and chocolate (chocolate really is a read-a-thon essential), but that was a couple of hours ago now so I think it's time to have a break for dinner.
Mood: Loving the intensive reading! If you follow my blog you'll know that I haven't been doing much reading over the last couple of weeks so it's so wonderful to be really reading again! I'm also quite caught up in The Hunger Games, it's definitely the page-turner that everyone says it is. I'm well into Part Two now and am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I'll be back at 9 PM when the read-a-thon officially begins.

Read-a-thon: Let the Reading Begin!

2009-10-24T13:07:00.001+09:00

It's just past 1 PM on Saturday here in Japan and as I mentioned earlier in the week, I'm starting Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon a few hours early, 8 hours to be exact. I was originally planning to start at noon but I ended up doing some chores around the house. However, now that the floors have been vacuumed, the cat's litter box cleaned, and a load of laundry done, I can read this weekend without any guilt. So, while the read-a-thon doesn't officially start for another few hours, my read-a-thon begins... now!

I'll be posting progress updates approximately every 4 hours or so (as long as I'm awake) with some photos of books and snacks and whatever else comes up over the weekend. In the meantime, here's what I'm going to dive into first...

See you in a few hours.

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon: The Books

2009-10-22T23:50:00.012+09:00

I've got a plan, now for the books. Following my own tips in the previous post, the books in my stack for the 24 Hour Read-a-thon this weekend are all either short, and/or include pictures, or are YA ones that are supposedly very quick, suspenseful reads.

The stack:
Big in Japan: A Ghost Story by M. Thomas Gammarino -- A new book coming out at the beginning of November from the lovely people at Chin Music Press. It would be great if I could read it this weekend but either way I'll be reading it soon.
The Vampire of Ropraz by Jacques Chessex -- This one is so short, it's a novella really. I'm thinking of reading this one late at night, when the house is quiet....
The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins -- Another short one, this is the book I'll be reviewing for The Classics Circuit Wilkie Collins' tour next month.
The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins -- I'm leaning towards starting with The Hunger Games since I'll be starting my reading early and will have a few hours of uninterrupted reading before the read-a-thon officially begins.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness -- I'm not sure I'll read this during the read-a-thon, especially if I read The Hunger Games and maybe Catching Fire as well, but I've heard such good things about it it's on the stack anyway.
French Milk by Lucy Knisley -- A graphic novel for when I'm getting sleepy.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie -- Not a graphic novel but it does have lots of illustrations and generally looks like it'll be a fun read.
Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 by David Petersen -- The art in these books is so gorgeous; perfect for tired eyes.
The Three Incestuous Sisters by Audrey Niffenegger (not shown) -- Ditto on being good for when my eyes are tired of too many words.

I'm looking forward to all of them but am probably most excited to finally read The Hunger Games since there's been so much buzz about this series.

What book(s) are you most looking forward to reading during the read-a-thon?

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon: The Plan

2009-10-19T23:49:00.006+09:00

If possible this past week has been even worse in terms of not reading than the previous week. I didn't mean to neglect my blog as well but there ended up being almost no reading OR blogging happening around here last week. Work and some personal stuff going on made the weekdays pretty much a wash, but then I have a fun excuse for the weekend. Our two-year mobile phone contracts were almost up so on Saturday we went out and got iPhones! We also spent a few hours on Sunday afternoon at a local park admiring all the pretty pink cosmos flowers, but otherwise most of my weekend was spent figuring out my new toy, and trying to decide which applications to download. I found a manga one so I've started reading the Vampire Knight series, as it seemed suitably seasonal, on my phone. Quite cool! If you have an iPhone I would love to know which are your favourite and/or essential apps.
Image © Apple Inc.

Are you planning on participating in the upcoming 24 Hour Read-a-thon (either as a reader or cheerleader)? Have you made any preparations for the event? And, veterans out there, any tips you’d like to share with the newbies?

Absolutely, and I can't wait! This will be my third read-a-thon (my first was last October) as a reader, and I'm going to try to do things a little differently this time. One of the main difficulties for me, and anyone else in this corner of the globe, is that with the time difference, the read-a-thon doesn't officially start until 9 PM on Saturday here in Japan. For my first one, I tried to stay up for the whole thing, after already having been up all day, but I ended up crashing for a couple of hours and boy were my eyes dry and tired. Then this April I took about 4 hours out about halfway through to have a nap, which was a bit better but I was still quite groggy for a while after starting again and of course I did miss some of the read-a-thon. And with missing a few hours, reading for charity so feeling like I should be reading instead of the other stuff, and just with all the events going on I felt a little overwhelmed, and didn't get a chance to do much cheering on of the other readers which I would've liked to have done.

So this time I'm going to try to read more, sleep longer and cheerlead too! Sounds impossible, right? Well, I've decided on the following rough schedule, which may get shuffled around a bit on the day:

Start reading on Saturday at 12 PM JST (Japan Standard Time), in other words, 9 hours early.
Read for 6 or 7 hours, with occasional breaks and a couple of updates. Since I'll be reading on my own, ideally without too many distractions, I hope to make some considerable progress.
Take 2 hours off for dinner and to chat a bit with H before the craziness begins.
The read-a-thon officially starts at 9 PM. Keep reading until I can't keep awake. I'm aiming for 4 or 5 hours, until 1 or 2 AM or thereabouts. Perhaps cheer for an hour.
Sleep for 6 or 7 hours.
Wake up. Stop by Galleysmith's Read-a-thon Slumber Party which I think will be in full swing by then.
Spend the next couple of hours on the computer catching up and mostly visiting other readers to cheer them on.
By around noon on Saturday (JST) I'll hopefully be awake enough and ready to read again. Depending on my mood and attention span, I'll spend the next several hours reading, cheerleading, or slumber partying.
Take an hour off for dinner.
If possible, spend the last couple of hours in a mad spurt to read more pages.
At 9 PM JST the read-a-thon officially ends. Spend a couple of hours de-briefing, then sleep. Best of all I don't have to work the following Monday, so it'll give me a chance to recover.

Therefore, by starting early and taking that time out in the middle I should end up with a total close to 24 hours. What do you think? Do-able? Ridiculous? Regardless, I'm looking forward to having fun trying. I've already warned H that the whole weekend will be pretty much devoted to reading so he'll just have to amuse himself those two days.

As for tips, just the usual ones, like those already mentioned at the dedicated read-a-thon blog.

Have a variety of food, snacks and drinks. Don't forget fruit and other healthy food along with the essentials, like chocolate!
Don't load up on too much caffeine. If you're getting sleepy, getting up to stretch or go for a short walk will wake you up and will be better in the long run than more coffee/tea/cola.
Change locations. 24 hours in one place is pretty tedious.
Wear comfortable clothes but remember that if you're too warm and cozy, you might fall asleep.
Choose books that are fun, and easy to read. Page-turners that you can get lost in for a few hours.
Several shorter books are better than one or two long ones as you have a feeling of accomplishment when you finish each book.
Graphic novels, manga, books with pictures are great when you're eyes are tired and your attention span may be fading.
If you'll be doing updates on your blog throughout, you might want to get some posts started in draft beforehand.
It's not a competition or a job. There's no obligation to stay awake the whole time, join in as much as you can or want to.
And most importantly, have fun!

Anything else that you'd suggest?
Let me know if you'll be reading along this weekend and I'll make sure to come cheer you on! Happy read-a-thon, everyone!

Musing Mondays is hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page.