The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide focuses on a childless couple who is adopted by the neighbor’s cat. The novella offers a detailed slice of life set in the late 1980s. It’s hard to believe that is over 30 years ago! The author isn’t familiar with cats, so Chibi’s antics surprise and delight him. Chibi doesn’t…
Category: Book Reviews
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
The Rape of Nanking covers the destruction of present-day Nanjing City by the Japanese during World War II. The book doesn’t hold back. In several chapters, I had to take a break from the relentless atrocities the author accounted. Nanking was the first area the Japanese went after taking Shanghai. The goal was to conquer…
Senbazuru: One Thousand Steps to Happiness, Fold by Fold by Michael James Wong
Let’s take a break from folklore this week: Senbazuru: One Thousand Steps to Happiness takes a different perspective than most books I’ve read about mindfulness. It uses the practice of folding 1,000 paper cranes to explain how to slow down and find joy in everyday life. Wong breaks the crane into 12 steps, using each…
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
The book Snow Country offers cold prose and interactions appropriate to its name. The story follows Shimamura’s love affair with the hot spring geisha Komako and his developing interest with a young woman named Yoko. The book can be a little difficult to follow if you don’t read carefully. Kawabata writes with spareness and suggestion…
Wabi Sabi by Beth Kempton
The other day I was at a library for a teen mental health conference. As I usually do, I took the lunch break for some alone time. Conferences have far too much group work and socialness! After wandering around town, I returned to the library and found the book Wabi Sabi by Beth Kempton. I’ve…
African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke
Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard’s book African Samurai tries to mesh nonfiction with historical fiction. The result is a patchwork that felt more fiction than historical. The seams quickly appear when they switch from the narrative of Yasuke’s life to a more objective historical tone. Their sources are solid, but their experiment made the book feel…