Japan – Page 16 – Cannonball Read 17

Psychic powers? Check. Normal Life? Not on your life!

Mob Psycho 100 Volume 1 by One

March 2, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I was speaking with a coworker about a Netflix show he had seen a few episodes of. It was Mob Psycho 100. I found book one and thought “Why not? I only have a couple thousand other books, what is one more to read?” Beside it was something I had never heard of and it sounded interesting. Plus, I have wanted to read more manga. I can boil down this review to three words: One unique story. Yet, another way to describe this book is […]

One of the Untold stories of World War Two

Under the Broken Sky by Markio Nagai

October 16, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I was taught that if writers have a negative comment about what they are reviewing, they should start with a positive comment. However, I am going to be a rebel and start with the negative: If I have one complaint about Under the Broken Sky by Markio Nagai it is that the language is too modern. The contemporary voice of the narrator occasionally took me out of the (historical) moment, making me backtrack to get back to Manchuria mid-1940s. Now that is over, the good […]

I Needed to Understand the Culture More….Maybe….

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

September 16, 2019 by Ale Leave a Comment

I watched the movie, Memoirs of Geisha, many years ago and remember being a little disenchanted by it. I have vivid memories of the beautiful kimono and well-done settings, but the plot itself has largely escaped me. I always meant to read the book that inspired the film to see if I’d like it better, and since we have a far-and-away square, how much farther away can I get from my home than Japan? I was excited to delve into this story until I saw that it […]

Aging down the line

Plum Rains by Andromeda Romano-Lax

September 9, 2019 by Claire Badger Leave a Comment

In the not-too-distant future , Japan is faced with an aging, ailing population and a declining birth rate. With few young people willing to care for the elderly, they allow migrant workers in, with the promise of citizenship vaguely dangled in front of them. The migrant workers have a series of ridiculous and near-draconian rules and regulations placed on them, needing to navigate language testing, paying off loans, and unfair labour conditions just to survive long enough to send money back to their families abroad. […]

Baseball In Japan

You Gotta Have WA by Robert Whiting

August 19, 2019 by Jake Leave a Comment

Growing up a big baseball fan, I always knew the sport was popular in Japan. I also always knew it was played differently but I didn’t know why. Not necessarily played differently rules-wise (though there is some of that, like ties for example), but culturally, there were different expectations of the players and the clubs. Robert Whiting smoothly lays the differences out in this book. I worry sometimes that westerners don’t always have a sensitivity to the nuanced differences in respective eastern cultures but he […]

A Beautiful and Difficult Novel: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

June 29, 2019 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Pachinko – Min Jin Lee Finished on April 23, took 17 days to read 5 stars on Goodreads Genre: Historical Fiction Rating 2/3 Historical Fiction Pachinko is a beautiful and heart-breaking book. The plot extends over multiple decades of one woman’s life: Sunja. Sunja was born in Japanese-occupied Korea, but eventually marries and moves to Japan prior to the outbreak of World War Two. We follow Sunja and her family (four generations) all the way through the 1980s and their lives in Japan. I was […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

Help Our Mission