Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Convenience of Individuality

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

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This is one of those strange little books that I found reaffirmed my belief in the idea of being true to yourself. There are a lot of platitudes about that concept, mostly Disney-fied or Rom-Comish in execution, and those platitudes always ring hollow to me. They seem sacharine, or manipulative, or frustratingly narrow in execution. What Sayaka Murata offers in Convenience Store Woman is a character so out of synch with the rest of her society, but so in synch with the world of her […]

When a piece of history tries to make peace

Tails from History: A Puppy for Helen Keller by May Nakamura

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Tails from History: A Puppy for Helen Keller shows how the author, May Nakamura, is obviously a fan of their subject. You can tell how admired Keller was in her quest for peace, you can Nakamura likes dogs and of course the Akita breed and you can tell she admires the Japanese people and land. But also, you get a fun story about a small slice of a person who was a trailblazer on so many levels. This, perhaps little-known part of Keller’s life, was […]

Existential Dread Served With Your Crime Fiction

The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura

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I didn’t love The Thief but it’s one that will definitely stay with me. It’s not my typical tale: a story about an almost nameless career petty thief heisting wallets that shifts between the past and the present. In the past, he did a controversial job for some heavy hitter criminals in Japanese society and now he’s on the run. In the present, he’s done running and is getting by with thieving when he meets a poor boy and his mother, the former of whom he takes […]

Brilliant!

Out by Natsuo Kirino

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Rarely am I able to describe books in one word but I can do so with Out: kaleidoscopic. Natsuo Kirino is a popular writer in Japan and I’ve wanted to get into her work for some time. Personally, I had wanted to start with Grotesque but I saw this at a bookstore for a reasonable price and figured What the heck? Well sometimes fate deals you quite a hand. Coincidentally, this is a major theme in Out: how the actions and behaviors of others impact people. We’ll get to […]

I’m just a soul whose intentions are good…

The Delinquent Housewife! 1 by Nemu Yoko (translated by David Musto)

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Komugi and Tohru are young newlyweds (or about to get married? I’m not entirely sure) who move in with his family while they find their own place. Tohru’s family – mom, grandpa, brother Dai and sister Yukari – are warm and welcoming (except Yukari) and eager to make Komugi feel like part of the family. For her part, Komugi is sweet and helpful and just generally delighted to be part of the family. Just as everyone is starting to get comfortable with the new living […]

“We all live our lives carrying secrets we cannot disclose.”

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

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It’s nice to be back at CBR! Last year I went on a reading rampage, tearing through about 90 books (though I didn’t review all of them). This year, I’m taking a more focused approach. I’m intentionally reading more international and female authors in order to expand diversity of thought and experience, and I’m also tackling longer books. I expect to read fewer books, although I still expect a rich year full of growth, thanks to reading and to y’all.  My first book up this […]



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