Welcome to Litsy!

I don‘t even know what to say about this book - I certainly wasn‘t expecting a book with such a sweet cover to send me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole about Hansen‘s disease and Japanese sanitariums.

All in all, this is a story about mistakes, loneliness, finding connection in places you don‘t expect it and the meaning of life… it did perhaps lose a little in translation but it still packs an emotional punch.

Soft pick because it took me some time to get into the book. It's written in an easy language, which is why I think it might be a good pick for people that don't read that much or often. I started watching the movie but couldn't finish it because I felt so sorry for Tokue. Where the movie was too much emotion, the book didn't have enough for a long time. Only in the second half I felt invested. Still, the story made me think quite a lot.

Lovely story about tragic fates, sweets and hope

I noticed the #JanuaryinJapan reading challenge on Instagram, and it motivated me to read more translations! This month, I‘ve read Sweet Bean Paste, All the Lovers in the Night, The Kamogawa Food Detectives & Before the Coffee gets Cold.

Any suggestions for my 1st #HarukiMurakami novel? I‘ve heard his work is VERY misogynistic.

This novella set in contemporary Japan is about a man who is released from prison and runs a Doraharu, which serves dorayaki (pancakes with sweet bean paste). He meets an old women, Tokue, who grew up in a leper colony on the outskirts of town. His unlikely friendship with her & Wakana, a school girl who visits the shop, is quiet and lovely. Despite their differences, the three learn to look past their outward appearances to find something deeper.

#Roll100 Might this be the month I read all three? Two work well for #Scarathalon so maybe.

A delightfully moving story about a man, an old woman, and a young girl, set in Japan.

This is a story about disease and the way it overshadows us all our lives.
It‘s a story about Japan‘s (and the world‘s) inhuman treatment of those not able bodied.
It‘s a story about finding reasons to hope and dream and find the little joys in life.
It‘s a story about taking chances on people and embracing them without judgement.
It‘s an ode to sweet red bean paste, pancakes and Dorayaki.

“It‘s my belief that everything in this world has its own language. We have the ability to open up our ears and minds to anything and everything. That could be someone walking down the street, or it could be the sunshine or the wind”

I thought it will be just a feel good story about unexpected friendship and making sweet pastry. However, the book speaks of a larger issue- meaning of life. It‘s also written simply and beautifully.

Tokue has suffered from an illness that has isolated her from the rest of the world. She meets Sentaro who has also experienced some type of isolation before and shares her experience of preparing sweet bean paste.

“But what about a child whose life is over before he or she even turns two years old? People may wonder, in their sorrow, what point there is in a child like that even being born.

I have learned the answer to this. I am sure it is for that child to perceive wind, sky, and voices in his or her own unique way. The world that child senses exists because of it, and therefore that child‘s life, too, has purpose and meaning.”

I love red bean paste! Would love to try the dorayaki made at Doraharu 🌸

I really appreciate this book. Definitely recommend.

#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

So far, I‘m doing pretty good for #20in4 and will most likely manage to get to 20 hours🥰 this Book (not tagged)- „the cats of Shinjuku“ is so far very good! I just love the atmosphere in japanese books, nothing much needs to happen, it‘s still mesmerizing ♥️ I‘m looking foward to how the story will develope though!

Not sure why his books don‘t get translated to english that much, but I‘ve read two others and absolutely loved them, so I have high expectations for this one as well! Starting it now for #20in4

#ominousoctober #leaves

A book I‘ve actually read and not from my tbr pile! I read it awhile ago and I still remember it. That‘s a good sign for liking a book.

..."my life had meaning." ??

Welcome, well-traveled beans ☺️

Upcoming reads: all about translated Japanese fiction and a splash of pink. 💕

I just realised this is the 2nd book I've read in a row which features a dessert xD

Poignant and beautifully simple and inspiring....and it made me cry😂 I loooooved the characters with my whole heart, especially Tokue, and perhaps even moreso I loved the points the book made about the purpose/meaning to be found in every single life❤

This was a very slow-paced novel, but it was beautifully written. A troubled man is working at a dorayaki shop. He is apathetic with no real purpose, and suddenly finds himself working alongside an elderly woman that is able to find the beauty in everything.

They soon share a bond due to their dark pasts, and he starts to see the world through different lenses.

I loved the tone and imagery the author set. I enjoyed every minute of it.

#BFC2022 @wanderinglynn

April - very happy with the below😊 Super active, I hit my reading goal & Action For Happiness has been great:
- 4 yoga sessions
- 15 cardio pilates workouts
- An 11 mile walk
- 2 books read
- 21 Action for Happiness actions

May goals below😁

Next up!

Started this one last night. Within the first chapter I was salivating over the descriptions of the dorayaki 🤤(Japanese pancakes stuffed with sweet bean paste). Reading a bit more this morning before I start my work trainings for the day.

Short and sweet.
Japanese literature really tugs at my heartstrings and makes me think about life.

'Bean paste is very difficult, you know. Listen, lady—err, Ma'am. Have you ever made it?'

'I certainly have. I've been making it for fifty years.'

Sentaro almost dropped the dorayaki he was about to put in a paper bag. 'Fifty years?'

'Yes, half a century. Bean paste is all about feeling, young man.'

"I'm just browsing."

I lied.

This book took me to a beautiful place and left me with a sense of contentment about life. This quote is going to live with me “I began to understand that we were born in order to see and listen to the world. And that's all this world wants of us. It doesn't matter that I was never a teacher or a member of the workforce, my life had meaning.”

Next up, for September's #12booksof2021 , I choose Sweet Bean Paste.

What on the surface seemed a simple and heartfelt story, had deeper, heartbreaking layers beneath.

Also, look at its gorgeous cover 💕

These are my favorite books from the second half of the year. I don't read a ton of nonfiction, but two nonfiction books made it into my top books. I tagged Sweet Bean Paste because it was a wonderful surprise that I stumbled across, had never heard of, and absolutely love. It definitely deserves more attention.

Signing off of 2021 with this last post, my favorite book of this year. ?

"People's lives never stay the same colour forever. There are times when the colour of life changes completely."

2021, you were a real challenge, maybe even more so than 2020, and that was an epic struggle in itself. No pressure, 2022, but I'm placing my hopes in you. ???

Look at how perfectly they replicated the book cover for the movie poster. Now I want to find the movie so I can see if it's as absolutely gorgeous as the book.

This book was absolutely beautiful!

"It‘s my belief that everything in this world has its own language. We have the ability to open up our ears and minds to anything and everything. That could be someone walking down the street, or it could be the sunshine or the wind."

Do two books count as a #bookhaul? I think so.

It's been a while since I treated myself to some new ebooks (non-freebies, at least, though these were on sale) and I'm excited for both of these very different books!

Next book up on Libby: Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, & his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. He spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste. Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue begins to teach him her craft of making dorayaki, but soon her past catches up with her.

"He didn‘t have that notice in the window because business was so busy he needed help. He simply wanted somebody around for company. Dorayaki weren‘t much as conversation partners."

Give this book all the stars. It was a beautiful story from beginning to end. There's just something about Japanese literature that makes you think about the meaning of life, and it's not such a bad thing to think about that from time to time.

⭐: 5

(Photo in the background belongs to Jelleke Vanooteghem)

Forgot to post a review but I loved this. I returned it to the library and then promptly tried to get someone else to borrow it 😂. It didn‘t work but I‘m sure someone will pick it up. I hope more people read this book!

And now for something totally different from what I just finished…

A slow, bittersweet read that felt like a warm hug. I loved this one‘s sweet, intimate story and its cast of characters.

This went much deeper than I was expecting.

I was expecting a saccharine, life-affirming cliché-fest, but once you find out what Sweet Bean Paste is really about, it's quietly devastating.

This little book was full of heart and made me consider certain tragedies that had barely - in this modern age - crossed my mind before.

Highly worth a read ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Next up!

August's Bingo card.

Still haven't finished (or properly got into) Sweet Bean Paste despite this being the second time I've had it as either book spin or double spin... and it being a buddy read with my friend Danni.

No Bingo this month... on to September!

I've started this one and already I get the impression it's going to be heartwarming. Not sure I'm in the mood to have my heart warmed. Similarly not sure I'm in the mood for scary clowns today, so I guess I'm reading Oathbringer before bed 😅

This was a Bookstagram Recommendation. Wonderful story of friendship and needing to have purpose in life. I also learned at lot about Hansen‘s disease.