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Tokyo Express
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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HardcoverHearts
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Hi! It‘s been a while. I‘m enjoying some reading time starting Statues in a Garden for the Author Spotlight Series I host, then an audio copy of Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-Yang, translated by Sora Kim Russell & Youngjae Josephine Bae for book club. I‘m still feeling the glow of our 1st trip to Japan so I want to read Tokyo Express by Seichō Matsumoto, translated by Jesse Kirkwood. Then I am dipping in & out of an essay collection by Elisa Gabbert.

Librarybelle Welcome back! 5d
HardcoverHearts @Librarybelle oh thank you!! 5d
TheKidUpstairs I'm loving all these covers 5d
HardcoverHearts @TheKidUpstairs I love it when coincidence is also aesthetically pleasing! 5d
25 likes4 comments
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Bookwomble
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this chance find of a detective mystery involving government corruption, shady business dealings, cynical emotional manipulation and malignant jealousy. And who knew that train timetables could be so murderously interesting? (Ok, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, etc, etc. ?)
I paired this with The Dave Brubeck Quartet's 1964 Jazz Impressions of Japan, as it has a track, "Toki's Theme", the book having a character of this name. ⬇️

Bookwomble ... Dave's liner notes include his worries about cultural appropriation and stereotyping, which he says were soothed when he heard westernised Japanese pop music playing in the cafés he visited. This is one of my favourite Brubeck albums 😊
#BooksAndMusic
9mo
30 likes1 comment
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Bookwomble
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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The charity book table at our local supermarket has some of the most awful titles on it (Jeremy Clarkson! Boris Johnson!!), a sad indictment of the reading habits of my neighbours (though, who am I to judge 🧐), but I still cast an eye over it each time I pass, which has eventually paid off.

mhillis Great find!! 9mo
batsy Nice! I haven't read Tokyo Express yet but I really liked this one 9mo
Bookwomble @mhillis Turns out it was! I enjoyed this one 😊 9mo
Bookwomble @batsy TE is a good mystery, and a quick read. I might see if I can get III from the library - thanks for the recommendation 😊 9mo
36 likes4 comments
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erzascarletbookgasm
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Awesome! 😍 Thank you very much Suba, for my #Jolabokaflodswap package. @batsy I love them all!
I‘m also pleased to know an independent bookstore is being supported. 😊 Merry Christmas! 🎄

Thank you @MaleficentBookDragon for organising. Happy Jolabokaflod!

batsy You're most welcome and I hope you enjoy the book! Merry Christmas 🎄❤️ 11mo
BarbaraBB Lovely gifts. I loved the book! 11mo
LeahBergen This book sounds good! 11mo
See All 8 Comments
erzascarletbookgasm @batsy Thank you and I hope you‘re having a lovely holiday! 11mo
erzascarletbookgasm @BarbaraBB They‘re great choices 😊. I look forward to reading it. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your family, Barbara ❤️🎄 11mo
erzascarletbookgasm @LeahBergen I love an old fashioned crime/mystery book 🙂. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your family, Leah ❤️🎄 11mo
erzascarletbookgasm Btw Suba, the Cadbury chocolate is heavenly! 😍😋 The Lindt is currently unopened (not for long). Thank you! @batsy 11mo
batsy @erzascarletbookgasm I'm so glad! Hide the Lindt bar 😁 11mo
52 likes8 comments
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Onioons
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Really enjoying this so far...

BarbaraBB Yes! I liked this one a lot too! 13mo
28 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Emilymdxn
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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“He normally came here for coffee every couple of days, so it was only natural for her to say this after his almost week-long absence. Of course, she knew nothing of his trip to Kyushu.”

Happy national book lovers day!

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

Eggs To you as well Fellow Book Lover💛 1y
36 likes1 stack add1 comment
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RaeLovesToRead
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Oops. It happened again...

BarbaraBB They are both gorgeous but I prefer the one on the right. It‘s a good one by the way 2y
RaeLovesToRead I will probably end up keeping them both 😅 RAE... this is why you can't get to your bed! 2y
63 likes2 comments
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charl08
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Cover envy...

batsy Ooh! That's a great cover. 2y
BarbaraBB Gorgeous! The book is good too! 2y
48 likes1 stack add2 comments
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RaeLovesToRead
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Wait... I've found another! This one is a Japanese detective novel from the 1950s.

Also pictured - a stack of hotel / island books. Why? I am not sure. Just seemed loosely thematic as I was sorting my books ??

So many books to read, and yet instead of reading them, I'm "rearranging" them...

review
BarbaraBB
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Pickpick

This is an old-fashioned crime novel. The two detectives are not so much worried about who did it as with how did he do it? The main problem are the time tables of the train. As a reader you follow their detective work in 1957 Japan and it all makes for an engaging read.

Pic: Nezu Shrine, Tokyo, Japan

vivastory I hope you are having a wonderful time in Japan! 2y
jlhammar This sounds good! Loving the photos from your travels. 2y
squirrelbrain Lovely photo, as always! ❤️ 2y
See All 6 Comments
BarbaraBB @vivastory @jlhammar @squirrelbrain Thank you I am having the time of my life and this shrine was one I had been so looking forward to. A real highlight! ⛩ (edited) 2y
AvidReader25 This photo is gorgeous! 2y
BarbaraBB @AvidReader25 😊 thank you 2y
88 likes4 stack adds6 comments
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BarbaraBB
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Japanese lunch and a Japanese book in Japan. Nothing more to wish for 🥰

TrishB Fab pic 😁 2y
IuliaC Excellent match! 😃 2y
CarolynM Lunch looks yum! Enjoy! 2y
See All 12 Comments
Emilymdxn Looks incredible! 2y
batsy Perfect combo. Lunch looks delish! 2y
EvieBee You are a “lucky bastard”! 🤣🤣 Love it!! (edited) 2y
Simona Looks very delicious 🤤😋 2y
LeahBergen Yum! 2y
youneverarrived Ahh perfect 😍 2y
Megabooks Yum! 2y
tpixie How amazing!! 2y
Onioons Perfect! 13mo
86 likes1 stack add12 comments
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Tonton
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Pickpick

This year is the 30th anniversary of Seicho Matsumoto‘s death, so films and TV adaptations of his novels are all over cable in Japan. He revolutionized Japan‘s mystery genre with probing depictions of the dark side of social issues. This case seems to be a love suicide to be conveniently closed but a grizzled detective can‘t let it go. Deceptively simple but subtle style, and I could see this unfolding on screen.

batsy That's great that he's such a celebrated author. I hadn't heard of him back when I read this years ago, but I loved the mood and atmosphere and style 2y
28 likes1 comment
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AnneCecilie
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Pickpick

A man and a woman is found dead in the beach. Cyanide. It‘s concluded to be a lover suicide. But one of the detectives on the case doesn‘t believe this. Why would the man have eaten alone, wouldn‘t a woman in love have accompanied him even if it‘s just for a tea? So the investigation begins.

1st book for #AwesomeAugust
#foodandlit #Japan
#1958 #192025

Librarybelle The photo on the cover is gorgeous! I like the subtlety of it 2y
BarbaraBB I have just bought this one too. 2y
Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 2y
67 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Mitch
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Pickpick

Written in 1957 - this is the ultimate summer read. Full of trains, train timetables, waiting rooms, roadside cafes and a super clever mystery. It‘s elegant, sparse and beautifully written.

BarbaraBB This sounds so good! 2y
BarbaraBB Ordered it 🤦🏻‍♀️ 2y
60 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Mitch
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Just settling in for the first chapter of Bookclub book. Hope it‘s good - this month was my pick! 🤞🏼

BarbaraBB The cover is 🥰 2y
66 likes1 comment
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RaeLovesToRead
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Did somebody say WATERSTONES HAUL?!?!?!?!

Now I'm back home I can showcase my new books that I mooched off my Mum ?

Vintage Japanese detective novel? Disquieting Japanese thriller? Postmodern quartet that I'm undoubtedly going to have "opinions" on whether good or bad? ? French novel that I couldn't leave behind with a cover like that?

Sign. Me. Up! ?

(Also Mum forgot her loyalty card so I swiped all the points too ??)

vivastory I haven't read the Seasonal Quartet yet, but I love Ali Smith 2y
JamieArc Villa Triste looks like my perfect summer read! 2y
RaeLovesToRead @vivastory I love her writing. Not always sold on the way her novels are structured, but she keeps me coming back for more! 2y
See All 6 Comments
RaeLovesToRead @JamieArc The blurb is quite vague, but I couldn't resist the cover... very intrigued! 2y
AnneCecilie I have my eyes on Tokyo Express too. 2y
RaeLovesToRead @AnneCecilie Any Japanese detective fiction goes straight into my basket 😄☺ 2y
61 likes6 comments
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charl08
Tokyo Express | Seicho Matsumoto
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Such lovely simple adverts. Want.

BarbaraBB Looks gorgeous 2y
batsy Want, as well! I enjoyed another book by him 2y
46 likes2 comments