Welcome to Litsy!

I enjoyed this series of loosely connected short stories about people (and cats) in Tokyo. Some were pretty dark (!!), and I liked seeing the same characters flow across a few. This was one of my #roll100 reads for Feb, and also gets me started on my #bookspinbingo board!

Trying again with a new #kindleunlimited read.... So far so good with this one.

#BookBinge 14. #InvolvesAnimals
#photochallenges #summerreading #Japan #Tokyo #travel #cats

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#TemptingTitles #April2023 Day 19: #WithCat

#Japan #Tokyo #cats #photochallenges
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

They say don't judge a book by its cover. This is such a case. It's just a book full of stereotypes. There is so much going on with the relationships that I kept getting confused who was who and had to leaf back again. There was so much just about sex, and had I known that about this book, I'd have passed up on it. I don't feel like the book forms a coherent story line.

"It's often the ones we love most who do us harm."

An interesting series of short stories interconnected by a cat wandering Tokyo. It felt very Japanese despite being by an English writer, although I felt some of the explanations were unnecessary. The presence of the cat felt a little forced sometimes too.

Some of the stories are really sad, the way any story of a big city‘s population would be, but some are hopeful. It was a good mix and I enjoyed the collection a lot!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just started this to take a break from the Night Circus, which I was finding a little slow for my mood at the moment.

I bought this from the kindle daily deals a while back mainly for the cover (so pretty 😍), the fact that it‘s set in Tokyo, and because I love “snap shots of life” stories.

Also I loved the idea of a cat connecting them all. 🐈

Saw this for $1.99 on Amazon and thought it looked so cute I bought it 😂

Apparently it‘s interwoven short stories of like in Tokyo “with styles ranging from manga to footnotes”. It sound lyrical and fascinating. I‘m hoping the manga displays properly on my kindle!

I loved this collection of 15 short stories where the city of Tokyo itself and a cat are characters alongside the inhabitants populating this lively capital. Fragments of their life are beautifully and originally illustrated. They are just humans in a vibrant city, experimenting love, loss, addiction, grief, regrets, failure, healing. The stories have in common some of the characters but also possibly the legendary shapeshifting cat.

This is a delightful and highly readable homage to the city of Tokyo, it‘s food, literature and often quirky culture. It is a series of stories linked by a shapeshifting cat and a sci fi story. Don‘t be fooled by the charming cover. This book does not shy away from the marginal and the depraved. However it is ultimately hopeful about the human condition and the possibilities of redemption even in harsh competitive and alien urban conditions.

Flo did not have an air conditioning unit as they were too expensive, but she did have a lot of books. Her bookcases were stuffed with them, and all shelf space available was taken. Seeing her books reassured her, made her feel calm. She‘d read most of them but there were some waiting to be read, which gave her a sense of excitement, and conjured up one of her favourite Japanese words - tsundoku - a word that required a sentence in English:

My last reading day before getting back into work. I thought I had better take a book from my TBR before reading another Christmas present or half price Waterstones hard back

Not just my favourite read of #August but my favourite book of the year.

#12BooksOf2021
@Andrew65

As compilation of short stories on life in Tokyo, I enjoyed the concluding reflection that a city consists of millions of people intertwined but looking inward on their own little story. Unfortunately I wasn‘t a fan of the book, the tone of the writing felt patronising and a bit disturbing at times. The cat also seemed somewhat superfluous, more of a marketing ploy than part of the narrative. Just not for me. 3/10

Time to catch up on some reviews. I read this one back in August (August!).

This is a lovely, gentle novel written in a style similar to many Japanese novels I‘ve read (Bradley lived in Tokyo for many years). A series of linked short stories that encapsulates the isolation one can feel in a large, busy city. Probably my favourite book of this year. And Bradley is so unassuming, he still can‘t believe people like his work!

Adored this book 🐱

🌞Stumbled across a fabulous train station bookstore yesterday. 😃

It was really well-stocked and featured many books I had not heard about before, plus a gorgeous
🌸🗻Japan-themed display with books, fans and stationery.🗻🌸

Got to get the tagged book as well as that gorgeous illustrated edition of Lafcadio Hearn's classic Japanese Ghost Stories.❤

#Japan #ghoststories #yokai #mythology #surrealism #supportindiebookstores #Japanesemythology

This is such a charming, easy to read book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It‘s built up with lots of short stories that actually intertwine with each other. Some of the characters also appear in the other stories. The book also has some of Japan‘s modern day cultures in it, like the cat cafes. To old Japanese myths. If you are finding it hard to read and concentrate, this is a book for you.

My rating: 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rather naively I imagined this to be like The Travelling Cat Chronicles. Well, it wasn‘t.

It was much darker and really rather distasteful in places. Whilst some of the stories of the disparate characters were interesting, there were far too many to keep track of and I lost track of the tenuous relationships.

Overall it felt as though it was trying too hard.

#covercrush though....!

#arc #netgalley