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Wholesome fun. The motif of the gamer girl approaching cat caretaking as a challenge with levels, echoing levels in her fantasy game is, like all the interactions with the kitten and the bonus moments from his perspective, adorable. The intentional hilarity of basically everyone in her office having over dramatic reactions, including Riko, is a welcome goofy break from the sweetness. Happy to keep reading in the series.

Nothing beats box! 🎁😸

Wow, what a chunkster of a crime novel. A historic, unsolved kidnapping case continues to shape the politics of a Japanese police force. One officer, recently moved to lead the press team, is also dealing with a crisis at home as his teenage daughter has gone missing.

600+ pages later, I've heard a *lot* on inter-departmental conflict between different police teams, promotion opportunities, attitudes towards women officers...😮

In this novella, based on a true story, Éric Faye recounts beautifully and poetically how the main character, a single man in his fifties, discovered a woman was using his place when he was absent...
The themes of solitude, intrusion, and meaning of life are very well explored despite the brievety of the book.

A two-day weekend. Even for the team working on Six Four, it was no longer the exception.

Mikami got out of the car and held up the box of udon he'd bought on the way. He knew the tradition between detectives: you couldn't turn someone down once they'd brought you a gift...

I have given this book a lengthy review elsewhere (GR, my blog) substantiating my “pan”. But while I think roughly half of the book is a great reference for the actual (his)story of sushi, the sensationalism and hypersexualizing of Kate (alongside other fixations with women‘s bodily presence) was a huge turn off. That, paired with the “see Spot run” style of writing made this a no-go for me. Watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi instead.

This one wasn‘t for me. I‘ll admit it was a gamble reading the sequel to a book I read eons ago, but I‘m still not sure I would have liked it. It picks up with Pei and Ji Shen moving to Hong Kong and trying to make their own way just in time to get caught up in its WWII occupation by Japan. Many things happen, but the competent, if unadorned, writing lacks much urgency or emotion. As a result, it was just too easy to put down.

I‘m going to start with what I didn‘t like: the translation was a bit sloppy in places, and that‘s it. I wish I had read this book before we went to Japan because there are a few dishes I want to try now (and places to see). The author‘s hard take on body-shaming, sexism, and double standards is worthy of applause, and accomplished while spinning an interesting tale.

This book was gifted to me by my favorite sister :)

136/100🎧📖🔖
Strange Pictures
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Insanely good!

#strangepictures #uketsu #ebook #audiobook #goodreads #goodreadsreadingchallenge #crossstitch #totefairie

Quote from “Heaven” by Mieko Kawakami 🖼️