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Where has ’22 gone to so fast? Regular media are looking back on past events and deaths; social media are being flooded with New Year’s resolutions for 2023. And me? I’m just looking forward to another Japanese Literature Challenge hosted by Dolce Bellezza. That’s what I like about this time of year!
The challenge runs from January through February. Will you join us?
Here’s what I have planned…
- Read De Zwemmers (The Swimmers) by Julie Otsuka.
- Read Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein (providing I can get my hands on an affordable copy).
- Make a dish from the Vegan Japan Easy cookbook.
- Continue to listen to Jake Adlestein’s interesting investigative podcast The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods about the “fascinating and bizarre world of Japan’s jouhatsu” (missing persons).
By the way: this is the first post on this blog that I made in the WordPress Gutenberg editor! #learning
I’ve slept in, made a pot of coffee and officially welcomed all participants of da house to Dewey’s fall 2020 24RaT (being hubs, and Kuki, Sumi & Effie our feline supporters). Now I just want to put up a short start-of message and GO READ!!!
Are you read-a-thonning this weekend as well? If you’re from a different time zone you’ll notice I’m ahead of the official kick-off. That’s because it’s so much more exciting to awake to the event and get going right away — how it started with our founder Dewey. So I’m not cheating (it’s not even a contest LOL); just making the most of it :-) I feel I can as this is my 11th (?) year participating.
So, it 10:45am and I am picking up Petite.
Hooray! Only two more nights till Dewey’s fall 2020 24 hour readathon (24RaT for short)! Although officially starting at 2PM in my time zone, I’ll probably begin right after waking up as I’ve kept the weekend free and Mr Gnoe and I love to start our Sats & Suns with coffee, cats and books smartphones books in bed.
I’m confident I’ll be able to finish my current read: Petite (Little), by Edward Carey; an historical novel about the life of Madame Tussaud. Right now I’m at chapter 27 of 72 so I have quite a bit to go.
I saw a friend posting enthusiastically about this book and decided to pick it up with my recently renewed library subscription. So far it’s an ejoyable read.
Of course I’ll also be playing Book Bingo — and Petite will help me smoothly cross off “read a book with with illustrations” and “with a person on the cover”.
I will probably mostly be updating on Instagram (@gnoe) and I hope to see you there!
2019 was an all-time low in reading Japanese Literature for me. I managed only one book originating in Japan: The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa.
I hate and love this story at the same time.
And I might not even have read it if it wasn’t for Dolce Bellezza’s annual Japanese Literature Challenge! So I’m very happy to join in again this January 1st.
In a nice coincidence dear Mr Gnoe gifted me Hiromi Kawakami’s The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino last night on New Year’s Eve. That will be up first for the challenge; I already picked a bookmark to go with it :-D
Aiming high this 13th Japanese Literature Challenge
If everything goes the way I want I will be reading six pieces of Japanese literature for the JLit challenge, running from January through March. I committed to join the monthly reads of the Japanese Literature group bookclub on Goodreads AND their casual buddy read of The Aosawa Murders (Riku Onda), after publication in February. The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino was this group’s read for December so I’m tagging a little behind. But that’s okay since I have already read January’s choice.
Goodreads’ Japanese Literature group Bookclub reads for January – May 2020
- January: The Woman in the Dunes by by Kobo Abe — a masterpiece unlike any other book so please try it if you haven’t yet! I read it in 2011.
- February: Go by Kabuki Kaneshiro
- March: The Lake by Yasunari Kawabata — maybe my favourite Japanese author!
- April: The Emissary a.k.a. The Last Children of Tokyo by Yoko Tawada
- May: Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura
On top of that I mean to read along with #JapaneseLitChallenge13 participants in March, tackling Junichiro Tanizaki’s The Makioka Sisters . I have the 576 page chunkster on my shelf since I failed a previous collective reading.
All in all a busy schedule this first quarter of 2020! I should be able to manage however, since I surpassed last year’s goal of reading 20 books with two. That’s almost two books a month. The new target I set for 2020 is 25. Participating in Susy’s 24-in-28 Readathon on Goodreads the weekend of January 18-19 will probably help me get off to a good start.
I can do this!
Looking forward to it all!
Do you like Japanese Literature as much as I do? Do you have any reading resolutions for the new year? I’d love to hear it!
On my last trip to Terschelling island I met a travelling cat. A handsome black fellow having its own raised bench on the passenger’s side of a grey van. Food and water in their slots on the dashboard. The car being parked, the cat was playing the cool dude, resting its elbow on the open window. Or so it seemed ;-)
I had to think back to this regularly while reading The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa — the first book I picked and finished for this year’s Japanese Literature Challenge 12. A picture of the cat I met would be perfect here but alas, I have none.
The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a novella about a stray cat called Nana (七) being taken in by Satoru. They become companions in life, and on the road in Satoru’s grey van.
When I finished the book -a month ago already- I threw it across the room. I HATE IT! I shouted — at the same time telling the hubs to quickly go read it… I guess the story more upsets me really than evoke rage. It is way too close to my heart, and I can’t take it.
So, kudos for Arikawa’s way with words. When another of her works is translated I will be sure to pick it up. But I may never read The Travelling Cat Chronicles again. It’s a thumbs up I don’t dare recommend. All I can say is: if you plan on gifting this book, be sure to include hankies.
Back to the Japanese Literature Challenge. Unfortunately not much will come of my plans to read a J-Lit for each of the three months. It ends March 31st and though I gave Haruki Murakami’s De moord op Commendatore (Killing Commendatory) first part; een idea verschijnt a shot, the story didn’t grab me at this moment — even inducing another reading slump. I’m giving up now but still declaring JLC#12 a success. I wanted to read Japanese Literature again, and did.
And so I can choose something new from Mt. TBR… it’s going to be John Irving: Last Night In Twisted River!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think?
I really don’t “do” New Year’s resolutions as I believe in starting changes right away and not just at the beginning of a year. However, the dark month of December is always a suitable moment for reflection. And glancing at my life I realised I want to read more often. I miss the cosiness and calm feeling of being curled up with a book. When did it stop being a big part of my life?
So this January I am thrilled to join the twelfth edition of possibly my favourite reading challenge: Dolce Bellezza’s Japanese Literature Challenge!
Since I have A LOT of unread books on my shelves, another one of my non-resolutions is picking mostly from our personal library. For this challenge I’m thinking of:
- Killing Commendatore (De moord op Commendatore) 1&2 ~ Haruki Murakami
- The Traveling Cat Chronicles ~ Hiro Arikawa
- Kokoro ~ Natsumi Soseki
- The Book of Tea ~ Okakura Kakuzo (non-fiction)
I won’t be able to read them all as the Japanese Literature Challenge is running for just three months and January is already almost at the end *SHOCK* but I can’t wait to tackle at least one of these longtime Mt TBR residents.
Which one of the titles I mentioned would you choose?
I’ll be posting my choice and updating on Instagram using the appointed hashtag #JLC12.
24 hour readathon
Yay, the spring edition of Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon has come around again! I’ve kept most of my diary free and will do a LOT of reading this weekend (based in Utrecht, the Netherlands).
The picture above shows a selection of my Mount To Be Read (TBR). I will be choosing from this after I have finished my current read (of which I’ll tell you in a minute).
But I will definitely starting a new arrival (not to be confused with recent release); Donkey Work by Doreen Tovey. A children’s book, of which I’m usually not a fan, but I am VERY much looking forward to this one!
I am also very pleased that I will be having two local reading buddies this time Muizz and –if he doesn’t bail out– Mr Gnoe.
Currently Reading
On my nightstand are currently two nonfiction books and a novel. I hope to finish the latter quite quickly — after having started it sometime LAST YEAR early 2016!!! *shock* It’s The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel and I’ll tell you more about it later.
Please check in on Litsy, where I’ll be posting my updates.
WOW, I’ve been so much looking forward to this October 2017 edition of Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon! It’s my favourite fall event :) I’ve done a minimum of prepping and will be participating low key as my main goal is to just read at long(-ish) stretches of time. I slowly seem to crawl out of a reading slump that’s been going on for years and I’ll do anything it takes to keep going forward!!
But the fact that so many people across the globe are reading and interacting about it at the same time is of course a big part of the thrill so you’ll also find me hopping a few blogs, and mainly post as @gnoe on Instagram, Litsy and now and then Twitter (@graasland). Join me there?!
My plans
Part-time participant
I’m never able to read for the full 24 hours so I’m not going to try. Just as much as I can! Next to that I will try to make my other activities book related. My film club is gathering tonight and it’s my turn to choose a movie. So I suggested a few adaptions of literature. I had hoped to watch Red Sorghum from Zhang Yimou again (one of my all-time favourites), but I wasn’t able to get a copy in time. Now my bet is on either Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone (based on a story by Dennis Lehane), or Alan Parker’s Midnight Express (Billy Hayes) – both available on Netflix. Which one would you pick if you could join us?
Nominating the next read for my book club is also up to me this month. I have a long list of options ready in Goodreads but I can only suggest five… Picking and sending out those is on my chore list for today as well.
Books
During the RaT I’ll definitely be reading the following two books:
- Ghostly, A Collection of Ghost Stories ~ Audrey Niffenegger
Thoroughly enjoying this selection of haunting fiction for the month of Spooktober. I’m currently at page 137 in Oliver Onions’ 1911 tale The Beckoning Fair One. Since I don’t read a lot of short story collections I will alternate this with other books. - Ezel-basics (Donkey Basics) ~ Margret Keijzer
A while ago I stranded at chapter 8 of 12 in this nonfiction book about donkeys; probably because I don’t care about the subject of breeding. I’m really into rescue animals and know there’s a surplus of animals looking for a home without needing to add to that amount. Besides, as a volunteer at the Ezelsociëteit donkey sanctuary my interest goes out to the wellbeing of and caring for these wonderful creatures. - A novel from Mount TBR, to be chosen at the moment I’ll be starting it.
Optional reads
During household tasks and such I hope to listen to @weepingwillow84’s short story Memento Mori, broadcasted on BBC Radio4 on September 22nd. Chances are I won’t be allowed access though as I’m not an inhabitant of the Commonwealth…
I have plenty of books on my shelf that I’m looking forward to. Don’t you just love picking a new read that fits your mood? A few titles to choose from:
- The Marriage Plot ~ Jeffrey Eugenides
- The Sisters Brothers ~ Patrick De Witt
- De wijnrepubliek (The Republic of Wine) ~ Mo Yan
- Lord of the Flies ~ William Golding
- Here I Am ~ Jonathan Safran Foer
- Monica, mijn vader (Monica, My Father) ~ Maaike Sips
- De offers (The Sacrifices) ~ Kees van Beijnum
- The Lives of Others ~ Neel Mukherjee
- The Master and Margarita ~ Mikhail Bulgarov
- Ghana Must Go ~ Taiye Selasi
Plus several J-lits. I’ve been neglecting my favourite genre and decided to join in Dolce Bellezza’s 11th Japanese Literature Challenge, running through January 2018 (sign-up post to be written later).
- The Book of Tea ~ Okakura Kakuzo
- Kokoro ~ Natsume Sōseki
- The Unconsoled ~ Kazuo Ishiguro
Then there’s also that DNF that’s been bugging me: The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel that I would still like to give another chance. It -literally- drove me crazy with its (so far) 87 pages of one Tomás driving a car on a quest to I’m-not-sure-what-yet.
These days I usually quit when the narrative still doesn’t grab me around page 80, but I’ve had trouble getting into Martel’s books before and they were totally worth pushing through the hard part.
Any of these you want to recommend? Or advise against? I would love to hear your thoughts!
Local starting time: 14.00 o’clock.
Reading from Utrecht, the Netherlands, Europe
Graasland used to be mainly about books and bentos. And then menu planning with CSA vegetables. But for a while now this grazing land has become barren.
Life goes on and people change. There’s no real need for me to make lunchboxes. And I can’t seem to beat my reading slump. BUT. There’s plenty of other stuff going on!
So this month I plan on flooding you with… snailmailing! I love old-fashioned letter writing and card sending (you did not think I meant the mailing of real snails I hope; a thing that actually happens I recently learned *HORROR*). It’s called snailmail because, well: it’s sloooooweeeer than electronic messaging. Not just because of the time and effort that go into handwriting or the journey it takes from sender to receiver. There’s also the added touch of decorating and/or choosing small gifts to send along your mail. Check the #snailmail and #mailart hashtags on Instagram (IG) if your interested!
My LWM2016 item #01
April started as National Letter Writing Month in the US and turned global after letterpress greeting card companies Egg Press and Hello!Lucky shared their joint Write_On campaign on social media in 2014, to “promote joy, creativity, expression, and connection through hand-written correspondence“. The challenge to write 30 letters in 30 days has had a growing fanbase. I bet the free stationery kits they supply help – 10.000 this year! :D
Anyway, I’m in! And although I’ve already been posting all my outgoing (and incoming ;) mail on IG labeled #outgnoe (resp. #ingnoe) I’d like to show a bit more of it over here.
The first thing I sent out (on April 1st), was the garden-themed March “Winner Takes All” prize in the photo above. It went to Ciska in The Netherlands, who won it on the Swap-Bot SENG forum.
LWM2016 items #01 and #02
Because there’s no mail pickup in the weekend, I decided to also mail my item for April 2nd early. It’s a thank you to Marion from Snailmail Magazine who sent me #42 in her 366 postcards project back in February. I hadn’t gotten around to that so YAY for letter writing month!
Alas, Dewey’s 24 hour readathon has ended. Even though my ‘numbers’ (which I’ll add later) may not show it, things went very well this time! I rediscovered my love of reading; so much that I wish the event could continue for another day! Maybe it’s a good thing my Lynley mysteries didn’t arrive in time for the weekend — when I’ve finished my current book they’ll probably be here to help me keep my mojo. Without the help of a RaT. And anyway, the community –YOU– will be still around for motivation!
End of the Event Meme
- Which hour was most daunting for you?
None in particular: all of them due to the pull of social media and mini challenges. Of course I went to bed at three to sleep for a few hours. - Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
A sequel in a series you like and acknowledged page turners in a favourite genre. 
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope. It’s perfect!- What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
The possibility to pick a medium of choice for updating; not just blogs AND the warm-up tip to use Storify to keep everything in one place! Here’s my story.
- How many books did you read?
Four (not all finished yet). - What were the names of the books you read?
Oorlog en terpentijn (finished)
Timothy’s Book: Notes of an English Country Tortoise (finished, after three years on hold!)
Housekeeping – on audio
Ik kom terug
Handleiding voor poetsvrouwen - Which book did you enjoy most?
The book I’m currently reading: Ik kom terug. Loving it and I want to own a copy after I give it back to the friend who lend it to me. - Which did you enjoy least?
Maybe Housekeeping, just because audio isn’t as intense as reading a book yourself. That I enjoyed this one least of all four does NOT mean I don’t like it! - If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
Be strict about the amount of time allotted to cheering… I found myself spending way too much time in cyberspace instead of in a story. Make a choice — and stick to it. - How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
YESH! I can’t wait! I’ll sign up as reader-cheerleader again and hope to keep a better balance. ;)
A big THANK YOU to Mr Gnoe, my Instagram and blog followers, all readers, organisers, cheerleaders, challenge-hosts (and anyone I may forget) for making this event such a success. WOOT!
Graasland 