Welcome to Litsy!

I love Banana Yoshimoto‘s transmutation of the (at least for me) mundane into joyful practice. I was never into cooking (let alone scrubbing a kitchen floor or sink) but I could certainly try to aspire to Yoshimoto‘s thoughtful prescription of approaching my kitchen as one would any place of peace, beauty and comfort. Her second story, “Moonlight Shadow,” is also worth the read, about young love cut short and how grief can be navigated.

For a book that doesn't really have a plot, this was packed full of loveliness.

It made me feel like I was in one of those beautiful art reels of a plant-filled Tokyo living room watching steam rise from a bowl of noodles.

Primarily a story about loss, grief and connection, I was impressed that Yoshimoto captured my heart in so few words.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Currently reading. This is very heart warming for a book where so little happens.

Is it just me or does that pasta look like frilly willies??

Me giving up on #flatlayfriday and waiting for #standupsaturday 😅💕

#NewYearNewBooks Day 28 #UnusualAuthName unusual to me🤷🏽‍♀️

I don‘t own this book but sound interesting

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

When I ordered this audio book I didn't remember that I've already read this book some ago. Goodreads told me... Well, I think the narrator is a great pick, she really fits the atmosphere and the character. The story itself has aged, which is often amusing (video tapes, phone booths), but sometimes also a bit irritating. I asume Yashimoto handled the topic of trans people and/or drag queens back then openly, but feels strange now.

Turns out that this beautiful melancholy book was just the antidote for my inability to read last month. I thoroughly recommend it!
Now back to rereads and detective stories…. 💕

What a beautiful way of exploring loneliness and despair. I have not related to a character as much as I have to Mikage. The writing is so eloquent in its structural simplicity; the ability to convey such extreme emotions through the eyes of a girl who is not-so-extreme herself has really touched me. I wish I could reread this book for the first time.

“As I grow older, much older, I will experience many things, and I will hit rock bottom again and again. Again and again I will suffer, again and again I will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won‘t let my spirit be destroyed.”

“Why is it we have so little choice? We live like the lowliest worms. Always defeated - defeated we make dinner, we eat, we sleep. Everyone we love is dying. Still, to cease living is unacceptable.”

“When was it I realised that, on this truly dark and solitary path we all walk, the only way we can light is our own? Although I was raised with love, I was always lonely. Someday, without fail everyone will disappear, scattered into the blackness of time. I‘ve alwayd lived with that knowledge rooted in my being.”

This was a quick read. Two stories in one novella about grief and loss and coping with loneliness and guilt. I thought both stories were beautifully written. The poetic writing style definitely added to the depth of these stories. In parts it did feel a little disjointed and was hard to follow, but overall, this was a beautiful book that I would recommend.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto is an English translation of the Japanese novel about a young woman recovering from the death of her grandmother. I found it very moving.

#literature #Japan

The prose in this is so gorgeous and fresh, and I really loved the first story. I didn't warm to the second quite as much but it was still good

#FabulousFebruaryReadathon

Kitchen is a short novel about a girl named Mikage Sakurai living in pre present Japan who has just lost her grandmother(the last of all her relatives). Mikage is left alone once she dies. A friend of her grandmothers ,Yuichi, reaches out and offers for her to live with him and his mother Eriko who is transgender. Mikage quickly becomes close to them. I like this book a lot so far because of its pace and the author's descriptive writing style.8/10

Next up!!

#FabulousFebruaryReadathon

I‘m currently home from work as I‘m sick, so inbetween excessive naps I have some extra reading time! I recently bought this book- 3 stories by Yoshimoto. I‘m on the first one and like it a lot 🥰

I made a reading challenge for myself as I turned 50 this year - to read 50 books from my shelves I‘ve been meaning to read. I‘m also hoping to review each of them and get back into that habit.
The first book I finished from my list is tagged. It actually contains two novellas, the titular one & “Moonlight Shadow.” Both concern how we work through grief, particularly young people. Lovely writing & insights into human nature. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#manicmonday #LetterK @CBee

📚 Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto
👤 Stephen King
🎬 Kill Bill vol. 1
👨‍🎤 Kurt Cobain
🎤 Koka Kola - The Clash

I was instantly absorbed into the story, Yoshimoto's writing is beautiful prose that sets a perfect mood for the story.
I liked the emphasis on how people bond over shared tragedy in unexpected ways and find new families in the process.
I'm looking forward to reading her other books!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

"And some of us will inevitably find ourselves rolling around in a puddle on some roof in a strange place with takeout katsudon in the middle of winter, looking up at the night sky, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ah, but the moon was lovely."

As someone working through grief from, I have found so many relatable moments in “Kitchen”. Grief is a fluid shapeshifter, now numbness, now change, now a void. This quote from “Kitchen” will stay with me: “An irresistible shift had put the past behind me. I had
recoiled in a daze; all I could do was react weakly. But it was not I who was doing the shifting—on the contrary. For me everything had been agony.”

#AlphabetGame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Letter K

I stumbled upon this book many moons ago at a used bookstore & bought it on a whim without knowing anything about it (the pre-social media days!). I found myself charmed & moved by this quiet story about grief & improvised families. It's very understated in its English translation & I've told others to read it & some have been like, "What is even the point of this" but it remains dear to my heart.

Une lecture matinale où mes sens sont stimulés. Mon odorat détecte les effluves agréables qu'exhale un petit café. Grâce à l'ouïe, je perçois les gouttes de pluie et le bruissement des feuilles d'un arbre qui comble ma fenêtre. En effleurant les pages avec l'épiderme de mes doigts et en agrippant un stylo pour prendre des notes, c'est le toucher qui est sollicité.

Kitchen is a novella published alongside a companion story (“Moonlight Shadow”). I found the two stories charming and oddly calming, as they both deal with grief and loss. I read this just before reading Crying in H Mart, and it was a lovely pairing—with food playing a central role in both books, alongside their exploration of daughters grieving the loss of a mother.

A short novel and companion novella about coming to terms with a bereavement. Melancholy, but infused with cheerful moments and ultimately hopeful. The clipped sentences and structure can be a bit disorientating as the plot and context switches very abruptly, I‘m not sure if it‘s an intentional style or a result of translation. 6/10

42

21

There are a few books that I keep having to replace on my bookshelf. I can't stop sharing them!

My personal copy is always battered, creased and sometimes slightly boughed.
The book, the thoughts of the author, become a place of comfort, even in the moments where the characters aren't particularly comfortable.

This is one of those books. A summary does it no justice.

#banana
#yoshimoto
#kitchen

This is a very Japanese book - meant in a very positive way. I love how Asian Literature uses a clear and focused language, only to write about everything that is NOT clear and focused. It's all about what's between the lines. About everything that's unspoken.

Of course, food is a central topic here. It symbols life, connection, relationships. On the other hand, we have to learn dealing with death and loss as well.

I have to thank my mom for letting me discover the wonderful world of Banana Yoshimoto. I started getting to know her with Amrita. Kitchen is one of the novels that has stayed with me most in my heart. This writer has the gift of knowing how to express emotions with disarming simplicity. Few are able to describe the various states of the human soul as she is.

#CuriousCovers Day 14 #woman
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

An author I want to try. Any recommendations please?

The Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and translated by Megan Backus is such a lovely book. I can‘t believe I didn‘t read it sooner. The characters‘ grief and emotions are expressed so well. This one will stay with me for a while.
Book 3 #slumpathon #JoyousJanuary

Undoubtedly, 2020 was a tough year globally. However, the bookworm in me found solace in these gems.

The night was so deathly silent that I felt I could hear the sound of the stars moving across the heavens. The glass of water soaked into my withered heart. It was chilly.

So true...loving this quirky novella.

Down to 2 books to finish my Goodreads reading challenge for the year. Read this one many years ago and have almost no memory of it so doing a quick reread.

#QuotsySept19 Day 13: #Kitchen

Rating: 5/5 ⭐
I really truly loved this book!
It's an amazing book that talks about love, loss, grief, healing and moving on.

I loved every part of it and it's so highly recommended!
☔
#kitchen
#Bananayoshimoto

A truly touching text that through delicate description and dynamic character development draw the reader to experience life, love and grief.

"I realised that the world did not exist for my benefit. It followed that the ratio of pleasant and unpleasant things around me would not change. It wasn't up to me. It was clear that the best thing to do was to adopt a sort of muddled cheerfulness. So I became a woman, and here I am."

Started and finished today!
I really enjoyed it!
Three lovely tales about life, death and love.
Very well written and it gave me a lot to think about!

#bananayoshimoto #kitchen #loveit #bookmark #japanese #Japan #life #death #love #emotional

Thanks to @xicanti and @BarbaraBB I started Kitchen!
This book has been in my bookshelf for years!! 😅

#bananayoshimoto #kitchen #bookshelf #Japan #japanese #life #tbr #dayoff #shortbook

Which one should I read first? 🤔🤔

#treasureisland #kitchen #robertlouisstevenson #bananayoshimoto #tbr #hardchoice #helpme #nextreading

Interesting collection that definitely intrigued me but not sure everyone will enjoy it...3 short stories about family, grief and love.

Kitchen consists of two short stories, both of which deal with love, death, and family. I don't usually like short stories, but these two stories were more like short novellas, in that the stories seemed more developed than short stories sometimes are.
#Booked2020 #Spring #PanAsianAuthor
#LitsyAtoZ #K @BookishMarginalia

I have a thing for novellas— I love the punch a good one can pack into so few pages, and the way the format seems perfectly made for a deep dive into a single emotion. This novella and its accompanying short story hinge on grief and a person‘s ability to recognize it in others after experiencing it themselves. I‘d absolutely read more by Yoshimoto— her characters felt like the manic pixie dream girls of 2010s movies finally given their own voices.