Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m not sure what to make of this novel that‘s less than a hundred pages

A mother and daughter is vacationing in Japan together which is neutral ground to them. Traveling between cities, visiting museums, temples and restaurants. Then the daughter is looking back on her past, her sister‘s past and uncle‘s past

For me there‘s a lot going on in such a short novel, but nothing is really explored

And I‘m not sure what the book was trying to say

#Ozfiction
I found this dull and slow, it just didn‘t make me feel anything.

A stunning and introspective story of a girl travelling through Japan with her elderly mother. A trip to find connection with each other lead to reminiscing about the past and their stories. Can the bond of a parent and child transcend generational and cultural differences? Our desires might be different, our vision on contentment might be different.. such a contemplative and meditative book! Beautiful imagery of Japan too! #2023reads #japan

A daughter takes her mother on a trip across Japan. The daughter made an itinerary, filling every minute. The mother follows. She gets tired of the traveling each day while the daughter convinces herself she is pleasing her mother. But they love one another so while they enjoy their time together in a different way and they both are often in thoughts about life outside Japan it‘s all good. I think. Thank you Cindy ❤️🇯🇵

#pop23 #AboutAVacation

It‘s cold & rainy in Japan in October, where the Chinese Australian narrator is travelling with her elderly mother. “[Writing] was the only way that one could go back & change the past, to make things not as they were, but as we wished they had been, or rather as we saw it.” The simple, self-reflective prose style of this novella grew on me until, by the end, I absolutely loved it and the way it left me feeling melancholy yet satisfied. #OzFiction

Whenever I‘d asked her what she‘d like to visit in Japan, she‘d often said she would be happy with anything. The only question she‘d asked once was whether, in winter, it was cold enough for snow, which she had never seen.

Sometimes, I looked at a painting, and felt completely nothing. Or if I had a feeling, it was only intuitive, a reaction, nothing that could be expressed in words.

I explained that it was a modern retelling of a Greek myth. I said that for a long time, I had loved these stories. In part, it was because they had an eternal metaphoric quality that you could use to speak for almost anything in life: love, death, beauty, grief, fate, wars, violence, family, oaths, funerals.

Purportedly about a mother and daughter's autumn trip to Japan. The cool, light rain of the setting matches the narration; it all seems underwater. The details of the day mix with stories the daughter tells her mother and those she tells herself. Carefully constructed, these memories seem prompted by events, but each touches on the daughter‘s desire for connection, to be known. But it is also about how completely unknowable another person is.

#12Booksof2022 #March

This #ozfiction prize winner is my pick for March. It‘s small but perfectly formed.

What a fantastic #AuldLangSpine list I received from @CarolynM!

I've only read one book (#2). I'm so excited form many of these:
I haven't read K. Atkinson for years, so happy to remedy that
I may cheat and read Shuggie Bain instead of YM, since I have it owned and unread
I now have Cold Enough for Snow on hold at the library
Lessons In Chemistry has been popping up in various friends' feed, so glad to have an extra push to read it ⬇

“Ljudi rođeni kad i ti, reče ona, u mladosti su idealisti. Da bi dostigli stvarnu slobodu, moraju shvatiti da su im snovi neostvarljivi, i time steći skromnost - tek tada će biti sretni. Vole mir, red i sve što je lijepo, ali mogu u potpunosti živjeti unutar svoje glave.“

A daughter on a trip to Japan with her mother, having conversations, reminiscing about her childhood experiences in the Orient, eating rice balls, sea weeds and green tea ice creams.This novella makes one nostalgic about one's own childhood, the places and people we left behind or who left us.

It‘s a windy & rainy Sat. My plans of going on a walk up the hill to the LFL, to a market & doing a spot of op shopping are ruined so it‘s time for tea & a book downstairs in the sauna & spa. This book is so meditative. I‘ll make good use of a day stuck inside by baking, cooking & drinking red wine & some horrible house work I guess. Tonight I‘ll watch a sad movie & have a cry as I find that rather relaxing. Ha! Enjoy your weekend everyone xo

A woman travels through Japan with her mother in this short novel. The prose is clear & straightforward yet much is unsaid. The narrator has planned meticulously and seems anxious about the trip. Her mother is dutiful & contained. They‘re polite & attentive but not at home with each other, making it a tense read despite the calm prose. The fun is in seeing Au‘s skill in creating complex characters & ambiguity in so few words. Accomplished debut.

I finally get to start a new book! COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW looks to be one of those novellas that carries you through the story on a wave of quiet beauty.

I got lots of exciting stuff in this week‘s library haul, including a beautiful cookbook, Hannah Gadsby‘s memoir, more Maureen Johnson, Sonali Dev‘s latest, a fake dating romance, and what I‘m pretty sure is the last of my Litsy stack requests. Time to comb through the list and put my name down for a few more of the books y‘all have enticed me with.

Such a beautiful moving tale of a mother and daughter traveling together.

Wow! So glad I read this, written in a lyrical style with poetic and interesting descriptions, Jessica Au allows readers to follow her in her journey full of emotional depths and meanings. Art, life, fiction, experience, and relationships, so many topics interwoven in a gentle narrative. Very fascinating! I‘m going to ask my artist sister to read it next so we can have a book discussion.

Awww! Look what came in the mail 😍 Thank you so much Carolyn @CarolynM The book looks lovely and it‘s exciting that it‘s the inaugural winner of the Novel Prize. Your card is beautiful and the chocolate looks so good. It‘s named for the Mornington Peninsula and I have been there when my sister used to live in Mount Eliza. What a lovely surprise and today I went for a belated birthday lunch with a few friends so it felt like a second birthday 😘

haunting. peaceful and dreamlike. great writing.

A quiet story of a woman and her mother on a trip together with simple interactions as they visit art galleries, shop for souvenirs, dine at restaurants; but the writing ultimately takes you to the narrator's memories, thoughts, and conversations, past & present. It examines the intricacies of identity (ours & others). As mother and daughter talk about art, time, kindness and belief, the unsaid remains all too present hovering in the margins.

#BookReport for March. I haven't had a lot of time for reading or Litsying this month. I'm hoping April will be better. Cold Enough for Snow is my standout book this month.
@Cinfhen

Like After Story, this is a novel about an Australian mother & daughter on an overseas holiday, but here they are of Chinese heritage and they are travelling in Japan. The writing & the atmosphere are completely different, but the love & the distance between the generations is so similar. "So calm and clear and deep" is the quote from Helen Garner on the back cover - I can't describe it better than that. #ozfiction
The photo is Lake Jindabyne.

‘Cold enough for snow is a quiet book. The writing is poetically beautiful. There are well-drawn descriptions of place. The discussions of art are thought provoking. Than