Welcome to Litsy!

Making a head start on this, because it's looooong. #camplitsy24

Nor surprise that I liked this book since I stacked it from @vivastory review and several other Litsy friends with similar tastes also like it. Jan and I decided on two books for our joint read (my pick this month) and since I couldn‘t decide o picked two. This is a short and quick read with some good twists and turns. I generally love Japanese literature (Japan is at the top of my travel list) and this was no exception.

7-11 May 24 (audiobook)
The story of two men, a teenage boy named Kafka who runs away from home and a man named Nakata who suffers from an intellectual impairment as a result of a strange accident during WWII as their lives seemingly draw to an inevitable intersection.
Murakami‘s writing is at times beautiful and did mostly maintain my interest, but I found the Oedipal storyline a bit much. I also found the way Murakami writes about sex jarring.

I loved the narration in the audiobook. The first half was excellent. Journalist Rika seeks an interview with a famous female serial killer / gourmand. Like Clarice Starling before her the killer gets deep into Rika‘s head. The initial promise of the novel is squandered as it drags on too long (and sometimes inexplicably).

My hold came in, so I listened to this a bit in advance of camp. I ended up really enjoying it. It‘s a slow burn and there are aspects I didn‘t like (way too much focus in the first half on equating food to sex), but the main character has a really good arc. And, somewhat surprisingly, it didn‘t make me hungry!

This was fine. It just wasn‘t really the cute mystery I was hoping for. I was a bit bored. It is short and the cover is adorable. 3⭐️

If Musashi isn‘t my favorite book of all time then it‘s darn close! After recently completing Shogun I revisited Musashi for the mental exercise of contrasting and comparing the two behemoths. The similarities are endless. The differences essentially stem from the writers knowing their audience.

I would be interested in a new translation though. I believe C. S. Terry‘s is the only available, and I find myself wondering how a newer one would read.

One of my new favorite books! I found this book touching and beautiful, but I can see where maybe some of the translation didn‘t catch the nuance for people who aren‘t Japanese/very familiar with Japanese culture.
A retired detective runs a restaurant with his daughter. They also run a special agency that will recreate a meal based on people‘s memories.
5/5 read this for lovely descriptions of food and the power it has to change people.

Camping supplies coming in. And a couple of extras just because. #CampLitsy #bookmail

Found this in search of #Camplitsy nominees. It‘s also this month‘s #bookspin.

Despite the title, this is not a crime story. People go to this restaurant to find that one special meal from their life. It felt very japanese. I liked the pace and found the detuction fascinating. I would have enjoyed it even more if I knew more about japanese food.