Camp ToB 2021

Camp ToB 2021
summer reading program (details)
from the Tournament of Books
Love to expand my reading repetoire with Tournament of Book picks.

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WINNER: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
~*~

Detransition, Baby
by Torrey Peters
Literary, LGBTQ | Published: 2021 | Bookshop

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch
by Rivka Galchen
Literary, Historical | Published: 2021 | Bookshop

Klara and the Sun
by Kazuo Ishiguro
Literary, Dystopian | Published: 2021 | Bookshop | my rating: 5
observations of being human

No One Is Talking about This
by Patricia Lockwood
Literary, Fantasy | Published: 2021 | Bookshop

Peaces
by Helen Oyeyemi
Literary, Fantasy | Published: 2021 | Bookshop

Whereabouts
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Literary, Women, Italy | Published: 2021 | Bookshop

Camp ToB 2021 Reading Schedule:

June 2: No One Is Talking About This, first half
June 9: No One Is Talking About This to the end
June 16: Detransition, Baby, first half
June 23: Detransition, Baby to the end
June 30: Klara and the Sun, first half
July 7: VACATION 🌴
July 14: Klara and the Sun to the end
July 21: Whereabouts, first half
July 28: Whereabouts to the end
Aug. 4: Peaces, first half
Aug. 11: Peaces to the end
Aug. 18: Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch, first half
Aug. 25: Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch to the end
Sept. 1: Announce summer champion

Lovely Books and Things - 4.25.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Oscar party tonight
2. Grishaverse on Netflix
3. Yummy treat from Schubert's Bakery

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Bought:

Arsenic and Adobo
by Mia P. Manansala
Mystery, Cozy, Food, Filipino, Book of the Month | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

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Virtual Author event: hosted by Alta Magazine
Listen to archive of this and check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

Mean
by Myriam Gurba
Memoir, Feminism, LGBTQ | Published: 2017 | Goodreads

Virtual Author event: hosted by Green Apple Books
Check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

Abundance
by Jakob Guanzon
Literary | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Son of Good Fortune
by Lysley Tenorio
Literary, Coming of Age, Filipino | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

Virtual Author event: hosted by Book Passages
See the archive of this: (here)
A conversation between:

When the Stars Go Dark
by Paula McLain
Mystery, Thriller | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Favorite Sister
by Jessica Knoll
Mystery, Thriller | Published: 2019 | Goodreads

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AND watched: PBS

Down A Dark Stairwell (2020)
Director: Ursula Liang
Documentary | imdb | my rating: 5
On a fall day in 2014, Peter Liang, a Chinese American police officer, shot and killed an innocent, unarmed black man named Akai Gurley. Unfolding in the dark stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project, the shooting inflamed the residents of New York City and thrust two marginalized communities together into the uneven criminal justice system. Gurley's death sparked cries of police brutality and a raging, anguished debate about racial bias in criminal prosecution of law enforcement officers.

AND watched: DVD

Saving Face (2004)
Director/Writer: Alice Wu
Stars: Joan Chen, Michelle Krusiec, Lynn Chen
Comedy, Drama, Romance, LGBTQ, Asian American | imdb | my rating: 5
A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.
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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Independent Bookstore Day

Independent Bookstore Day
April 24 (details)
Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day by visiting your local independent bookstore.

Russian Hill Bookstore
Russian Hill, San Francisco, CA (here)
picked up: A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

Spring Into Horror Readathon

Spring Into Horror Readathon
hosted by Seasons of Reading
April 2021 (details)
Joining in with this:

The Jigsaw Man
by Nadine Matheson
Mystery, Thriller | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: tba
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

When body parts are found on the banks of the River Thames in Deptford, DI Angelica Henley is tasked with finding the killer. Eerie echoes of previous crimes lead Henley to question Peter Olivier, aka The Jigsaw Killer, who is currently serving a life sentence for a series of horrific murders.

When a severed head is delivered to Henley's home, she realises that the copycat is taking a personal interest in her and that the victims have not been chosen at random.

To catch the killer, Henley must confront her own demons - - and when Olivier escapes from prison, she finds herself up against not one serial killer, but two.

Celebrate Independent Bookstores

Independent Bookstore Day
April 24 (details)
Celebrating Independent Bookstores by visiting local independent bookstores in San Francisco this month.

City Lights Books
North Beach (little italy), San Francisco, CA (here)
picked up: short stories, Eat the Mouth That Feeds You by Caribbean Fragoza

Books and Puzzles: Spring Snow

Spring pairing of a Japanese classic and Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival themed puzzle.
book: Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima

puzzle: Cherry Blossom Parade art by Heronim Wysocki
Sure Lox, Puzzle Time (300 pc)

Celebrate Independent Bookstores

Independent Bookstore Day
April 24 (details)
Celebrating the upcoming Independent Bookstore Day by visiting local independent bookstores in San Francisco this month.

Alley Cat Book Store & Gallery
Mission, San Francisco, CA (here)
picked up: pulp western, Cattle Kingdom by Alan LeMay

Lovely Books and Things - 4.11.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. The Alexander String Quartet (here):
2. Start of the SF Film Festival (virtual)
3. Dynamo Donuts in the Mission district

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Bought:

Cattle Kingdom
by Alan LeMay
Western, Classic, Pulp | Published: 1948 | Goodreads

Library: audiobook

Summer
by Ali Smith
Literary, England | Published: 2020 | Goodreads
Library:

The Wife and The Widow
by Christian White
Mystery, Thriller, Australia | Published: 2020 | Goodreads
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Virtual Author event: hosted by Alta Magazine
Listen to archive of this and check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

Eat the Mouth That Feeds You
by Caribbean Fragoza
Short Stories, Horror, U.S., Mexico | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

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AND watched: virtual theatre for SF Film Festival (details)

The Dry (2020)
Director/Screenplay: Robert Connolly
Screenplay: Harry Cripps, Samantha Strauss
Based on book by: Jane Harper
Stars: Eric Bana, Genevieve O'Reilly, Keir O'Donnell
Crime, Drama, Mystery, Australia | imdb | my rating: 5
Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown to attend a tragic funeral. But his return opens a decades-old wound - the unsolved death of a teenage girl.

Lily Topples the World (2021)
Director: Jeremy Workman
Stars: Lily Hevesh
Documentary | imdb | my rating: 5
Lily Topples The World follows 20-year-old Lily Hevesh - the world's greatest domino toppler and the only woman in her field - in a coming-of-age story of artistry, passion, and unlikely triumph.

A Leave (2020)
Director/Writer: Ran-hee Lee
Stars: Ah-Seok Kim, Bong-ha Lee, Woon-Seop Shin
Drama, South Korea | imdb | my rating: 5
Middle-aged worker Jaebok recently lost a lawsuit asking for the invalidation of his recent dismissal. Sitting in a tent in the cold weather, he and his colleagues lose their will to fight further and feel pity for not being able to relish the time off work. Jaebok returns home but what awaits him are his daughters neglecting him and the feeling of worthlessness. His misery is aggravated because he cannot provide financial support for his oldest daughter's college tuition, and a longpadded coat that his little one has always wanted. The issues that director Lee has drawn attention to in her short films are now coalesced, developed and displayed in A Leave, her feature film debut.


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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Japanese Literature Challenge 2021

Japanese Literature Challenge
(self-challenge)
April to December 2021

After The Quake
by Haruki Murakami
translated by Jay Rubin
Short Stories, Japan | Goodreads | my rating: 4
one with an interesting frog character

Spring Snow
by Yukio Mishima
translated by Michael Gallagher
Literary, Historical, Japan | Goodreads | my rating: tba

The Summer of the Ubume
by Natsuhiko Kyogoku
translated by Alexander O. Smith, Elye J. Alexander
Horror, Ghosts, Japan | Goodreads | my rating: tba

Where the Wild Ladies Are
by Aoko Matsuda
translated by Polly Barton
Short Stories, Feminism, Japan | Published: 2020 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
non-traditional female routes, sad and dark alternatives

The Woman in the Purple Skirt
by Natsuko Imamura
translated by Lucy North
Literary, Japan | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
strange, living vicariously, stalker-ish

~*~ * image header source: reading woman
* also reading picks for:
Japanese Literature Challenge Jan-Mar (here)
Japanese Mystery Readalong Book Club (here)
TW Book Club (here)
Japanese Readathon: 2021 | April | June | July | August

Japanese Readathon April

Japanese Readathon April
hosted by @jplitreadathon
#MiniMangaReadathon (manga)
date: April 16th-18th, your own timezone
prompt: free choice (read as many manga titles, volumes, chapters as your heart desires)

The Promised Neverland
Volume 1
by Kaiu Shirai
illustrated by Posuka Demizu
Manga, Japan | Published: 2016 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
starts off light, but soon gets dark and twisted

Tokyo Tarareba Girls
Volume 1
by Akiko Higashimura
translated by Steven LeCroy
Manga, Romance, Humor, Japan | Published: 2016 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
LOL, fun, chick-lit feel with older woman and younger guy romance
#JPLitReadathon (Japanese literature)
date: April 19th-25th, your own timezone

prompts:
1. free choice

2. a new beginning: author new to you or genre new to you or anything else from the Japanese literature that might be new to you

3. group pick:

The Old Capital
by Yasunari Kawabata
translated by J. Martin Holman and Vanja Lantz
Classic, Historical, Japan | Published: 2006 (first 1962) | Goodreads | my rating: 5
being a foundling, interesting concept
Mini challenges:

1. arts & crafts: make a bookmark and draw a character or scene from an anime, manga, novel of your choice, so you can use for this edition or future editions - made a matching bookmark for the group read

2. watch an anime movie

The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (2017)
Yoru wa mijikashi aruke yo otome (original title)
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Screenplay: Makoto Ueda
Based on book by: Tomihiko Morimi
Stars: Gen Hoshino, Kana Hanazawa, Hiroshi Kamiya
Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Japan | imdb | my rating: 4
In this comedy about one epic night in Kyoto, a college sophomore goes on a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife, all the while unaware of the romantic longings of her classmate Senpai.

3. cook a Japanese dish that is new to you

4. beautiful cover: share with us a picture of your most favorite edition of a Japanese book that sits on your shelf

Cherry blossoms theme pairing of Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima and Cherry Blossom Parade puzzle I found at Walmart.

TW Book Club 2021

TW Book Club
(Tokyo Weekender)
January to December 2021
details | Goodreads
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JANUARY:

The View From Breast Pocket Mountain
by Karen Hill Anton
Memoir, Travel, Japan | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

FEBRUARY:

The Forest of Wool and Steel
by Natsu Miyashita
translated by Philip Gabriel
Literary, Music, Japan | Published: 2019 | Goodreads

MARCH:

Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye: A Journey
by Marie Mutsuki Mockett
Memoir, Travel, Buddhism, Japan | Published: 2016 | Goodreads


APRIL:

Water, Wood and Wild Things:
Learning Craft and Cultivation in a Japanese Mountain Town
by Hannah Kirshner
Travel, Memoir, Food, Recipes, Japan | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

MAY:

Lonely Castle in the Mirror
by Mizuki Tsujimura
translated by Philip Gabriel
Fantasy, YA, Japan | Published: 2021 (first 2017) | Goodreads

JUNE:

Stranger in the Shogun's City
A Japanese Woman and Her World
by Amy Stanley
Biography, Japan | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

JULY:

Things Remembered and Things Forgotten
by Kyōko Nakajima
translated by Ginny Takemori, Ian MacDonald
Short Stories, Japan | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

AUGUST:

Heaven
by Mieko Kawakami
translated by Sam Bett, David Boyd
Literary, Coming of Age, Japan | Published: 2021 (first 2009) | Goodreads | my rating: 5

SEPTEMBER:

So We Look to the Sky
by Misumi Kubo
translated by Polly Barton
Contemporary, Japan | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
OCTOBER:

Touring the Land of the Dead
(and Ninety-Nine Kisses)
by Maki Kashimada
translated by Hadyn Trowell
Short stories, Japan | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
NOVEMBER:

Farewell, My Orange
by Kei Iwaki
translated by Meredith McKinney
Literary, Australia, Japan | Published: 2018 (first 2013) | Goodreads
DECEMBER:

An I-Novel
by Minae Mizumura
translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Literary, Japan | Published: 2021 (first 1995) | Goodreads