Happy Earth Day

~*~

Scattered All Over the Earth
by Yōko Tawada
translated by Margaret Mitsutani
SciFi, Climate, Japan | Published: 2022 | Goodreads my rating: 4
Welcome to the not-too-distant future: Japan, having vanished from the face of the earth, is now remembered as “the land of sushi.” Hiruko, its former citizen and a climate refugee herself, has a job teaching immigrant children in Denmark with her invented language Panska (Pan-Scandinavian): “homemade language. no country to stay in. three countries I experienced. insufficient space in brain. so made new language. homemade language.” As she searches for anyone who can still speak her mother tongue, Hiruko soon makes new friends. Her troupe travels to France, encountering an umami cooking competition; a dead whale; an ultra-nationalist named Breivik; unrequited love; Kakuzo robots; red herrings; uranium; an Andalusian matador. Episodic and mesmerizing scenes flash vividly along, and soon they’re all next off to Stockholm.

Jeepney (2013)
Director: Esy Casey
Documentary, History, Philippines | imdb

JEEPNEY visualizes the richly diverse cultural and social climate of the Philippines through its most popular form of mass transportation: vividly decorated ex-WWII military jeeps. The film follows jeepney artists, drivers, and passengers, whose stories take place amidst nationwide protest against oil price hikes that pressure drivers to work overseas to earn a living, far from their homes for years at a time. Lavishly shot and cut to the rhythm of the streets, JEEPNEY provides an enticing vehicle through which the rippling effects of globalization can be felt.

Buzzword Challenge 2022

Buzzword Reading Challenge
hosted by Books and Lala
details | storygraph
#buzzwordathon
The Buzzword Readathon (#buzzwordathon) is a monthly readathon, running the first week of each month (1st through 7th). Each month has a designated word/word theme and you have a week to read as many books as you like with that word in the title.

Alternatively you can complete this as a year-long reading challenge, and read just ONE book each month featuring the monthly buzzword until you complete the whole challenge!

~*~
JANUARY: A book with one of the 5 W's in the title - WHEN
who, where, what, when, why OR how

When We Cease to Understand the World
by Benjamín Labatut
translated by Adrian Nathan West
Short Stories, Historical | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
FEBRUARY: A book with a location in the title - HE
me, you, mine, yours, he, she, hers, his, their, theirs, we, ours etc.

The Last Thing He Told Me
by Laura Dave
Thriller, Mystery | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
MARCH: A book with a location in the title - KAMUSARI
A city, country, state, province etc. OR an attraction (ex: park, valley, Disney World etc.)

The Easy Life in Kamusari
by Shion Miura
translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter
YA, Contemporary, Japan | Published: 2021 (first 2009) | Goodreads | my rating: 5
APRIL: A book with LITTLE or BIG in the title - BIG
Any word similar to these qualifies (ex: giant, tiny, small, huge)

Love in the Big City
by Sang Young Park
translated by Anton Hur
Contemporary, LGBTQ, Korea | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
MAY: A book with a direction in the title - NORTH
north, south, east, west OR left/right, up/down etc.

My Holiday in North Korea:
The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth
by Wendy E. Simmons
Memoir, Travel, North Korea | Goodreads | my rating : 4
JUNE: A book with ALL in the title - ALL
all / all's

Scattered All Over the Earth
by Yōko Tawada
translated by Margaret Mitsutani
SciFi, Climate, Japan | Published: 2022 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
JULY: A book with a book related word in the title - BOOK
examples: book, library, read, page, paper

Book Lovers
by Emily Henry
Contemporary, Romance | Published: 2022 | Goodreads | my rating: 5

AUGUST: A book with an item/object in the title - VIOLETS
examples: door, key, house, moon, donut, dress

Violets
by Kyung-sook Shin
translated by Anton Hur
LGBTQ, Historical, Korea | Published: 2022 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
SEPTEMBER: A book with LIGHT or DARK in the title - DARK
light/dark or words associated, such as shadow, bright, darkness, highlight, shine

A Flicker in the Dark
by Stacy Willingham
Thriller, Mystery | Published: 2022 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
OCTOBER: A book with an animal or creature in the title - BUNNY
from mermaids and vampires, to birds and wolves

Cursed Bunny
by Bora Chung
translated by Anton Hurby
Short Stories, Horror, Korea | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
NOVEMBER: A book with "ING" in the title - KILLINGS
examples: missing, haunting, watching, darling

The Basel Killings
by Hansjörg Schneider
translated by Mike Mitchell
Mystery, Crime, Germany | Published: 2021 (first 2004) | Goodreads
DECEMBER: A book with a number in the title - SEVEN
one, 4, eight, thousand, million

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Historical, Romance, LGBTQ | Published: 2017 | Goodreads

Lovely Books and Things - 8.1.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

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

~*~

HAPPY THINGS:

1. Cherry season - having a slice of Schubert's Black Forest Cake
2. NPR playlist of MTV's first 100 videos (here)
3. Nothing like spotting a gigantic paper clip to start off a work day in the office

~*~

Updated posts:

Jane-austenesque 2021 (here)

Library:

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

Freebies: from Little Free Library

The Darkest Evening
by Ann Cleeves
Mystery, Crime, England | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

The Emissary
by Yōko Tawada
translated by Margaret Mitsutani
Dystopia, Japan | Published: 2018 (first 2014) | Goodreads

Life: A User's Manual
by Georges Perec
translated by David Bellos
Classics, Literary, Paris | Published: 1988 (first 1978) | Goodreads
~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)