Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Convenience Store Woman
by Sayaka Murata
translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
narrated by Nancy Wu

Published: 2018
Publisher: Portobello Books
Genre: Contemporary, Japan
Paperback: 163
Rating: 5
Goodreads

First sentence(s):
A convenience store is a world of sound.

Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers' style of dress and speech patterns so she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life but is aware that she is not living up to society's expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko's contented stasis—but will it be for the better?


My two-bits:

Oh, the pressures to be "normal".

I found myself chuckling at the interaction between the quirky characters.

Loved the character growth of the protagonist.

Appreciation for convenience stores. Definitely a place to visit when in Japan.

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* weekly theme: Japan - conformity

* listened to the audio version

Lion Cross Point by Masatsugu Ono

Lion Cross Point
by Masatsugu Ono
translated by Angus Turvill
Published: 2018
Publisher: Two Lines Press
Genre: Coming of Age, Ghosts, Japan
Hardback: 128
Rating: 5
Goodreads

First sentence(s):
I hated it. Detested it. I just wanted to get away as soon as I could.

When 10-year-old Takeru arrives at his mother's home village in the middle of a scorching summer, he's all alone and in possession of terrible memories. Unspeakable things have happened to his mother and his mentally disabled 12-year-old brother. As Takeru gets to know Mitsuko, his new caretaker, and Saki, his spunky neighbor, he meets more of his mother's old friends, discovering her history and confronting the terrible acts that have left him alone. All the while he begins to see a strange figure that calls himself Bunji—the same name of a delicate young boy who mysteriously vanished one day on the village's coastline at Lion's Cross Point.

At once the moving tale of a young boy forced to confront demons well beyond his age, a sensitive portrayal of a child's point of view, and a spooky Japanese ghost story, Lion's Cross Point is gripping and poignant. Acts of heartless brutality mix with surprising moments of pure kindness, creating this utterly truthful tale of an unforgettable young boy.

My two-bits:
Beautiful melancholy passages.

Loved the writing with its parallels, repetitions and moments of kindness.

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* Filipino character mentioned

* weekly theme: Japan

Happy Release: The Sea of Japan by Keita Nagano

The Sea of Japan
by Keita Nagano
-Women's Fiction, Japan | Goodreads
Release date: September 3, 2019
After fleeing a disastrous teaching job (and a bad gambling habit) in Boston, Lindsey starts teaching English in Hime, a small fishing town in Japan. One morning, while trying to snap the perfect ocean sunrise photo for her mother, she slips off a rock at the edge of Toyama Bay, hits her head, and plunges into the sea—and in doing so, sets off an unexpected chain of events.

When Lindsey comes to in the hospital, she learns that she owes her life to a young man named Ichiro—a local fisherman who also happens to be the older brother of one of her students. She begins to spend time with her lifesaver, and in the ensuing months, she becomes increasingly enmeshed in her new life: when she is not busy teaching, she splits her time between an apprenticeship with the local master sushi chef and going out fishing with Ichiro. As she and Ichiro grow closer, however, she also learns that not all is well in Hime, and she is drawn into a war to stop the town next door from overfishing their shared bay. Soon, she, Ichiro, and her pastrami-obsessed best friend, Judy—the person who talked Lindsey into coming to Japan in the first place—are spending all their free time working together to rescue the town. But when their efforts backfire, Hime gets closer to falling apart—putting Lindsey’s friends, her budding relationship with Ichiro, and her career in jeopardy. To save Hime, Lindsey realizes, she’ll have to become a true American fisherwoman and fight for her new home with everything she has.

ME by Tomoyuki Hoshino

ME by Tomoyuki Hoshino
afterword by Kenzaburō Ōe
translated by Charles De Wolf
narrated by David Shih

Published: 2017
Publisher: Akashic Books
Paperback: 256
Genre: SciFi, Japan
Rating: 4
Goodreads

First sentence(s):
I stole the cell phone on nothing more than a spr-of-the-moment whim, without any sense of wanting to do anything with it.

This novel centers on the "It's me" telephone scam--often targeting the elderly--that has escalated in Japan in recent years. Typically, the caller identifies himself only by saying, "Hey, it's me," and goes on to claim in great distress that he's been in an accident or lost some money with which he was entrusted at work, etc., and needs funds wired to his account right away.

ME's narrator is a nondescript young Tokyoite named Hitoshi Nagano who, on a whim, takes home a cell phone that a young man named Daiki Hiyama accidentally put on Hitoshi's tray at McDonald's. Hitoshi uses the phone to call Daiki's mother, pretending he is Daiki, and convinces her to wire him 900,000 yen.

Three days later, Hitoshi returns home from work to discover Daiki's mother there in his apartment, and she seems to truly believe Hitoshi is her son. Even more bizarre, Hitoshi discovers his own parents now treat him as a stranger; they, too, have a "me" living with them as Hitoshi. At a loss for what else to do, Hitoshi begins living as Daiki, and no one seems to bat an eye.

My two-bits:
Creepy and poignant.

Got me thinking of identity and questioning self and responsibilities.

Also, got me thinking of relationships with older family members - parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

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* weekly theme: Japan

* Listed to the audio version

Lovely Books and Things - 9.8.19

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. Celebrating friends on their birthday

2. Shakespeare in the Park - I love this annual event held at the Presidio. These productions are usually a contemporary version of the plays but still retaining Shakespeare-speak. This year's show is a musical version of As You Like It.

3. Downton Abbey tea event in anticipation for the film release, September 20, 2019

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Library: FOR Books and States reading challenge

America is for Beginners
by Leah Franqui
-Contemporary, Road Trip, India | Goodreads

The Summer Demands
by Deborah Shapiro
-LGBT | Goodreads

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
by Ocean Vuong
-Literary, Poetry, LGBTQ, Asian American, Vietnamese, Connecticut | Goodreads

Review posts theme for next week: Japan
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Lion Cross Point by Masatsugu Ono
Me by Tomoyuki Hoshino
The Sea of Japan by Keita Nagano
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima


AND watched: in theatre

Midsommar (2019)
Director/Writer: Ari Aster
Stars: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper
-Drama, Horror, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 5
A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown's fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

LOVED it just as much as the theatrical version. Certain things that were previously hinted are more outright. And one scene was slipped back in which provided more meaning to things that occur later in the film.

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)