Jun 25, 2025
Summer reading
I know there have been questions in the past about what we're watching, but I'm wondering what you're reading at the moment! I'm looking to get a few new books for summer and I'd love to hear if you have any recent recommendations. If you have any good spots here to get EN language books in person, too, I'd appreciate if you would share those as well!
Best Answer
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on Jun 26
I love the library, both locally (limited but some English books), as well as digitally with my US based library. Recommendations are tough because everyone likes reading different genres. What do you have in mind? I read the existing translations of the Japanese comic My Happy Marriage, which is also an animated series that I will get to watching some day. I read English translations of both Grass and The Waiting - comics by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. They are so good and sad, but know that there are sensitive topics from perspectives you won't read about in Japanese (or western) history books. A good one that is not related to Japan but related to moving abroad is The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell.
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on Jun 25
I've got about four weeks to myself this year, some of which I'll spend travelling, and I'm going to chill out and read! Some Japan content I'm intending to read: The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, and Home on the Far Side of the World by Tracy Slater (2015) The Convenience Store by the Sea by Machida Sonoko (2025) I rely on Amazon Japan and Kinokuniya brick-and-mortar for books.
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on Jun 25
Some recommendations of books I've read are a little old. Like decades and centuries old. They left an impression on me! The one that made me laugh and cry was The Confessions of Lady Nijo, a court lady who started as a concubine and finished as a Buddhist nun in the 14th century. If you anticipate traveling from Okayama to Hiroshima to Shikoku, I recommend reading The Inland Sea by Donald Richie (1971). It's fascinating and heartbreaking to read how the regions around the Seto Inland Sea have remained the same and changed compared to Richie's experience.
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on Jun 25
I've been reading the same book for the last year! In very small sections at a time. My brother lent it to me last summer when I was in Ireland. Oh my gosh, now that I think about it, it was the summer before, lol! It was written by a guy my brother went to school with and a lot of the things he mentions in the book I can relate to, so I will definitely finish it. I also know some of the people who he mentions, which is cool! Its called "Adventures of a Wonky Eyed Boy". I also properly read a few other books in the last year, front to cover. I'll try and find them after dinner!
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on Jun 28
@helloalissa I'm definitely gravitating to lighter stuff lately, since I feel like the world feels very doom and gloom! I like the sounds of The Year of Living Danishly, so I will see if there's a way to find that locally!
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on Jun 29
@helloalissa On the theme of living abroad - Ian Maloney wrote The Only Gaijin in the Village and Chris Broad's Abroad in Japan: Ten Years in the Land of the Rising Sun. But I'm leaning towards reading Japanese authors in translation and original this summer. I'm curious about fantasy, historical fiction, light essays. Got reccos?
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on Jul 1
@TonetoEdo My Happy Marriage is fantasy (Taisho era Cinderella meets magic powers without the fairy godmother), I'm reading the comic in both English and Japanese. The light novel was too much for me. I guess everything I mentioned was written by women, but my favorite fantasy author is Michael Ende, author of The Neverending Story and Momo.
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on Jul 20
@helloalissa Thanks for reminding me of Michael Ende! The 1984 movie version (a bit muddled) was shot in my hometown, Vancouver. I'm tempted to read the Japanese translation of the book.
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on Jul 20
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on Aug 3
@TonetoEdo I have always considered reading Kokoro (original or translation) as it's a classic. Glad to know you're liking it, I might give it a try. The site is interesting, I especially like that the settings allow furigana or no readings.
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on Oct 19
11 Answers