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mercerislandbooks · 7 months

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50 Years of Island Books: The Staff

This 50 Years of Island Books series is about to reach the grand finale, because November is only a few weeks away and it's almost time to pop the champagne. Since April, I've talked to booksellers and owners from years past, sales reps, and many beloved local authors to paint a picture of what Island Books has meant to the community and how it evolved into the place it is today.

Now, I'm turning my attention to the people who show up hour to hour, in the here and now, to make the store the living, breathing wonderland that it is and will be in 2023 and beyond. On a rainy Monday when the store was closed for cleaning, I pulled them aside for some heart-to-hearts.

So many times we come in and say a quick hi to these friendly booksellers, the face of a familiar place we know and love, but it's rare we think about who they are as people and what they think about as they work. I've known many of them for years and have watched the staff evolve. From my little perch, I can honestly say that they put so much love into what they do, and that our island community wouldn't be the same without them.

Side note: since I already cornered the longest tenured Island Books employee for a separate blog, Cindy only makes a tiny (and fun) appearance via Caitlin in this post. If you want to learn more about Cindy, click here.

To our Island Books booksellers—we love and appreciate all of you. Truly. Now let's get into it.

Miriam: I'm so happy to have a chance to talk to each of you. Let's start with, which book category excites you the most, and why?

Brad: Any day I can turn someone onto the Russians, like Checkhov, Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky, or someone less read, like Pushkin, is a great day. Jorge Luis Borges is a favorite for customers looking for a literary blend of fantasy and science fiction literary. He's Argentinian, and his voice differs from many other classic authors. There are so many large and small presses putting out reprints.

Becca: I'm largely a sci-fi, fantasy, and romance person. I’m not averse to other categories, but the books that I drop everything to read tend to be one of those genres (or fairy-tale retellings). I also love curling up with a good Middle Grade or Young Adult fiction.

Lori Robinson: The genre I get the most energy around right now is romance. I read widely, but I have my favorite places I like to land, although every once in a while something different catches my eye.

Caitlin: I love to sell the books I like to read: short story collections, literary fiction, translated fiction, poetry, some memoirs, and art and ballet history. When I first started at Island Books, a lot of people said, “Oh, short stories don’t sell here.” But I'm happy to say that isn't the case anymore.

Nancy: I like to read literary fiction and good narrative nonfiction, generally science and history.

Lillian: I think people would assume that I read a ton of kids books, but I’m around them so much and read them for work—at least 600 picture books a year (!), so for my own pleasure, I read mostly mystery, romance, and fantasy.

Miriam: As a group, you have a wide variety of tastes, which is great for customers. Now, tell me about your proudest accomplishments at Island Books.

Brad: I love to draw signs. I’m a part-time illustrator with a cartoony style, maybe because I’m a big graphic novel fan.

Becca: It’s fun to have become a person that customers ask for book recommendations. -- I still feel fairly new (2 years under my belt now), but to have become an integral part of something I love so much is awesome.

Lori Robinson: Mine would be the year we sold over 200 copies of Amy Snow by Tracey Rees in six months because I kept hand selling it. It was the first time I realized the impact a bookseller could have on the success of a book that wasn’t getting all the media attention.

Caitlin: Mine would be proving that our customers do like short stories.

Nancy: I'm proud of the many stories over the years that I could bring home to my family, and tell them how we found the perfect book for a customer’s dying mother or a kid having an issue, things like that. And the funny ones—we used to have a customer who loved to give a certain book to his lady friends. Whenever we saw that title on order, everyone knew he had a successful date! I think he single-handedly kept that book in print. I sure didn’t have those kind of stories when I worked as a web designer.

Miriam: There's no job quite like bookselling, is there? Those are great answers. Can you give an example of when you felt a deep connection with a customer or the community?

Becca: When a kid comes in and says they like fairy tales and you realize that kid is exactly who you were as a small child. Then you give them a pile of books and they buy all of them and you’re like, yes, I’ve found mini-me! Or having someone call back or come in the next time and say, "What you gave me for my grandkid was exactly what I needed and they loved it".

Lori Robinson: I have a certain customer who I remember coming to our door during the pandemic and saying, “Just pick two books out for me, I’ll read anything you want." That trust is challenging. When I don’t know someone, I really want to take care of it and give people good choices. Anytime someone buys a book that I write a blog about, that warms my little heart. And I love when someone comes in and I think, I would never guess you’d read this book, and then they say, “I love this book!” I just love that we all get to like what we like.

Caitlin: One of our customers who loves short stories—having that customer come to me for recommendations is really nice, and an honor because she’s also a big reader, a school librarian, and a mother. I love sharing a common love of certain books with individual customers.

Nancy: Here's my quirky fact - This will be the second 50th anniversary of a bookstore I’ve attended this year. The other one I went to recently was for Red and Black Books, where I used to work with former Island Books bookseller Kay Wilson. I saw her there. Talk about long-time connections.

Lillian: I actually have a really clear one. Earlier this year, a mom came in and said that her queer child felt welcomed and happy to be at the store, and she was so thankful that her child had thought to mention how welcome they felt. I almost started to cry on the spot and it makes me tear up thinking about it.

Miriam: That's amazing. It's nice to know that your experiences in the store are just as meaningful to you as they are to the customers. I love hearing this good stuff, and I’m also interested in hearing about a challenge you overcame.

Brad: At first I would have said, wrapping, and it’s something I didn’t expect. I had no idea! People on Mercer Island really know how to give gifts. Drawing quickly is also a challenge.

Caitlin: I wish more people would give books I like a try. People will come in and want to read whatever is the bestselling book. What I say is, “What are you in the mood to read?” and then go from there, because not everyone needs to read bestsellers or classics. They’re not in school. Read what you want.

Nancy: There are a lot of books! We like a lot of books, but more and more books come out and we don’t have the space to shelve everything. We can order it, but we can’t stock everything. So every quarter, it’s a huge challenge to say, these are the books we’re going to commit to.

Lillian: The honest challenge is to stay interested after reading so many books over so many years. What I realize after I go through another season is that the books are different, that’s the great thing about books. Sometimes customers want the same thing over and over, and those things become classics and that’s fine, but for the majority of customers and definitely for me, I have to see what’s different, otherwise, it can get repetitive.

Miriam: Great answers that speak to so many years on the job. Here's another question. How would your colleagues describe you?

Brad: Friendly and kind, I would hope. A good listener.

Becca: Enthusiastic and willing. Laurie says I’m sassy. I'm also the youngest and got sucked into the social media part of things pretty quick, so I get a lot of the, hey, younger generation, technology, things.

Lori Robinson: I know that I’m pretty calm and unflappable when it comes to dealing with whatever you’ve got to deal with.

Caitlin: Oh, ha, here’s a note from Cindy about this question. She said I’m literary and quirky, and a name-dropper. And I was like, “Yeah…I think that’s pretty accurate.”

Nancy: Brilliant, friendly, kind to everyone, no-nonsense. You know. All the good stuff.

Lillian: I’m definitely the squeaky wheel. I guess what they’d say is that I get things done. That’s the thing. I get things done.

Miriam: These answers cracked me up (including the ones that aren't making it to print!). OK, let's do a fantasy question now. What would you do with it if someone gave you one million dollars to improve the book business and/or promote literacy?

Brad: Open more dream bookstores and do them the way I always wanted.

Becca: The industry is already diversifying the characters and cultures in books, and I’d find ways to support that. Everyone deserves to see themselves in what they read.

Lori Robinson: I’d love to do something to fight book bans. Working at the bookstore has opened my eyes to what banning books does, and I appreciate that it’s changed my view on experiencing things rather than being afraid of them.

Caitlin: I’d start with free nationwide healthcare for people earning under a certain amount of money. I grew up in a household filled with books, and I think it’s important for kids to grow up with their own books, and that takes parents earning a living wage.

Nancy: This is because I’m such a nuts-and-bolts person, but I’d get rid of dust jackets and have everything be paper on board so that we have less damages to deal with. Saves money and they’re annoying.

Lillian: I’d reverse this trend of prices going up because that would make independent bookstores more accessible to people who shop online because it’s cheaper. There are people who can’t afford to shop in independent bookstores, and if you remove that barrier, it would just open up that handpicked-for-you element that can be so special for kids, and adults too.

Miriam: Ah, if only booksellers ran the world. How about this. If I were to work with you in the store for a month, what would I learn about bookstore life that I can’t possibly gather from a brief interview?

Becca: A lot of people don’t know that we get new releases every single Tuesday, or that we get books sent to us a week before they come out so we have them on the actual release day. So many books, all the time.

Caitlin: Customers are pretty savvy. Obviously, there’s that old idea that booksellers and librarians are just sitting around reading all day, but it’s not true, there’s a lot of work. It’s physical work, you’re constantly bending and putting things away.

Nancy: Well I’m sure everyone says, we do not have time to read while we’re working. They also might not know just how much we really know our customers. Sometimes when we’re going through a catalog, we’ll say, “Oh, I know who will like that book.” And we get that book for that particular person in our community. The two big trends in the past years are the normalization of queerness in fiction and nonfiction, so we really have a tiny LGBTQ section, because, there aren’t really any queer novels anymore—they’re mainstream. I love that. The other thing is Tiktok. It’s been crazy for us getting younger women and girls in the store. And we wish Tiktok could work that way for boys too. We now see these backlist authors getting a second wind because of Tiktok and that’s so interesting as a trend. The third thing that everyone is talking about is AI. One of the things that we have on our radar and it’s been coming up in the book world is fake books. We’re seeing them more and more in the travel and cookbook categories. Our job as curators is more important than ever. We’re working with reputable publishers, we’re looking at every book that comes in the store, we’re recommending books. I think with AI, people are becoming even more important.

Lillian: How much time we spend just putting books away and tidying up and keeping things alphabetized. I can’t tell you how much we hum the alphabet to keep bookshelves in order. And working with me in particular, I’d say that I come across much more serious than I really am.

Miriam: You all have to be so organized. Let's move on to my final question. What does being part of a small business within a community mean, and how do you play a role in it?

Brad: One of the best things about working at Island Books is how the community supports the store. And it’s not just about books. We’re a hub. About six months after I started, a woman came in and said her car wouldn’t start. Does anyone know how to jump a car? And I said, I can help. She didn’t know me, but she knew I worked at Island Books, so she knew we'd pitch in.

Becca: People are so committed to the small-town vibe here, everyone knowing each other. It’s so cool to see my colleagues interact with all these customers and they know their names and who they are. I also admire the way we work with other small businesses in the community. Everyone is invested in each other.

Lori Robinson: It’s funny for me, because I went to middle school and high school here, and I worked on the south end for longer than I care to admit, but all of that built a lot of relationships for me, the kind where you see people every day. It’s strange to have people to come in who have kids who were four when I met them and are now graduating from college and starting their careers. When I think about being part of a bookstore, I hope that there are some kids and regular customers who have felt like we’ve offered them a safe place and that I’ve personally been a safe person to talk to who they know won’t judge them or what they like to read. It means a lot to people when we remember them. I hope we offer a warm moment and a good experience.

Caitlin: With the exception of Laurie (and Becca, who is moving off-island), none of the staff lives on the island. So I guess we feel we’re representatives of the store and the community and it’s our responsibility to make people feel welcome.

Nancy: I feel like I have really grown with Mercer Island. I don’t live here, but I feel like I’ve really gotten to know this community. I worked for Roger for six years and I’ve worked for Laurie for almost seven, and we see kids grow up, we see people age, we have a lot of customers who have died over the years, and you’re kind of going through life cycles with people. We’ve seen the build up of Mercer Island, the businesses who are all working together now—it didn’t used to be like that. The community feels more like they appreciate their community too. I think our customers really stepped up during Covid and realized, we love this place, and we need it. They’ve been great.

Lillian: As the kids’ specialist, it’s different, because I spend a lot of time chatting with the community kids. I get to watch them grow up. There are people that come in who are going to high school that eight years ago I was recommending chapter books to. So, to have a hand in helping kids become life-long readers, and enhancing how important it is, is great. I always say I’m lucky to not be the teacher or parent because I don’t have to worry about the academics. I worry about, how can I make this kid love books so much that they will be a reader for the rest of their life?

Miriam: Right? That makes so much sense. Thanks, everyone. What a cool crowd. I adore all of you and am so glad you're in my life, and everyone else's!

Next week, for my final installment of 50 Years of Island Books, I'll be talking with the owner, Laurie Raisys, and it'll be a good one. See you soon.

—Miriam

#island books #Miriam landis #bookstore staff #lori robinson #Becca Oman #Cindy corujo #Caitlin luce baker #Lillian welch #Nancy Shawn #Brad Beshaw #50 Years of Island Books

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expendablemudge · 7 months

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THE BOOK OF PARADISE, translation from Yiddish highlighting global rise in anti-Semitism this Translation Month

THE BOOK OF PARADISE via Pushkin Press Classics, is a translation from Yiddish I'm using to highlight the global rise in anti-Semitism this #NationalTranslationMonth.

My 4.5* #BookRecommendation is here:

#book blog #book review #book tumblr #anti-semitism #National translation month #Pushkin Press #yiddish

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kaggsy59 · 11 months

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A strange house, a locked room murder, storms and terrors = a perfect read! #themillhousemurders @pushkinpress

I do like a little contrast in my reading, and I suppose going from a book on Proust to a classic Japanese locked room mystery is quite a jump! But that’s where we are today, with a rather wonderful book recently issued by Pushkin Press. The titles is “The Mill House Murders” by Yukito Ayatsuji, translated by Ho-King Wong, and it’s the second in the series featuring the amateur detective Shimada…

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#pushkin press #the mill house murders #Yukito Ayatsuji

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martyncrucefix · 2 years

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I Saw Three Swans: Baudelaire, Rilke, Oswald

A friend of mine recently asked what I thought of Alice Oswald’s poem, ‘Swan’ – in fact, what did I think it meant. It appears in her 2016 collection Falling Awake (Cape Poetry). I’m not sure I can give a direct answer to her direct question, but it linked up with two other swan poems I have read recently. Baudelaire’s poem appears in The Flowers of Evil and I have been re-reading a couple of…

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fictionfromafar · 2 years

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Japanese Crime Fiction Through The Years

While there are currently a larger number of Scandinavian crime fiction novels being translated into English, it could certainly be argued that many Japanese mystery novels offer some of the finest detective stories ever penned and translated to the English language. Authors like Seishi Yokomizo, Soji Shimada, and Masako Togawa were known as the Christies and Doyles of Japan. These Japanese authors created their own golden age of mystery fiction in Japan — often referred to as honkaku. Many of these have only been made available in the English language in recent years. In tandem, many modern writers including Yukito Ayatsuji, Keigo Higashino, Riku Onda and Kotaro Isaka have created their own stories which in some cases hark back to the earlier authors while also adding contemporary settings and feel. Here is a look at some of the historical and modern classics from Japan and also a preview at some forthcoming titles including three to be published in December 2021 and more due in 2022.

The Classics

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2019

This is what many consider the best honkaku Japanese detective story - this ‘locked room murder mystery’ is a unique take on the formula made iconic by major Western writers like Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Gaston Leroux. It takes place in a fixed location: the Ichiyanagi household in the village of Okamura.

The Ichiyanagi family are a proud, wealthy, high-class family, and one of their sons, Kenzo, is due to marry the young Katsuko. On the night of their wedding, they are murdered by a mysterious assailant who flees into the night, leaving nothing but a handprint and a bloodied samurai sword in the snow.

The Honjin Murders is a wickedly fun time. Its short length, quirky cast of characters, engaging mystery, and theatrical setting and plot make for a fantastic murder mystery tale. It is a prime example of honkaku, a literary genre of Japanese detective fiction that emerged in the 1920s that focuses on “fair play” — no unexpected twists or villains show up right at the end of the plot, but all necessary clues are laid out to the reader, giving them an equal chance to solve the riddle as the detective.

The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2020

Seishi Yokomizo’s second novel is much longer than its predecessor, The Inugami Curse also puts Detective Kindaichi centre stage as he is tasked with solving the murder of the head of the powerful Inugami Clan. The clan itself is marred with dark and dirty secrets, many of which come out when a series of murders begin, following the death of the clan patriarch. This is a macabre but fun and intensely exciting Japanese mystery novel that lays down enough twists and turns to keep the plot feeling fresh, despite its longer length.

Murder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2019

Murder in the Crooked House is one of those honkaku Japanese mystery novels that leans on the setting, focussing on the compelling intricacies of its setting over everything else. That setting is the titular Crooked House. The house sits on a snowy cliff in a remote part of Japan, and it is an intricately-designed place that works as a kind of puzzle box. It’s the character of the house that carries the story. Drawn with compelling detail, the Crooked House is like a Rubix cube or a puzzle box that the reader can almost fiddle with in order to solve the central murder.

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada, translated by Ross Mackenzie, Pushkin Press, 2015

An artist lives with seven women, all members of his family. In his notes and diaries, he has plotted out a scheme to murder each of them, one by one. Before he can, however, he is killed. This is a classic honkaku locked room mystery, with him having died in his locked office with no way in or out.

Following his death, however, the women begin to die, as he had planned, and our two protagonists — amateur detectives — set out on a journey to track down the murderer, and they take you along with them. The possibility that our artist never died at all remains at the back of our minds the entire time, as does the question of how he died and who is doing the killings in his place.

This is one of the sharpest Japanese mystery novels around; one of the finest ever written. The journey we take is engaging and the central conceit is something to be chewed on for hours and hours. It’s clever, intriguing and an absorbing whodunnit.

The Master Key by Masako Togawa, translated by Simon Grove, Pushkin Press, 2017

Masako Togawa was one of the most beloved Japanese mystery authors around. This book is set in a large apartment complex in Tokyo, every resident of which is a woman with a secret.

Rather than beginning with a murder, the story follows the theft of the master key, which opens every door to every apartment in the building. With these tangled secrets coming out, the book promises that, at the centre of this tangled web, we will find a murder.

The Lady Killer by Masako Togawa, translated by Simon Grove, Pushkin Press, 2018

The Lady Killer is a personal favourite. This is a book with similar vibes to those of Ryu Murakami which leans into the seedy underbelly of Tokyo life.

The book follows a serial killer named Ichiro Honda as he turns from hunter to hunted. While he lives his days as an ordinary, unassuming urban husband, at night Honda is a man who enjoys seducing the vulnerable women of Tokyo’s clubs and bars. However, as a trail of bodies winds its way towards him, Honda becomes someone else’s prey.

Modern Classics

Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Beth Cary, Soho Crime, 1999

A dead body is found under the rails of a train in the early hours of a cold 1960s Tokyo morning. Possessing no documents and with a face so brutally damaged that the police find it impossible to identify the victim, the assigned detective to the case, Inspector Imanishi, is left with only two clues to follow: the distinctive accent of a young man who was last seen with the victim and the word “kameda.” After months of following wrong leads and not a single solid suspect, the case is closed, unresolved. Imanishi, dissatisfied, cannot take the case out of his mind, but then a series of strange but coinciding events lead him back to square one.

Credited with popularizing the mystery genre in Japan, “Inspector Imanishi Investigates” is one of Seicho Matsumoto’s most famous novels and a classic Japanese detective story. Inspector Imanishi isn’t your typical eccentric, gifted detective with impressive deductive skills, but a laid-back, quiet bonsai lover who enjoys spending his free time writing haiku and folding paper cranes. With the perfect combination of a down-to-earth detective and a seemingly unsolvable crime, “Inspector Imanishi Investigates” is the best company for a stormy, indoor summer afternoon.

Malice by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus, 2014

Keigo Higashino is one of Japan’s foremost modern mystery writers, penning some of the most successful Japanese mystery novels of recent years. Like Yokomizo’s Detective Kindaichi, police detective Kyoichiro Kaga is a legendary detective protagonist, and Malice was his debut novel. Malice begins with the brutal murder of a famous Japanese novelist, Kunihiko Hindada — killed in his own home the day before a big move to Canada was planned.. This is a modern take on the classic locked room murder mystery. When the author’s body is found by both his wife and fellow writer Osamu Nonoguchi, it is in a locked room in a locked house.

Before becoming a police detective, Kaga was a teacher, and Nonoguchi was his colleague, who eventually also left the job to pursue a career as a writer. His success never reached the heights of the murder victim, though. What makes this book stand out in a sea of Japanese mystery novels is the fact that Nonoguchi, very early, confesses to the murder — just as Kaga suspects — but that’s just the beginning. Kaga returns in the novel Newcomer. Here is my review:

Out by Natsuo Kirino, translated by Stephen Snyder, Vintage, 2006

Taking an unflinching look into the darkest recesses of society and the human soul, One provides an unsettling reminder that the desperate desire for freedom can make the most ordinary person do the unimaginable.

While this is a story of crime and murder in Japan, it’s not a detective story. Out follows the stories of four women who work at a bento box factory in Tokyo. When one of these women finally snaps and murders her husband, while their children sleep in the next room, she enlists the help of her colleagues to cut up and hide the body. Thus begins a race against time and the authorities to avoid detection and get away with murder.

Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama, translated by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, Riverun, 2016

For five days, the parents of a seven-year-old Tokyo schoolgirl sat and listened to the demands of their daughter’s kidnapper. They would never learn his identity. They would never see their daughter again.

For the fourteen years that followed, the Japanese public listened to the police’s apologies. They would never forget the botched investigation that became known as ‘Six Four’. They would never forgive the authorities their failure. What follows is a complex, slow-burning, insightful and methodical picture of policing in Japan that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus, 2012

When Yasuko Hanaoka’s abusive ex-husband appears at her door to extort money, the situation quickly takes a dark turn, and he ends up strangled by Yasuko and her daughter. After witnessing the incident from the apartment next door, math teacher Ishigami decides to help his neighbours in covering up the murder. Assigned to the case is detective Kusanagi, who grows increasingly suspicious of the mother and daughter despite not identifying any holes in their alibi, so he goes to seek help from his physicist friend Dr. Yukawa who often assists in police cases. What follows is a competition between two geniuses trying to outsmart the other. With the murder and the culprit already laid out from the beginning, “The Devotion of Suspect X” focuses on the how and the why, leaving readers immersed in a competition of the highest stakes and two questions to be answered: Can there be such a thing as an unsolvable puzzle and how far would someone go to create one?

One of the most popular modern Japanese thrillers to date, Higashino’s “The Devotion of Suspect X” was my entry point to Japanese crime fiction and has won multiple awards, which include the coveted 134th Naoki Prize and the sixth Honkaku Mystery Award, one of the most prestigious awards for mystery novels in Japan. The novel’s enticing plot is remarkably translated to English by Alexander O. Smith, having been nominated for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel

Confessions By Kanae Minato, translated by Stephen Snyder, Mulholland Books, 2014

Kanae Minato has been described as “’the queen of iyamisu’ (eww mystery), a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature.” In Confessions, middle school teacher Yuko Moriguchi’s four-year-old child dies tragically at the school she teaches. After giving a rattling confession to her homeroom class, she resigns from her position, a last act of revenge for the death that was no accident. As Moriguchi’s story and the stories of characters labeled “Student A” and “Student B” unravel, it turns out that she’s not the only one with confessions to make.

But revenge has a way of spinning out of control, and Yuko's last lecture is only the start of the story. In this bestselling Japanese thriller of love, despair and murder, everyone has a confession to make, and no one will escape unharmed.

Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus 2013

In Osaka, 1972, a man was found murdered at an abandoned building. Detective Sasagaki, assigned to the case, soon finds himself out of leads when two of the main suspects are found dead and no more clues are discovered. Two kids, however, catch his attention throughout the investigation: the gloomy son of the victim Ryo, and the alluring daughter of the main suspect Yukiho. In a tangled web of characters and events, follow detective Sasagaki in this epic 20-year riddle as he relentlessly attempts to piece together strange misfortunes, sudden twists and unexpected connections.

“Journey Under the Midnight Sun” is one of the best examples of the author’s sleight of hand. With an episodic plot, a long list of minor characters, and references to major historical events of 1970s Japan, it might be challenging at first for the inexperienced reader. However, the complexity of the epic allows a deep dive into the psyche of the era and the hearts of the characters.

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, translated by Ho-Ling Wong, Pushkin Press, 2020

Yukito Ayatsuji is one of the founders of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club: a group of Japanese mystery authors who echo the golden age of detective stories to outstanding effect. His first novel was The Decagon House Murders.

Paying homage to Agatha Christie’s masterpiece, And Then There Were None, The Decagon House Murders follows the story of a group of young mystery novel fanatics who spend a few days on an island which was, just one-year prior, the scene of a brutal murder.

One narrative follows the students as they fall into a murderous trap while staying in the island’s one remaining building, the Decagon House where the students are picked off one by one. The second narrative follows two remaining members of the club as they remain on land and begin their own investigation after receiving a letter from the deceased owner of the island. The central question we face is this: is the killer one of the students, or is it the not-so-dead owner of the Decagon House?

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda, translated by Alison Watts, Bitter Lemon Press, 2020

1970s Japan. A freak mass murder takes place in a remote town on a stormy day. 17 people were found dead at a birthday party, including elderly and children. The police are puzzled — how will they catch the murderer if the only present witness and survivor of the massacre is a blind, sickly girl? A few different individuals are suspected at first, but soon all suspicion lies on a single person. You see, it’s a very simple story. If there are ten people in a house and nine die, who is the culprit?

However, proving their guilt is a lot harder than it seems since people’s memories are faulty and their perspectives are biased. As much as you try to make the pieces fall perfectly in place, Onda takes you on a swirl of events and findings that contradict each other, but will leave you glued to the book until the end. In this dark, tantalizing journey that challenges the norms of the mystery genre, Onda gives voice to all of those involved in the crime and dives deep into their psyche, exploring their innermost fears and darkest secrets leading to an interpretive ending.

Here is my review:

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated by Lucy North, Faber & Faber 2021

The Woman in the Purple Skirt is being watched. Someone is following her, always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes; what she eats; whom she speaks to. But this invisible observer isn't a stalker - it's much more complicated than that. Through the narrator who follows and watches the mysterious Woman in the Purple Skirt, Imamura weaves a disquieting, darkly voyeuristic narrative of obsession, manipulation and the insidious effects of gossip.

The Wrong Goodbye by Toshihiko Yahagi, Translated by Alfred Birnbaum, MacLehose 2021

A classic slice of Japanese hard-boiled noir paying homage to Raymond Chandler, the Wrong Goodbye pits homicide detective Eiji Futamura against a shady Chinese business empire and U.S. military intelligence in the docklands of recession era Japan.

After the frozen corpse of immigrant barman Tran Binh Long washes up in midsummer near Yokosuka U.S. Navy Base, Futamura meets a strange customer from Tran’s bar. Vietnam vet pilot Billy Lou Bonney talks Futamura into hauling three suitcases of “goods” to Yokota US Air Base late at night and flies off leaving a dead woman behind. Thereby implicated in a murder suspect’s escape and relieved from active duty, Futamura takes on hack work for the beautiful concert violinist Aileen Hsu, a “boat people” orphan whose Japanese adoption mother has mysteriously gone missing. And now a phone call from a bestselling yakuza author, a one-time black marketeer in Saigon, hints at inside information on “former Vietcong mole” Tran and his “old sidekick” Billy Lou, both of whom crossed a triad tycoon who is buying up huge tracts of Mekong Delta marshland for a massive development scheme. As the loose strands flashback to Vietnam, the string of official lies and mysterious allegiances build into a dark picture of the U.S.-Japan postwar alliance.

Here is my review:

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker, 2021

Five killers find themselves on a bullet train from Tokyo competing for a suitcase full of money. Satoshi looks like an innocent schoolboy but he is really a viciously cunning psychopath. Kimura's young son is in a coma thanks to him, and Kimura has tracked him onto the bullet train heading from Tokyo to Morioka to exact his revenge. But Kimura soon discovers that they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard.

Nanao, the self-proclaimed 'unluckiest assassin in the world', and the deadly partnership of Tangerine and Lemon are also travelling to Morioka. A suitcase full of money leads others to show their hands. Why are they all on the same train, and who will get off alive at the last station?

Bullet Train is an original and propulsive thriller from a prize-winning Japanese bestseller – and it’s already set to be a major film, directed by David Leitch and boasting a star-studded cast including Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and Aaron Taylor Johnson.

Forthcoming Publications:

The Village of Eight Graves By Seishi Yokomizo, Translated by Bryan Karetnyk, Pushkin Press 2 December 2021

Nestled deep in the mist-shrouded mountains, The Village of Eight Graves takes its name from a bloody legend: in the Sixteenth Century eight samurais, who had taken refuge there along with a secret treasure, were murdered by the inhabitants, bringing a terrible curse down upon their village.

Centuries later a mysterious young man named Tatsuya arrives in town, bringing a spate of deadly poisonings in his wake. The inimitably scruffy and brilliant Kosuke Kindaichi investigates.

Death of the Living Dead by Masaya Yamaguchi, translated by Ho-Ling Wong, Amazon Kindle, December 2021

Occasionally Japanese crime fiction will cross with the supernatural, such as in Ring by Koji Suzuki, and this highly awaited translation of Masaya Yamaguchi.

It is the late 1900s, and strange occurrences of “resurrection of the dead” are occurring all over the United States. Amidst this, Smiley Barleycorn, the immensely wealthy founder of Smile Cemetery in the New England town of Tombsville, is on his deathbed. His family has been summoned and Smiley’s grandchild Francis (a.k.a. Grin) visits his grandfather along with his beloved. There Grin witnesses the neglect of the dying master of the house and the unfolding of ugly family disputes over the inheritance of the huge estate. On the day of a Family Tea Party, Grin drinks tea that has been poisoned and breathes his last quietly in his room, but is soon resurrected as one of the living dead. Grin thinks that he may have gotten caught up in a planned murder over succession to property, and, while concealing from those around him that he has already died once, tries to uncover the truth behind the incident. Meanwhile the victims, the suspects, and even the detectives are dying and resurrecting one after another.

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino, Translated by Giles Murray, Little Brown, 14 December 2021

A popular young girl disappears without a trace, her skeletal remains discovered three years later in the ashes of a burned-out house. There’s a suspect and compelling circumstantial evidence of his guilt, but no concrete proof. When he isn’t indicted, he returns to mock the girl’s family. And this isn’t the first time he’s been suspected of the murder of a young girl, nearly twenty years ago he was tried and released due to lack of evidence. Chief Inspector Kusanagi of the Homicide Division of the Tokyo Police worked both cases.

The neighborhood in which the murdered girl lived is famous for an annual street festival, featuring a parade with entries from around Tokyo and Japan. During the parade, the suspected killer dies unexpectedly. His death is suspiciously convenient but the people with all the best motives have rock solid alibis. Chief Inspector Kusanagi turns once again to his college friend, Physics professor and occasional police consultant Manabu Yukawa, known as Detective Galileo, to help solve a modern take on the ‘locked room murder mystery’.

Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura, Translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iide, John Murray Press, 17 February 2022

One of Japan’s great modern masters, Kaoru Takamura, makes her English-language debut with this two-volume publication of her magnum opus. Tokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-War Japan: a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder; a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder; a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his race; a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down syndrome. The fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who has died suspiciously after the revelation of a family connection with the segregated buraku community, historically subjected to severe discrimination.

Intent on revenge against a society that values corporate behemoths more than human life, the five conspirators decide to carry out a heist: kidnap the CEO of Japan’s largest beer conglomerate and extract blood money from the company’s corrupt financiers. Inspired by the unsolved true-crime kidnapping case perpetrated by “the Monster with 21 Faces,” Lady Joker has become a cultural touchstone since its 1997 publication, acknowledged as the magnum opus by one of Japan’s literary masters, twice adapted for film and TV and often taught in high school and college classrooms.

Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker, 4 April 2022

Suzuki is just an ordinary man until his wife is murdered. When he discovers the criminal gang responsible he leaves behind his life as a maths teacher and joins them, looking for a chance to take his revenge. What he doesn't realise is that he's about to get drawn into a web of unusual professional assassins, each with their own agenda.

The Whale convinces his victims to take their own lives using just his words.

The Cicada is a talkative and deadly knife expert.

The elusive Pusher dispatches his targets in deadly traffic accidents.

Suzuki must take each of them on, in order to try to find justice and keep his innocence in a world of killers

Fish Swimming In Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda, Translated by Alison Watt, Bitter Lemon Press, 16 June 2022

Set in Tokyo over the course of one night, Aki and Hiro have decided to be together one last time in their shared flat before parting. Their relationship has broken down after a mountain trek during which their guide died inexplicably. Now each believes the other to be a murderer and is determined to extract a confession before the night is over. Who is the murderer and what really happened on the mountain? In the battle of wills between them, the chain of events leading up to this night is gradually revealed in a gripping psychological thriller that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #japanesecrimefiction #japaneseliterature #japanese noir

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alexsfictionaddiction · 3 years

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Review: How To Be Brave by Daisy May Johnson

I’m sure I’ve mentioned how much I adore Pushkin Press as a publisher and their children’s books are always a complete delight to read. I am so happy that I got the opportunity to sink into this brand new treasure and introduce it to you.

Elizabeth North has always been fascinated by rare duck species, particularly the Mallardus Amazonica. As an adult, Elizabeth is a widowed mother to Calla, who knows that her mother has never been normal and Calla herself sometimes has to do the adulting in their lives. Then Elizabeth is given an amazing opportunity to travel to the Amazon Rainforest and study the incredible birds she has always loved. Calla knows that her mother has to go, which means that she must enrol at the School of the Good Sisters, the unconventional convent boarding school, where Elizabeth was also a student. But as Calla starts to make friends and get used to school life with a new, strict headmistress, she realises that her mother still hasn’t called...

The story is supplemented with footnotes, which provide additional background information and commentary that is so much fun to read. All of the girls are obsessed with baked goods and this is often used to make judgements of people and measurements of how good or bad things really are. The narrative voice came through really well in the footnotes too. They let the reader in on small pieces of information that fleshes out the characters just that little bit more.

The library at the School of the Good Sisters sounds like the perfect place to curl up and escape everything. In the first few chapters during Elizabeth’s time at the school, it is packed full of children’s classics and magical worlds to dive into. In Calla’s time, we barely see the library itself but we know that the only books allowed are academic. Magic and adventure has literally been removed from the school, so we know we’re in for a tough time!

There is a really important mantra that resonates throughout the book and that is to always be your true, authentic self. Even if that self is weird and different to everyone else, you shouldn’t ever try to hide it. In fact, you should use it to shine and show the world who you really are. This is something that I think should be central to every children’s book and a message that every child should have instilled into them.

Thankfully, Calla does have the lovely Good Sister Christine to watch over her at school. Chrissie was Elizabeth’s best friend during their time as students at the School of the Good Sisters and she understands Elizabeth almost as well as Calla does. Her loyalty means that she is only too happy to take care of Calla while Elizabeth has to chase her dreams. With the help of one of Calla’s room mates Hana, Christine is running a secret library within the school, smuggling children’s classics to the students who ask for them. I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that the teachers were all fully on board with overturning the tyranny that Headmistress DeWitt has unleashed on the school.

I think my favourite character is Calla’s other room mate Edie. She is a small, militant, French girl who takes it upon herself to organise a rebellion and cause chaos in order to take back the school and reinstate the beloved Good Sister June as headmistress. Her passion and dedication to the cause is so admirable and I just couldn’t wait to see what scheme Edie would come up with next. She also proves herself to be a very good friend when Calla needs her too and I wonder whether anything would have got done if Edie hadn’t been there. I would love to read a series of Edie just running around, defeating evil wherever it crops up.

There is also a wonderful character named Gareth, who is employed as one of Headmistress DeWitt’s henchmen but all he really wants is to master ganache. Every time he cropped up, he would be asking the universe to help him with this specific baking skill and he made me laugh so often that I think I fell in love with him a bit. He was the perfect ‘evil but not really evil’ character for a children’s book and I like to think he went on to ace the ganache and now owns a patisserie full of delicate sweet goodies!

Even when the final battle is going on and there are students running riot everywhere, there is still cake being passed around. There are secret stashes of biscuits in almost every cupboard in the school and it seems that it’s always time to delve into them. As a huge biscuit fan myself, I wanted to be amongst these amazing, feisty girls so much!

How To Be Brave is a witty, quirky and wonderfully heartwarming story that celebrates confident, smart and courageous women. It’s about chosen family, loyalty, the power of friendship and the importance of stories. There is also a relentless chant of owning who you are and never wavering from your true self, no matter what the world throws at you. Charming, funny and written in a warm friendly tone, this is a book for everyone who needs the inspiration to be themselves.

#how to be brave #daisy may johnson #middle-grade #book review #review #books #bookworm

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weirdletter · 4 years

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American Midnight: Tales of the Dark, by Various Authors, selected and introduced by Laird Hunt, Pushkin Press, 2019. Info: pushkinpress.com.

A masquerade ball cut short by a mysterious plague; a strange nocturnal ritual in the woods; a black bobcat howling in the night: these ten tales are some of the most strange and unsettling in all of American literature, filled with unforgettable imagery and simmering with tension. From Edgar Allan Poe to Shirley Jackson, Nathaniel Hawthorne to Zora Neale Hurston, the authors of these classics of supernatural suspense have inspired generations of writers to explore the dark heart of the land of the free. The stories in this collection have been selected and introduced by Laird Hunt, an author of seven acclaimed novels which explore the shadowy corners of American history.

Contains: Introduction by Laird Hunt ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ by Edgar Allan Poe ‘Young Goodman Brown’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne ‘The Eyes’ by Edith Wharton ‘The Mask’ by Robert Chambers “Home” by Shirley Jackson ‘A Ghost Story’ by Mark Twain ‘Spunk’ by Zora Neale Hurston ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman ‘An Itinerant House’ by Emma Frances Dawson About the Publisher

#book #anthology #american gothic #weird fiction #horror fiction #classic horror

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thegirlwiththelantern · 9 days

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2024 Memoirs and Biographies

This is more of a serious list. However there are some lighter entries that have made their way onto the list. I’m quite intrigued by The Bookshop Woman. A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter, trans. Jane Degras | 09 / 01 / 24 – Pushkin Press Classics In 1934, the painter Christiane Ritter leaves her comfortable home for a year with her husband on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen. On…

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#2024 #Books #Memoir #Nonfiction #releases

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rllibrary · 4 years

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Japanese Literature, and More

Above: Yasunari Kawabata, 1946

Above: Yukio Mishima

Above: Mieko Kawakami, 2014

Japanese Literature, 20th Century to Present

* Below are just some books that I either have enjoyed or expect to enjoy (mostly the latter), all from Japanese authors or, in a few cases, scholars of Japan. Note: I have not listed every book by these authors, but only the ones that I want to read/reread the most. * Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) - Botchan (1906) / Cohn translation, Penguin Classics, 9780141391885 - Sanshirō (1908) / Rubin translation with introduction by Haruki Murakami, Penguin Classics, 9780140455625 - Kokoro (1914) / McKinney translation, Penguin Classics, 9780143106036 * Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) - Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories (1914-27) / Jay Rubin translation with introduction by Haruki Murakami, Penguin Classics, 9780140449709 * Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886-1965) - Seven Japanese Tales (1910-59)

/ Vintage International, 9780679761075 - Naomi (1924) / Vintage International, 9780375724749 - Quicksand (1928-30)

/ Vintage Classics, 9780099485612 - Some Prefer Nettles (1929)

/ Vintage Classics, 9780099283379 - The Makioka Sisters (1943-48)

/ Vintage Classics, 9780749397104 * Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972) - Snow Country (1935-37, 1947)

/ Vintage International, 9780679761044 - The Master of Go (1951)

/ Vintage, 9780679761068 - The Sound of the Mountain (1954)

/ Seidensticker translation, Vintage International, 9780679762645 - House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories

/ Vintage International, 9780525434139

- Beauty and Sadness (1964)

/ Vintage, 9780679761051

- Palm-of-the-Hand Stories (1923-64)

/ FSG Classics, 9780374530495

* Osamu Dazai (1909-48) - No Longer Human (1948)

/ Keene translation, New Directions, 9780811204811 * Yasushi Inoue (1907-91) - Life of a Counterfeiter (1965)

/ Emmerich translation, Pushkin Press, 9781782270027 * Kōbō Abe (1924-93) - The Woman in the Dunes (1962)

/ Saunders translation, Vintage International, 9780679733782 - The Face of Another (1964)

/ Saunders translation, Vintage International, 9780375726538 - The Ruined Map (1967)

/ Saunders translation, Vintage International, 9780375726521 - The Box Man (1973)

/ Saunders translation, Vintage International, 9780375726514 * Yukio Mishima (1925-70) - Death in Midsummer: And Other Stories (1953)

/ New Directions, 9780811201179 - The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (1956)

/ Morris translation, Vintage Classics, 9780099285670

- After the Banquet (1960)

/ Keene translation, 9780099282785 - The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1963)

/ Nathan translation, Vintage Classics, 9780099284796 - The Sea of Fertility tetralogy (written 1965-70): 1. Spring Snow (1965)

/ Gallagher translation, Vintage International, 9780679722410 2. Runaway Horses (1969)

/ Gallagher translation, Vintage International, 9780679722403 3. The Temple of Dawn (1970)

/ Saunders and Segawa Seigle translation, Vintage International, 9780679722427 4. The Decay of the Angel (1971)

/ Seidensticker translation, Vintage International, 9780679722434 See also: Persona: A Biography of Yukio Mishima, by Naoki Inose

/ Stone Bridge Press, 9781611720082 * Kenzaburō Ōe (1935- ) - A Personal Matter (1965)

/ Nathan translation, Grove Press, 9780802150615 - The Silent Cry (1967)

/ Bester translation, Serpent's Tail Classics, 9781781255650 * Haruki Murakami (1949- ) Novels: - Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985)

/ Birnbaum translation, Vintage, 9780099448785 - Norwegian Wood (1987)

/ Rubin translation, Vintage, 9780099448822 - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994-5)

/ Rubin translation, Vintage International, 9780679775430 - Kafka on the Shore (2002)

/ Gabriel translation, Vintage International, 9781400079278 - After Dark (2004)

/ Rubin translation, Vintage, 9780099520863 - 1Q84 (2009-10)

/ Rubin and Gabriel translation, Vintage, 9780099578079 - Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Endless Pilgrimage (2013) / Gabriel translation, Vintage, 9780099590378 Short story collections: - The Elephant Vanishes (17 stories, 1980-91)

/ Vintage, 9780099448754 - Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (24 stories, 1980-2005)

/ Vintage, Gabriel and Rubin translation, 9780099512820 - Birthday Stories (2002) (an anthology of stories featuring birthdays, by various authors including Raymond Carver, David Foster Wallace, and Murakami himself)

/ Vintage, 9780099481553 - Men Without Women (7 stories, 2013-14)

/ Gabriel and Goossen translation, Vintage, 9781101974520 See also:

Haruki Murakami: A Long, Long Interview, by Mieko Kawakami [coming soon]

* Ryū Murakami (1952- ) - Almost Transparent Blue (1976)

/ out of print?

- Coin Locker Babies (1980)

/ Pushkin Press, 9781908968470 - 69 (1987)

/ Pushkin Press, 9781908968463 - Audition (1997)

/ Bloomsbury, 9781408800720 * Banana Yoshimoto (1964- ) - Kitchen (1988)

/ Backus translation, Faber & Faber, 9780571342723 - Goodbye Tsugumi (1989)

/ Emmerich translation, Faber & Faber, 9780571212842 - Asleep (1989)

/ Emmerich translation, Faber & Faber, 9780571205370 - Lizard (1993)

/ Sherif translation, Simon & Schuster, 9780671532765 - Amrita (1994) / Faber & Faber, 9780571193745 - Moshi-Moshi (2010)

/ Asa Yoneda translation, Counterpoint, 9781640090156

* Hiromi Kawakami (1958- ) - Strange Weather in Tokyo (2001)

/ Powell translation, Counterpoint, 9781640090163 - The Ten Loves of Nishino (2003)

/ Powell translation, Granta, 9781846276972 * Yōko Ogawa (1962- ) - The Diving Pool: Three Novellas (1990)

/ Vintage, 9780099521358

- Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales (1998)

/ Vintage, 9780099553939

- The Housekeeper and the Professor (2008)

/ Vintage, 9780099521341 * Mieko Kawakami (1976- ) - Ms. Ice Sandwich (2018)

/ Pushkin Press, 9781782273301 * Sayaka Murata (1979- ) - Convenience Store Woman (2018)

/ Granta, 9781846276842 * Yukiko Motoya (1979- ) - The Lonesome Bodybuilder (2018)

/ Asa Yoneda translation, Soft Skull Press, 9781593766788

* - The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories (2018) / Edited by Jay Rubin, Penguin Classics, 9780241311905 * * Possible contexts for some of the works listed above: * * Murasaki Shikibu (Lady Murasaki) (c. 973 or 978-1014 or 1031) - The Tale of Genji (<1021) / Waley translation, Tuttle, 9784805310816 See also: - The Tale of Genji: A Reader’s Guide, by William J. Puette

/ Tuttle, 9784805310847 * Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) - The Book of Five Rings (1645) / Bennett translation, Tuttle, [paperback coming soon] * Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659-1719) - Hagakure (1716) / Bennett translation, Tuttle, 9784805311981

* Nitobe Inazō (1862-1933) - Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1900) / Bennett translation, Tuttle, [paperback coming soon] * Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) - Japanese Ghost Stories

/ Penguin Classics, 9780241381274 * D. T. Suzuki (1870-1966) - An Introduction to Zen Buddhism (1934)

/ Grove Press, 9780802130556 * Eugene Herrigel (1884-1955) - Zen in the Art of Archery (1948) / Vintage, 9780375705090 * Shunryū Suzuki (1904-71) - Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (1970)

/ Shambhala, 9781590308493 * Boye Lafayette De Mente - Etiquette Guide to Japan: Know the Rules that Make the Difference!

/ Tuttle, 9784805313619 - Japan: A Guide to Traditions, Customs and Etiquette: Kata as the Key to Understanding the Japanese

/ Tuttle, 9784805314425 * Roger J. Davies - The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture

/ Tuttle, 9780804832953 - Japanese Culture: The Religious and Philosophical Foundations

/ Tuttle, 9784805311639

Have you read any of these titles? What did you think?

- RL

#japan #japanese literature #books #authors #japanese authors #novels #japanese novels #short stories #fiction #literature #history

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