I have a hard time articulating what I feel about The Summer War by Noami Novik. It was pithy, and interesting, and had lovely prose... but the premise felt a bit of a stretch for me. And there some problematic scenes involving the underaged protagonist which I felt added nothing to the story except to exaggerating the point. It oddly felt too short, yet too full of exposition. Other than that, there's not much I can say about it.
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My Grandfather, The Master Detective by Masateru Konishi was a cozy healing novel. It was episodic, but with a stronger thread between the vignettes as the usual ones for this genre. I adored the gentle slice of life vibe, the integration of the reality of caring for a dementia patient, and how the story wove together. I think I ended up making my TBR much longer too reading this! It is truly a love letter for mystery fans, often weaving mentions classic and modern works in the genre from both Asia and western lit.
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I reread the original Cells at Work manga by Akane Shimizu. There's something about reading a manga before bed that's very soothing to me, plus being a reread, it was fun to revisit all the cool educational bits! I even forgot that the core series ended with COVID. It's a contrast to see so well explained something that kept us in our homes for so long. I remember for my yearly physical my doctor lit up when I told her I loved Cells at Work so I feel that it's definitely one of those clever stories that is actually accurate! I need to watch the anime soon.
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After being so salty with Station Eleven and other books I started and cast aside, I decided to binge some healing novels to get back into reading. My Grandfather, The Master Detective was the one I started with, but I ended up binging 2 more in short order. The first one was The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi. It's very short and its premise is similar to Before the Coffee Gets Cold. There is a restaurant that serves remembrance meals. Many say that eating one will give you a chance to speak to a departed loved one. It melancholic, yet hopeful and sweet, and despite the sad premise, felt a sort of celebration of life and an acknowledgment of the balance of life. We rejoice, but we also grieve. Each chapter had a recipe which was quite nice!
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I hadn't realized that one of my favorite healing novel authors, Michiko Aoyama, had a translation of another book out! Hot Chocolate on Thursday was a lovely, quick read. This one is episodic. The root is in the out of the way Marble Café, and from the two first characters, the story branches out to a mom who is trying to learn the ropes at home as her husband leaves town to participate in an art exhibit, an artist for whom green resonates deeply, a sandwich shop owner in Australia, a few botanists, a newlywed couple and a couple in their golden anniversary, etc. The core of the story is dreams, and connections. It sounds trite to describe, but was quite gentle and lovely. I'm excited to read the sequel, Matcha on Monday!
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I want to tell you about my life. And I want you to tell me about yours. I want to hear everything your dreams that seem light-years away and events so tiny they fit in the palm of your hand.
– Michiko Aoyama (Hot Chocolate on Thursday)