Welcome to Litsy!

Playful feminist retellings of traditional Japanese folktales; these loosely interconnected short stories set in contemporary Japan feature ghosts and other supernatural beings going about their daily business and interacting with the living. Each story has corresponding notes at the back about the source material. A delight from beginning to end. #Translation by Polly Barton.

Friday Reads June 9: flowers, bees, food & books: translations; graphic novels; Asian authors
https://youtu.be/NPSQewpkENU

(I talk about 7 books I‘ve finished recently)

When she saw men struggling with their work, Kuzuha would sometimes be overcome by pity & would long to step in & help them. I could do that in a flash, Kuzuha would think. How unfair society was! Male employees had to pretend to be capable of doing things they couldn‘t do, while female employees had to pretend to be incapable of doing things they actually could do. Over the years how many women had seen their talents magically disappear that way?

The doorbell rang again. Who could it be? A pushy door-to-door salesman, somebody soliciting for some organization, a burglar, a rapist, a pair of rapists, a whole gang of armed rapists… and then another possibility occurred to me, appending itself to the terrifying list of options, and I found myself opening the door without having meant to. My aunt was standing outside.

I don‘t know enough about traditional Japanese folk tales to really appreciate this collection. Add to that the fact that I‘m not a huge fan of short stories and it‘s probably not a surprise that this didn‘t work for me. Full review at http://booknaround.blogspot.com/2022/10/review-where-wild-ladies-are-by-aoko.htm...

Thank you so much @BookNAround ! I love everything so much in this #litsylovefallswap. The rice crispy treat is already gone. I shared it with my son. I look forward to reading these books! My absolute favourite is the bookmark. I am am a huge Beetlejuice fan! Thank you, thank you, thank you. It‘s all amazing!
@Bookgoil @Deblovestoread

I absolutely adored this collection of loosely connected short stories about strange and supernatural women (and men) in Japan, many inspired by classic Japanese stories. I've been enjoying Japanese surreal / speculative fiction lately and after seeing how much @sebrittainclark enjoyed it last year for the #NewYearWhoDis challenge, I knew i needed to read it too. So glad I did because it was a 5 star read. Highly recommend.

My favorite way to relax in the evening: book and bath.

I really like this book. It's a collection of short stories that intertwine to make a bigger narrative based on a modern take of Japanese mythologies. The stories flow but there's no big finale or story resolution which is fine because it just works. My only criticism is the bland cover; it doesn't do anything when there's so much it could draw from the stories.

This was an excellent set of short stories. Each one was its own variety of thought-provoking.

A couple great quotes:
"One of my earliest memories is a feeling of incredulity at how many people there are in the world."
"The number of people with the levels of passion it takes to become a ghost are decreasing every year."

Enoki, the short told from the point of view of a once-worshipped tree, was an easy favorite

#aoko #matsuda #japan #shorts

My March pick for #12BooksOf2021 hosted by @Andrew65

Loved this quirky collection of Japanese short stories based on Japanese folklore and fairytales. March was a great book month, but it was also filled with re-reads and my usual thrillers, so this one really stood out. I would definitely re-read this.

Look at this fabulous cover!! So I saw this on Twitter recommended by none other than Saeed Jones, and I immediately went to libby and here we are. I‘m not very familiar with Japanese folklore, but it doesn‘t matter these essays are wonderful.

Linked short stories? Why not?

#tiltedaxispress us doing an AMA on r/fantasy https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/nhrjjo/hey_rfantasy_we_are_the_indie_p...

They translate mostly fantasy stories written in an Asian language.

#bookmail
@batsy Suba, thank you for the surprise gift! 😃🥰
I look forward to read it! Thanks, love, I hope all is well with you & your family. 😘❤️

Sorry I've been so absent! I'm reading tons but working different hours. Currently I'm reading this collection of modern Japanese ghost stories and loving it.

These ghost stories that are translated into English from Japanese are quirky, funny, sentimental, and often sweet. There is also a feminist theme underscoring them all. My favorite story was "The Jealous Type" which was written using the second person narrative voice, so the insanity felt personal. I like how the stories were slowly linked together.

2nd book for #MarvelousMarch #Readathon @Andrew65

I read this in a day. It‘s good! Cute and weird as hell.

Naan for breakfast, plus my daily short story. This book gets seriously cool as the connections between the stories snap into focus. I‘m sure I‘ve missed some nuances that‘re even cooler for readers who grew up with these ghosts, but I‘m really pleased with the experience nonetheless.

This took me to 17:24 for #20in4. I THINK I‘ll hit 20 hours by the end of the day.

Today on I Woke Up Way Too Early: Japanese ghost story retellings!

15 books
4166 pages

9 Ebooks
5 Audiobooks

5 Library books
6 ARCs
7 #mountTBR

Longest: Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh (528)
Shortest (tie): After the Rain by Nnedi Okorafor and John Jennings (128) and Taproot by Keezy Young (128)

Favs: Where the Wild Ladied Are by Aoko Matsuda, The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert, and After the Rain by Nnedi Okorafor and John Jennings

#JanuaryStats

I'm super happy with how my January #bookspinbingo turned out. I got the #bookspin and #doublebookspin done as well as 2 bingos. More importantly it motivated me to get a few books off my backlog that had been on there for a while.

@TheAromaofBooks

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Where The Wild Ladies Are was so good! In an interview, the author Aoko Matsuda said, “... in writing Where the Wild Ladies Are, I wanted to create a space where all the female ghosts can enjoy themselves and find new lives.”

https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2020/11/23/wild-women-an-interview-with-ao...

Just bought this for “research” 😉 I‘m excited

5/5

This collection of stories based on Japanese folklore was so good, and absolutely a book I'm going to have to read multiple times to grasp all the small details.

So glad @sydneyerin rec'ed this for #newyearwhodis @monalyisha

@ErinSueMreads instead of logging all my books in my journal (I keep a spreadsheet for that) I do a #bookspinbingo in my journal to encourage myself to read books off my TBR each month. I print tiny copies of book covers and use adhesive tape to put the over the title (sometimes a little white out is used too to make it look nicer).

Translated from Japanese, this collection of connected short stories is based on Japanese folklore and centers around ghosts, all of whom are women in the modern world unapologetically embracing their traditionally “feminine passions,” like jealousy, love sickness, and stubbornness. An enchanting read to start the new year.

Got my January #bookspinbingo board all ready to go.

Happy New Year! Hope your reading year is off to a good start! I‘ve chosen Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda for my first book of the year
#FirstRead2021 #FirstBook2021

One of my goals for 2021 is to make a dent in my book backlog, so I'm going to attempt to do #bookspinbingo as a way to keep myself motivated. My January list is a good mix of backlog and books for reading challenge. (Hidden Valley Road is number 20, since it got cut off).

@TheAromaofBooks #bookspin

While the stories in this collection are based on traditional Japanese folk tales of yokai (supernatural beings), their settings are contemporary and the author‘s outlook is fiercely feminist. The most supernatural element of this magical fusion are the women protagonists, “quietly on fire,” who insist on being fully themselves without apology and without conforming to societal expectations of what a woman should be and do. Mad love. 🖤

NPR's best of 2020 book concierge is up and my tbr is growing way too fast..

#bestof2020

https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2020

I'm so excited for this #newyearwhodis list from @sydneyerin

I had Take a Hint Dani Brown and Mexican Gothic on my list as well, so I feel like we've great match.

I hadn't heard of any of the rest, but they all look very up my alley from the descriptions. Now I'm going to have to resist reading them right away, while I wait a whole month for January.

Thanks @monalyisha for doing all the work matching everyone up!

Somewhere inside, these people are all quietly on fire.

So stressed out from the elections and 2020 how low can you go Twitter rages I put on my mask and went to the bookstore and spent a lot of yen! Feeling slightly better and came home to find Arizona blue❗️Here‘s my book stack. Chocolate salty caramel bars for later😎

Can‘t wait for this book to come out in October. Based on traditional Japanese folklore, this is a series of feminist short stories about ghosts of all varieties. Each story is unique but also linked to others in the book until by the final chapter you‘ve read what feels almost like a novel. I absolutely loved this #WheretheWildLadiesAre #AokoMatsuda #SoftSkullPress

Current reads in the pic
Read the tagged great short stories for Translated Fiction Book Club recently
I've no idea, I don't count!

Sorry I didn't get to Tell the Wolves I'm Home @Cinfhen and @BarbaraBB looks like you've had a lot of fun! X

#weekendreads
@rachelsbrittain

Thank you to @jhod and @squirrelbrain for highlighting the translated fiction online group. I really enjoyed the discussion last night and have ordered the next books!

This is a fascinating collection of stories, beautifully translated. Strong feminist themes with a playful, gentle tone but underlying bite.

You can order direct from the publishers for all the books and support small presses.

I love the playful attitude to spirituality in these stories.

When she put together all the information she‘d accumulated over time, Enoki had no choice but to conclude that human beings derived joy from twisting things and attaching a sexual meaning to them. It was pathetic. Were they idiots, was that it?

Something terrifying enough to scar him for life...

The (ghostly) woman scorned.

#intranslation #bookclub

...great for handing outside the house to welcome home the souls of the returning dead.