Welcome to Litsy!

At last, I finished my tiny loft! This one took forever because I had a ton of interruptions, but it was still a lot of fun to work on. Of all the kits I‘ve done, it‘s the one I‘ve most customized. I am NOT about the teeny tiny wire work, and the original terrace design was all kinds of boring. Now it‘s vibrant and fun.

I also finished the tagged book. While I liked THE MILL HOUSE MURDERS more, it was still a good homage to classic mysteries.

The first half was not great - I considered bailing. I found things a bit confusing and hard to follow. But things really shifted in the second half and the resolution was so good!

My April #BookSpin that I actually read in April but am super slow on reviewing.

Used Kobo rewards points and book club got pushed back so I can actually finish after being sick this week—a win.

This is considered a classic of Japanese crime fiction—an homage to Agatha Christie‘s And Then There Were None, it is an entertaining read that I really enjoyed. A group of friends in a Mystery Club go to a deserted island, the site of a terrible tragedy…and then they start to die. At the same time another pair of friends race to solve the mystery of some anonymous, threatening letters with more at stake than anyone realizes. A good read.

A little murder to go with my coffee this morning…

I read 2 of 4 of my #readyourkindle spins. Not too shabby! Thanks @CBee

This was a really fun “locked room” mystery. A group of college aged kids in a Mystery Writers Club go to spend the week on an island that was the scene of a gristly multiple homicide. #readyourkindle #readyourshelves

An homage to And Then There Were None and also #setonisland #aboutabook

The language is a bit stilted in the translation but make allowances as this is a very enjoyable thriller. Clever as well as informative and I have found a new source of murder mysteries. Lining up a few more for my upcoming holidays.

This was delightfully twisty, but also tragic and somewhat grisly. I've made an important discovery in the continual fine-tuning of my mystery tastes:I really do prefer a detective-led story. A cat and mouse game between reader and author (POV: culprit) rather than investigator v. crime still leaves you with a puzzle to solve, but experience suggests they are often darker, sadder, without the champion for truth playing a feature role. Not my vibe.

I would not have pegged the pairing of ultramarine blue/violet and magenta as a murder mystery colourway, but it is quite striking and attention grabbing.

Ouch, dude. Way to insult your readership. 🤨

To each their own, but I'm with Ellery on this one. 💁🏼‍♂️

A group of students go to an island with there was a series of unsolved murders. Then, one member turns up dead, and the other try to solve and get off the island before they are killed. It's inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
It's a solid read and quite a fast one, too. I enjoyed it, the ending left me puzzled.

This homage to detective fiction in general and to Christie‘s And Then There Were None, in particular, falls just a little short of that book, but it‘s still worth reading. It took me a bit to guess the villain, but I got there before the reveal. The narrator reminds me of Wil Wheaton and does a great job. #audiowalk

While I‘m enjoying this book, I‘m irritated by the narrator. Not that he‘s not good — he mostly is — but he‘s got a bad habit of lowering his voice for asides and interior monologue. Sometimes he lowers it too much, and I have to increase the volume for that short time. #audiowalk

I saw this series favorably reviewed, so I thought I‘d give it a try. The tagged book is the first one, and it‘s my new walking book. Several members of a Japanese university‘s mystery club go for a stay on a now deserted island where six months previously there‘d been some horrific murders. Some former members of the club also start getting letters purporting to be from one of the murder victims. Damage was done by last night‘s storm! #audiowalk

I‘m so glad I read this classic Japanese murder mystery! It was a really quick read and paid homage intentionally to the Golden Age mystery writers. I can understand why it‘s famous!

A clever, moodily atmospheric mystery, with a solid creep factor and engaging characters. Inspired by Agatha Christie‘s And Then There Were None, this story travels its own unique path, with its own puzzles and complications. The solution is simple and elegant, even if I was so involved in the story I didn‘t figure it out. A really great read.

It‘s mystery time! A twist on the classic whodunit from Japan, for lunchtime at the office…

A club of university students spends a week on an island off the coast of Japan where a gruesome crime has recently occurred. Soon the first among them is murdered.
The characters in the book are flat, there is no poetic line to be found, but this cult book is an example of the “shin honkaku” genre — a Japan-specific reboot of the classic whodunit. Recommended!

#19822022 #1987 #52books #InvolvesAClub #pop22 #SetInThe80s

(Pic: Havana, Cuba)

#WeeklyForecast 29/22

Another week of Cuba and reading! I am in the middle of Every Last Fear and completely hooked! I am not sure yet what to read next but I will of course read the first half of Straub this week for #CampLitsy. Looking forward too to the tagged book, the Zevin and the Dutch one!

I enjoyed this clever homage to Golden Age detective fiction (specifically And Then There Were None). Some well-placed visceral horror and a solution that I think could be reasonably pieced together.

A Japanese bestseller inspired by Agatha Christie‘s And Then There Were None… say no more blurb - I‘m in!

This book was my first ever purchase from Amplify Bookstore - which is based in Melbourne (but ships internationally) and as their IG bio proclaims is your “go to online bookstore for BIPOC books”

The premise just could not overcome the writing. The dialogue is … rough. Not sure if that is a product of the translation. I might swing back around and try to power through eventually.

I‘ve had a fun nine days, devoting myself to crime and mystery for the #JoyousJanuary Readathon. My favourite was definitely The Decagon House Murders and I shall be reading more Japanese classic crime in the future. I haven‘t timed my reading sessions, but I have been able to allow at least three hours a day. I was disappointed not to finish the Poirot book, but it‘s over 400 pages, so perhaps I was being a bit too ambitious. Thank you @Andrew65

Yukito Ayatsuji‘s classic detective mystery (translated into English by Ho-Ling Wong) is a fast-paced tribute to Agatha Christie‘s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE that‘s filled with twists and turns. Although I enjoyed it, the large cast is disorientating at first and they‘re all under-developed, the ending is a bit of a cheat because it relies on the reader not being told a key fact and I didn‘t really understand the killer‘s motivation.

I loved this book. A Japanese homage to Agatha Christie‘s ‘And Then There Were None‘ from 1987. A group of students who are members of the university‘s Mystery Club go to stay on the isolated island of Tsunojima, where six months before a grisly and mysterious series of murders took place. The group, who call each other by nicknames of famous crime fiction authors, receive a threatening warning, and then the murders begin, one by one.

I‘ve been eagerly anticipating the arrival of this book and am looking forward to beginning my journey through Japan‘s homage to Golden Age crime fiction.

#myyearinbooks #istartedmorethanthis #partone #missingthechildrensbooks #parttwo

Kindle TBR with a #fullmoon on the cover.

#screamathonphotochallenge

So I struggled a little bit to get into this book, as there was a lot of talk about mysteries and mystery novels by the characters. When they got to the island, it got a little better. I was able to finally get into, all the murders happen and then they switch everyone‘s names. They had American names and then switched to the Japanese names, so that was confusing.

Think of this as the Japanese version of And Then There Were None

#Booked2018

I started reading my Japanese thriller pick for #Booked2018

I picked this book because it suggested to be the Japanese version of Then There Were None which is one of my fav Agatha Christie‘s.

And then he goes and mentions it in the Prologue! 😊

I definitely didn‘t see THAT coming. This was a good one - it‘s called a classic locked room mystery. This is my favorite quote - “He had to kill them in order, one by one. Precisely like that story written by the famous British female author - slowly, one after the other.” (No spoilers, that‘s on page 16) #Japanesethriller #Booked2018

Starting this today for #Japanesethriller & #booked2018. Anyone read it?

This was the perfect book to read while sick in bed. With a definite nod to Christie‘s And Then There Were None, this was quite the fun little locked murder mystery. And I totally admit I did not have it figured out.

🚪Classic locked room mystery.
🚪Does a wonderful job of dissecting common tropes w/in genre.
🚪References many famous authors/stories of the genre, Western & Japanese alike.
🚪Story progression is slow.
🚪Confusing descriptors in beginning.
🚪Illustrations provided.
🚪Awkward translation isn‘t always the best. Some things are lost in translation.
🚪Creepy story that gets atmospheric.
🚪Ppl familiar w/JPN geography will recognise setting.
🚪3/5.

I started this today. It‘s a psychological murder mystery about a group of college kids who venture onto a small island to decipher the mystery surrounding a brutal murder that occurred one year ago. It‘s well-written with lots of references to classical mystery authors, literature, & tropes. I‘m proud at how many Japanese literature references I‘ve caught thus far. ☺️☺️

#diversebooks #thedecagonhousemurders #yukitoayatsuji

Looking forward to the summer reading showcase at the library tonight! This was one of the featured books last year. Members of a university mystery club decide to spend spring break in this quirky and notorious house on a deserted island. Things don't go well. #ashapeinthetitle #junebookbugs

Finished this one yesterday too (apparently it's my weekend to finish things!). It's a very well done classic locked room mystery, where the reader is supposed to be able to solve the mystery with the information presented. I had it at least partially figured out. Not one to read for the characters, as they aren't very developed...it's all plot. #LitsyAtoZ #LetterA #LitsyReadingChallenge #LRC15 #translated @Jessica

#readjanuary Here's the summary of my 2016 readings, to accompany my #readingresolutions. I would like to improve the percentage of LQBTQ+ authors, and the number of books in translation. I'm staring the year with the book tagged here, which is in translation, so that's a good start I think!

#seasonsgreetings2016 These are my only bookish gifts this year, but I did get some cash and a promise we could go to the used bookstore on Wednesday!!

#bookmail !! Completely unexpected Christmas gift arrived today, and I CAN NOT WAIT to dive in, but i think I have to wait for Jan. 1 so I can count it toward one of the many book challenges!!

I've been on a slight ATTWN kick the past couple of years. This book is an intentional but not obvious homage to it. The story is clever, and I kind of but not really figured out who did it. A little confusing because of some of the names, but there are helpful translator's notes for some of the cultural points. Oh and the movie is pretty good too (even without a shirtless Aidan Turner)!

I've been reading this slowly to savor it. Meanwhile, I found my bead bookmarks and got some more books for the @24in48 readathon next weekend.

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