A Tale for the Time Being: A Novel | 
It's rare when I take a day off but my body needs rest. Good thing I have audiobooks to keep me company.
pickRuth, living on an island in Canada, discovers a diary (written by Nau who lives in Japan), letters from WWII, and a watch inside a Hello Kitty lunchbox on the beach. They presumably made the Pacific crossing from Japan‘s massive tsunami. Ruth, who is half Japanese is able to read the diary but not the letters. The diary, though, leads her to believe Nau and her father are intent on committing suicide. Ruth illogically thinks she can save them ⬇️
All #authoramonth edition of #wondrouswednesday
1. What‘s happening here?
2. The Lola Quartet
3. Tana French
bailed#AuthorAMonth I had a difficult time when Nao was being abused by her classmates but when she started abusing someone else, I couldn‘t listen to the book any longer. I know that‘s usually the way things work but I hated it.
Starting this one for #authoramonth for April! Thanks Soubhi, for hosting this each year. I haven‘t been doing well on any of my challenges this year so far, but hoping to pick that back up. #AAM
pickThis is a new author for me, and it was a pretty fascinating read. The story starts as a random encounter of two lives which slowly converge without ever really touching. Lots of beauty but also ugliness, peace and horror, pain and love. Just like life, I guess. The author is zen priest so the influences were very interesting. I will need to digest this book for a while.
My January 2023 favorite was this gem of a book ♥️ @Sapphire you encouraged me to read it, so thank you! I still need to read Book of Form and Emptiness 🤦♀️ #12Booksof2023 @Andrew65 Happy Christmas, Andrew 🎄♥️🎄
pickI really liked the format the author used for this story. It was very clever. The story contained a dual timeline with a twist. It was humorous at times, and very sad at others. It certainly made it clear that things are not always as they seem. I loved the character, Nao. She has to overcome so much. I read this book as a recommendation, and I am so glad that I did. What a good story!! I love the way it ended.
My current reads!
For some reason I‘ve never felt drawn to read A Tale for the Time Being but it is a current pick for my IRL book club and I‘m really enjoying it.
Also, this month‘s #PersephoneClub. 👍
pick“Needless to say, technology design is not value-neutral, and military contractors and weapons developers do not want these kinds of questions raised, never mind built into their controllers.” Wow. I‘m a decade late to this, but so far it‘s the best novel I‘ve read this year, and remains timely, considering the AI debate. Sadness and beauty, quantum mechanics, Proust, Japanese history, and meta. Truly everything, everywhere, all at once. 5 stars.
pickThis author came to me through a friend, who shared that Ozeki - an author who is also a Zen priest! - is a new favorite of hers. I'm so glad to have picked this up on her rec, this author's perspective is fresh and welcome. She manages to be funny and sad and hopeful at the same time, and the story is both philosophically Buddhist in its big questions and deeply personal to the characters. (cont...)
Since I was blathering on about this in book club, thought I'd share with you @trishb @jenniferw88 @scripturient @julesG @Leniverse @Susanita @RaeLovesToRead
Look at that spine. And that's a sticker making the Japanese flag, there's an image of a girl underneath (or is there? I'll never know for sure)
pickI have never felt drawn to this book and then suddenly I was 🤷♀️ It‘s sad and really pulls at your heart strings but I thought it was a brilliant piece of writing.
Like @CBee I‘m using for #booked2023 #setin2+timeperiods
Really hard to choose between this one and The Sentence, but ultimately this absolute beauty of a book won 😊 #readingbracket2023 @chasjjlee thanks for another awesome template 😘
pickBRILLIANT. Absolutely brilliant. My thoughts and feelings are all over the place after reading this. I‘ve ventured down various rabbit holes and learned about Zen Buddhism, quantum mechanics (way over my head, my brain doesn‘t bend that way 😂), gobs of new words and terms I‘d never heard before. I‘m blown away and can‘t wait to read more Ozeki. WOW. @Sapphire @monalyisha
I don‘t know specifically why this quote struck me - I think partly because I‘ve tried (and failed) a handful of times to blog. There is this fantasy that everyone will read what you write and it will matter, but in reality, like Nao says - nobody gives a shit 😂 (edited to add - no offense to those Littens who blog, it just isn‘t for me apparently 🤔🤷♀️)
#12booksof2022 @Andrew65 June #litsylovereads
@jitteryjane724 I got the name of my collage app wrong, I use Incollage pro, not Piccollage.
Really want to read more Ruth, I think she might become an auto-buy author for me.
#auldlangspine list (2023) from @Billypar I have read the tagged book many years ago. These are some of the books that have peaked my interest. So you want to talk about race & You‘ll Never believe have been on my radar but I haven‘t read them yet but ones I have wanted to. I‘m definitely interested in reading some of these other ones that I would have never thought of. Thank you for the selection & thank you @monalyisha for organizing
pickI liked this! It's not super plot-driven and I thought it might be a bit too slow-paced for me at first...but then I started to really appreciate it for that and got sucked in. It's left me with a lot to think about
(Note that it's also pretty heavy at points if you're thinking about reading it)
Off to a great start with September #BFC22! Yesterday I completed my workout and got to page 250 of A Tale For The Time Being!
I have a fairly long train ride this evening so I plan to read more then and I'll fit my workout in on my lunch😊
#BFC22 goals for September! @wanderinglynn
- Daily workout following the Blogilates calendar
- Finish A Tale For The Time Being and finish 2 more books
- Compile a Scarathlon reading list & order a spooky paint by numbers!
pickHi! My name is Nao, and I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you.
Reading those opening lines in the book store, I imagined they were spoken by a cheerful alien rather than a suicidal teenager. But their immediacy struck me, and Nao's narrative has an urgency that compels us, just as it does for the fictional Ruth Ozeki who reads it. Magical in spite of large helpings of death and misery.
pickA Tale For The Time Being would be a great pick for fans of Mieko Kawakami, though Ozeki‘s prose is a little more smooth and inviting, a little less edgy and devastating. I was so thrilled to discover that the story lived up to the high, high expectations the blurb had set. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/a-tale-for-the-time-being-ruth-ozeki/
Don't think I'm going to complete any more books this month, so here's my #readingbracket2022 for June. May's book won overall as I know I'm going to read more in the series but am unsure whether I'll reread the tagged.
pick5 ⭐
#pop22 #parallelreality @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @Kalalalatja @Cortg @Megabooks @Laughterhp @KarenUK @RaeLovesToRead @squirrelbrain
#other #magicalrealism #52bookclubssummergenrechallenge @BarbaraBB
Slow starting, but really enjoying this one. Anyone else read it and have some non-spoiler thoughts? 😊
“We‘re nothing,” she said, wiping her eyes. “We‘re barely here at all.”
“Yes,” Oliver said. “Isn‘t it great?”
🌊
#Bookstagram #CurrentlyReading #ATaleForTheTimeBeing #RuthOzeki #SummerRead #Fiction #ExistentialCrisis
pickI‘m an Ozeki believer! While I‘m not a fan of world building, I‘ve been enjoying magical realism lately. She writes characters you want to invest in that are grounded in our world.
Ruth lives in a remote town on Vancouver Island. She finds a plastic bag washed up on shore that contains Japanese teenager‘s diary plus old papers in Japanese and French. As she reads them, Ruth becomes invested in Nao‘s diary and problems. Both Ruth and Nao narrate.
so-soThe cover does not match the book!
This was extremely hard going and upsetting at times; one of the lead characters goes through an awful lot including explicitly described horrific bullying.
The ending is also quite confusing and ambiguous.
It is beautifully written and an interesting premise and construction but not what I would call an ‘enjoyable‘ read.
pickOh how I enjoyed this book. I started it yesterday while doing laundry. I stayed up way later than I should‘ve as I couldn‘t put it down this is my first time reading this author and it won‘t be my last. This made me laugh, smile and tear up. So very good. #readinchallenge2022
pickI tried o get into this a few times before and finally this time it stuck. I go so invested, and now I want to go back and read the physical copy.
My April Bingo! High hopes for this month! Maybe I can accomplish it!
pickSuch a strange, whimsical, thoughtful, meditation in book form. Written from two perspectives, a teen living in Japan and an author living on a remote Canadian island a decade-ish apart, this exploration of time and space is a bit woo-woo at times but interesting and highly readable. I‘ve had this on my bookshelf for years and am so happy to have finally read it. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks #Roll100 @PuddleJumper #19822022 #2013
Looks like a good list from the Atlantic. I'll have to check some more of these out! Have read two, so a few more to read! https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2022/01/critically-acclaimed-books-atw...
Feeling better but still not great, on my 8th (or is it 9th?! 🤔) day of covid. With a few more restful days (and lots of tea, books, and kitty cuddles!) I can see myself being ready to face the world again hopefully by Monday. Been reading the tagged book (which was a gift from @DaveGreen7777 ! Thanks Dave!) and I have to say that Ruth Ozeki is quickly becoming a much beloved author for me. This book is wonderful. 💕📚 #catsoflitsy #rumpel
#12booksof2021
I started keeping track of my read books and TBR in high school and, as a result, I have a very long TBR list on GR. Midyear, I began sorting that list by highest GR rating to help me uncover some hidden gems and, in #July, I discovered this one. I had forgotten how much I love epistolary works. I learned so much about Japanese culture, Buddhism, quantum physics. A very ambitious novel that very nearly pulls it all off
@Andrew65
I think the most important thing to decide when going on a trip is what books to pack! 💕📚 I'm leaving tomorrow to head to NJ to visit family for Christmas (and also to get married!) so I need some new friends as well as a few comfort reads; Neverwhere, Jade City, Aristotle & Dante, Eon, No Gods No Monsters, and the tagged book! Rumpel helped me pick them out! 😹 I also brought my Jolabokaflod packages to open on Xmas eve! 🎁 #catsoflitsy #rumpel
Just incase you‘re in need of a source of even more fab books to fill your life with !
https://ideas.ted.com/your-holiday-reading-list-58-books-recommended-by-ted-spea...
pickBeautifully written, thought provoking book. Dual stories that ultimately connect. A Japanese family leaves California after the father loses his job in the tech industry and moves to Tokyo.The 16 year old daughter, Nao, is bullied and hangs out in a French Maid cafe. Ruth, a writer living on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest finds a journal which connects her to Nao. Human connections, Zen Buddhism, and quantum mechanics,Japanese culture.
pickI'm definitely late to the party, finally reading this now. It's hard to think of what to say about this book that so seamlessly entangles fiction and nonfiction, philosophy and physics, life and death. This was a book so unlike anything I've read before. It was challenging and enchanting.I'm not sure I've encountered a book that has such beautiful moments set against such disturbing descriptions of bullying and suicide.
New audiobook. I watched an online authors‘ talk, and Ruth Ozeki was on the panel. She read from her new book, and I was transported. I remembered that I had this earlier book on my TBR shelves. Her gentle voice influenced me to move it up on my list. I am alternating between the physical book and the audio.
I was so excited when I checked my mail this morning! Thank you so much for the birthday package @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego
I am always thankful for your letters and your thoughtful gifts! I can‘t wait to get started on this book and enjoy some chocolate 😁☺️
pickThis is a reread for me, for the summer Tournament of Favorites for the Tournament of Books. I originally read this as an egalley in May 2013, for the ToB that year, and rated it pretty low. I thought the author was trying to throw too much into the book, and it included one of my pet peeves - literary fiction attempting to use big ideas from quantum physics.↘️
