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#12BooksOf2025 - day 10 October

Honorable mention:
“Mary and the Rabbit Dream” by Noemi Kiss-Deaki

Link to listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nprs-book-of-the-day/id1587369865?i=100074...

This is going down as my best book of 2025. I became lost in the story only stopping to reflect on Anne‘s feelings as a mother , and other feelings of the characters, so well written. I respected them on their journeys through life. Their lives often mirrored each other. I kept wondering about the title , and in the end the idea of a flashlight in this story made sense to me. I learned a lot about Korea and Japan.

#FridayHappyReadingHour
Relaxing with red wine and chocolate sweets on Stephen‘s Day here. Reading this book slowly over time and loving every minute.
I hope you are all chilling and that you had a lovely Christmas Day. ✨🥂 also tagging TheBookHippie

There were so many side stories that didn‘t add anything to the big picture.
So much of the conflict was people not talking to each other.

TIL: I have limited patience for stories with conflict that would be resolved if people talked to each other.

Strong, lyrical writing and some memorable scenes and characters that stick, but I found all of the main characters unsympathetic and as a result the book was hard going. Interesting re Japan and Korea through history & the impact on families & emigrants. But I found it hard to care about the characters & the various moves & plot developments episodic and/or confusing so wasn‘t moved by it.

#HappyFridayreadinghour
Relaxing this Friday with Flashlight. I couldn‘t have imagined how much I would love this book, I started a sample on kindle and cannot put it down. Great storytelling, characters. A most engaging read. The main characters are in Japan at the moment. Surprises all the way .. so good. Enjoy your Friday ladies ! 🥂xxx I‘m on chocolate peanuts and raisins ☺️

Another book I loved from the Booker list. A winding puzzle of a story that revealed itself slowly, and although it‘s long, I remained gripped throughout. So many aspects of this book broke my heart. I love the title - it‘s a nod to a piece of the story and also I think a good metaphor for the way the characters could only see part of the puzzle at any one moment - so much was left in darkness.

It seems some people didn‘t like it because it was long and rambling! I loved it because of that and thought it was a really good story and reflection on Asian geo-politics.

BOOKER ANNOUNCEMENT SOON!!!! Who do you think will win???

Here are my (brief) thoughts:

https://youtube.com/shorts/XHApzXfK7vA?si=7p6eGoxMp4E_QmQL

This is #pebblecat being adorable! She is another kitty friend of mine! #catsoflitsy

I found this one all the more affecting and absorbing for NOT romanticising its characters.

It's formed by layers of unresolved resentment and suboptimal family dynamics, and its very imperfection is what chipped away at my heart.

Flashlight is about family, history, migration, change, identity, Korea, America, and Japan. It's about what we take for granted and how we don't always value what is most important to us.

Quietly touching ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Giving up at 52%. I was enjoying it for the first 30% or so, but I keep picking this back up and wishing I was reading something else 😅

A night Louisa and her father goes out for a walk along the beach. When Louisa is found, her dad is gone.

In this puzzle of a book we get the backstory and what happened afterwards.

The language is a little dense, but other than that I loved this one. I especially loved learning about Korean and Japanese history.

I had a hard time believing some of the things that happened in North Korea, but nothing would surprise me

The modest space of Walt‘s living room - a square footage allotment that in Anne‘s version was exhausted by just sofa, coffee table, and TV - was given over to bookcases so numerous they didn‘t stand against the walls but in rows perpendicular to them, and so close together that Walt - appearing out of his labyrinth to greet her - could only squeeze himself sideways.

I finished this #booker2025 title days ago but have been struggling to explain why it didn‘t work as well for me as it seems to have for everyone else. A long book told in multiple perspectives across many years, it touches on so many impactful themes but never really gelled for me as a whole. Some sections I never wanted to end, some sections were harder to get through. I appreciate its inclusion on the shortlist but I wasn‘t excited by jt.

Finished this a week ago & scenes come back to me randomly. It‘s epic in scope. Family trauma, family hopes, cultural shifts from North Korea to Japan to the US, misunderstandings, painful departures. It sounds so depressing but it‘s a journey I was willing to go on. If you‘ve read any memoirs by people who have escaped North Korea you‘ll know that parts of this book do not stray from the truth. Yes, it could be shorter but it‘s worth it. #booker

Louisa and her father are making their way down the breakwater, each careful step on the heaved granite blocks one step farther from shore.

#FirstLineFridays

#BookerLonglist delayed review. I was surprised at how quickly this read for such a long book. I was also a bit surprised at the straightforward nature of the story—no gimmicks, nothing to distract from the story of this torn-apart family. Identity…what does it mean to be a person living in another country from which you were born? How does one live with an illness? Are we merely living in relation to who we are to other people?

Um why is this book so long?

I‘m so glad I got over my hate of Trust Exercise to read this one, as I really liked it! Exploring themes of belonging and nationalism by zooming in on a single small family, the reader gains greater understanding of Japan and Korea. I‘m glad I had already read Pachinko so I had some background with Korea/Japan. I do think this could have used a bit of editing, but it‘s quite good.

#NBAlonglist, fiction

I haven‘t even started this book and yet already have a history with it. When it first came out, I was firmly opposed to reading it, as I HATED Choi‘s last book. Then I read a description and it sounds completely different. I eventually decided I actually want to read it and put it on hold about a month and a half ago, but the line‘s still crazy long so I used a Libro credit. Now to start while I work on my crochet plant!

Book vs Richard Osman...

Starting this and hoping to finish before the #Booker shortlist is announced.

Catching up on reviews! #BookerLonglist edition

While this one has some pacing issues, I'm glad I stuck with it to discover its many, murky layers. A story of family disconnection and buried trauma, I appreciated the thematic ideas of a flashlight's focused beam obscuring more than it illuminates, and how difficult it can be to see the full picture of those closest to us.

Cont'd in comments...

My 6th from the #Booker Prize longlist is a book of surprises with an international scope. It opens in LA after dad has gone missing in Japan, along a rocky beach. A mystery of sorts. Louise and mom must carry on.

It's wordy by style - the key strength and weakness of the book. Choi uses this to create atmosphere. There is also a lot of Japan, and Korea.

I enjoyed this. It was tough for me up front, but nice once it got going.
#Booker2025

Book #3 (and last for today) is Flashlight. This was less polarizing for our panel than others. I loved the writing style (sentences meticulously crafted and beautiful) but wasn‘t my favorite and dragged in some parts. #booker prize

Our panel reviews are at the link below. Drop a comment with your reviews/links.

https://thereadersroom.org/2025/08/29/2025-booker-longlist-flashlight-by-susan-c...

I enjoyed this novel and never found it predictable. It was much more than I thought it would be in the end. I did have trouble picking it up. 4 🌟
#booker2025
@Bookistrish @JenP @AnneCecilie @TheKidUpstairs @Leniverse @charl08 @Chelsea.Poole @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @Ruthiella @ChaoticMissAdventures @vikaplus321

Flashlight, by Susan Choi (2025)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Premise: A man‘s disappearance while out for a walk on the beach with his daughter in 1970s Japan reverberates across the decades.

Review: Books told from multiple perspectives rise and fall with the sharpness of those perspectives, and this was my experience with this Booker longlist title. The sections dealing with the mother and daughter‘s lack of understanding of each other shine. ⬇️

13-5 Aug 25 (audiobook)
#Bookerlonglist2025 No 3
Epic story of a broken American Korean family‘s lives in various locations in the American mid-west, Korea and Japan. Each character battles with isolation, exile, disability and the tension of family ties.
I found this to be a gripping story which provided some further insight into 20th century Korea. Interesting that Korean stories seem to be trending in the past few years.

#bookerlonglist #12

I loved this epic, character driven chunkster. Louisa goes walking on a Japanese beach with her father one night. Sometime later Louisa is found, barely alive. Her father is never found.

We look back at their lives, and those of other peripheral characters, & also at the post-war history of Japan / Korea and China, a period of time I don‘t know much about and found fascinating.

At the top of my list, alongside Seascraper.

Bookshop.org.uk haul (Station Books)

I want to read all the books but I'm feeling rather ill today so am not really good for much except lying around complaining.

Traveling through Italy while the character in my book are also moving around. Really enjoying this book so far but I‘m reading very slowly this vacation.

Making my way through the Booker list. Loving the writing in this book. In 2 days I leave for vacation with my daughter to Italy where we will eat, read, and go to the beach. This is our annual tradition - 1-2 weeks traveling to a new to her place (I have been to Italy many times) over the summer. Time flies, she will be 15 this year and our trips will likely stop when she goes off to college. #bookerprize

I get so excited about the #Booker longlist, and then I start the 1st book, and it‘s like - wait, who are you? I need to step back and look a bit and get acquainted with this year‘s list of books. Can‘t take these relationships too fast…. This one is 1st. Possibly my only one on audio. Not sure yet if this ten year old in the prolonged is a sociopath. #Booker2025

I opened up my #stayaction package just now. @bumpinthenight , you spoiled me! I have discovered new authors and can‘t wait to dive into these books. The bookmark, neon stickers, hair clip are amazing. And the teas and popcorn are amazing! Thank you so much and many thanks to @Chrissyreadit and @DinoMom for organizing this #staycation.