Welcome to Litsy!

This book contains 2 stories: Kitchen & Moonlight Shadow. I loved them both. Yoshimoto writes about losing loved ones, that unbearable pain that consumes us, unlike anyone I‘ve ever read before. These stories are beautiful and melancholy and they make my chest tremble as I let it ache for all those I‘ve loved and lost. Contender for best 2025 read.

There‘s something rather charming about the idea of the recently deceased stopping in a magical photo studio to help create a photo lantern, made with a photograph from every year of their life. Then there is also the chance to revisit a moment from their past, to take a photo of a moment that they really treasured - they are guided in this by Mr. Hirasaka.

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And my 34th consecutive Readathon kicks off with this second book about food detectives in Kyoto. I wish I could be happier about it, but my cold is still going strong AND it‘s spread to my eyes, which I didn‘t know could happen. I won‘t inflict the physical details on you, but it‘s basically my personal nightmare and it‘s left me depressed. Gonna try to distract myself with books today. #deweyapril #readathon

I picked up this short novel on a whim. The author‘s descriptions of emotions and interactions are interesting; I think I enjoyed the first part of the plot, but then I think the arc was made too obvious with blatant hints and the ending was just kind of abrupt, mysterious and vaguely unsatisfying. I really don‘t know how to characterize this love story of a desperate widower staging a fake film audition to find a girl who tries to murder him.

Warm, bitter-sweet, cozy.

A retired detective and his daughter run a successful food recreation restaurant and the new customers bring forward stories of loss, love, misunderstandings and valuing the gifts you have along with painfully good descriptions of food.
5/5 stars, read for a collection of short stories that will remind you of the power of food to shape one‘s life. I also really enjoy the traditional food ware described, it‘s fun to look each piece up for images.

My return trip to Kyoto and the Kamogawa Diner was a delight! I‘m a vegetarian but all of the dishes are described so mouthwateringly. Cosy in all the right ways! I love how Nagare & Koishi work together as food detectives - they have a beautiful father-daughter dynamic.

Lovely

IRL bookclub pick. One member bailed and “hated” it, the rest of us agreed Oyamda effectively achieved her purpose in describing the inane dehumanizing impact of the corporate world.

Don‘t expect high action or deep character development. That is not the point. 😉

One of my new year‘s resolutions is to read a Japanese novel each month. This is my first and it wasn‘t great.
It‘s two short stories. The first is about a couple having sex for 4 days in a so called Love Hotel on the brink of the Iraq War. That one is pretty good although I don‘t get it completely.
The second is about a woman who stays in bed for a whole day, thinking of her home and her husband. That one I didn‘t get at all 🤷🏻‍♀️