Summer Reading

For those who know me well, you know that I'm a bit of a book freak. And summer time has always been a particularly prolific reading time for me.

When I was young, the public library used to host reading contests for kids -for you Grande Prairians, that would be where the Toy and Hobby store is on downtown mainstreet (or has it changed again?). I can't remember the full details, but I think you got stamps or stickers for each book you read, and once you read a certain amount you got a prize or something, like 5 was a little prize, then at 10 you got someting bigger...We were pretty regular visitors (thanks Mom) and the kids section, which was in the basement if I remember correctly, was always a great little escape from the summer heat.

Comic books didn't count for these contests, so I tried to limit Tin Tin and Asterix as much as I could, but always ended up taking at least one of each home every time… I went through the typical phases; the Little House on the Prairie series, the Choose your own Adventure series, lots of mystery series...I used to read them every night in bed, sometimes under the covers with a flashlight - not only because I wasn't supposed to be reading so late at night, but also because it was just more fun that way!

Although I don't always have to have my nose in a book, I do like a good afternoon in a bookshop and I rarely come away empty handed. Here in Japan, the 7th floor of Tower Records in Shibuya, Tokyo is my most favorite place in the whole country. I've spent hours and hours and lots and lots of yen there, totally guilt free! When my friend Kathleen (a kindred spirit when it comes to books) came to visit, I knew I'd have no problem convincing her to indulge me in a trip to Tower Records. After about 3 hours we both decided we should actually go out and see some other things that the city has to offer, but I know we still both left reluctanly.

While non-fiction and is usually reserved for the cold, dark winter months, summer for me is spent escaping. I've got one non-fiction book on the go right now, but it's slow going. At the same time, I'm plowing through paper backs and short stories like a fireman’s going to knock on my door at any moment. I still prefer a good historical fiction book to most others, but recently I’ve taken a liking to Roald Dahl and have stumbled upon a trilogy by a Japanese writer (Koji Suzuki) that has me hooked. Extremely well translated, fast paced and just far enough from the edge to make me squirm a little. I like that.

Although hectic in many ways, this summer has given me time to read a somewhat eclectic list of books. From the beginning of last month I’ve read the following:.

Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang (non-fiction)
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata (fiction, translated by Edward G. Seidensticker)
The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa (fiction, translated by Adrianna Hunter)
Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl (fiction, short stories)
Ring by Koji Suzuki (fiction, as in the movie, translated by Robert B. Rohmer & Glynne Walley )
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant (fiction, based during the Medici era)
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (fiction, I think…)

Currently reading Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (non-fiction) and the sequel to Ring, it’s called Spiral –opened it yesterday and I’m already half way through…hopefully I’ll have my hands on the 3rd in the series by the end of the month.

**If you’d like my opinion about any of the above books, please don’t hesitate to ask, I’m just not in the mood at the moment to formulate concise reviews for this blog post.

I’ve been thinking of writing about this for a while, but it wasn’t until I read Ms. World’s blog that I felt truly inspired. There are lots of beach days ahead, I'm sure my list will grow by the time school starts again. There won't be any stickers for me at the end, but I'll be just as satisfied, nonetheless.