Lilisin digs out more ROOTs in Tokyo.

Hello everyone!

For me 2015 was a wonderful year of moving to Japan, starting a new, wonderful life and reading lots of comics (although few books). And along the way I had a wonderful time tracking my progress with you guys! So here's to another year of ROOTing!

Goal unfinished: 44 books/manga out of a goal of 50.

Book ROOTS read in 2016:
1) Jules Verne: Voyage au centre de la terre (Journey to the Center of the Earth)
2) Henri Troyat's : La tete sur les epaules (Head on his Shoulders)
3) Banana Yoshimoto : ハチ公の最後の恋人 (Hachiko's Last Lover)
4) René Frégni : Tu tomberas avec la nuit (You'll Fall like the Night)
5) Alexandre Dumas : Le Meneur de Loups (The Wolf Leader)
6) 久美沙織 : いつか海に行ったね (I Went to the Ocean Once)
7) Erich Maria Remarque : Arc de triomphe
8) Akira Mizubayashi : Une langue venue d'ailleurs

Manga ROOTs read in 2016:
美少女戦士セーラームーン 5-8
アイ・アム・ア・ヒーロー 10-20
コタローは一人暮らし 1
ふしぎ遊戯 1-8
Change-R 1
永遠の六花
亜人 1-5
Orange 1
エリアの騎士 1-4

TBR Pile at the end of the month:
Month: Books Manga
Dec: 26, 54
Jan: 23, 54
Feb: 22, 53
Mar: 21, 45
Apr: 21, 45
May: 36, 50
Jun: 36, 48
Jul: 36, 48
Aug: 36, 48
Sep: 36, 102
Oct: 36, 119
Nov: 36, 126

----

2015 ROOT thread

Manga purchased in 2016:
総員玉砕せよ!
神々の山嶺（上、中、下）
コタローは一人暮らし 1-2
アイ・アム・ア・ヒーロー 17-21
キャッツ・アイ　5-10
Change-R 1
永遠の六花
Trigun 1-2
Trigun Maximum 1,2,3,4
亜人 1-8
エリアの騎士 1-34
ママレード・ボーイ 1-8
ハンサムな彼女 1-9
四重奏ゲーム
Orange 1-5
血界戦線 1-10
Maison Ikkoku 1-10

Books purchased in 2016:
1) Ryu Murakami : オーディション (Audition)
2) Haruki Murakami : Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
3) Takeshi Kaiko : Darkness in Summer
4) Sawako Ariyoshi : The Twilight Years
5) Natsume Soseki : The Miner
6) Richard Flanagan : The Narrow Road to the Deep North
7) HG Wells : The Island of Doctor Moreau
8) George Eliot : Middlemarch
9) Wilkie Colins : The Woman in White
10) DH Lawrence : Lady Chatterley's Lover

ROOTs when added to the TBR pile:
2015 x2
2014 x4
2013
2011

May 2016 be just as much fun for you!

Happy ROOTing, lilisin.

Welcome back and have fun! :D Glad to hear you've been having a good time in Japan.

Enjoy the ROOTing!

Good luck!

Thank you everyone for the warm words of encouragement! This is exactly why I enjoy being in the group so much!

Happy rooting!

Ditto: Happy Rooting!

Good luck with your ROOT reading!

I have finished my first ROOT of the year which isn't a comic, but instead, a book!

1) Jules Verne: Voyage au centre de la terre (Journey to the Center of the Earth)

This was placed on my TBR pile at this same time last year so it seemed like a good time to take it off the pile. A delightful, quick read that I managed in three reading sessions. But now that little 1 in my ticker looks very lonely so I'm going to have to read more soon to give it some company.

I also bought my first book of the year on Monday as I took a stroll through the neighborhood close to my workplace. I haven't liked any of the in Japanese books I've purchased lately so I wanted something new to excite me with enough of a plot to get me through to the end of the book. And that book is Ryu Murakami's Audition. I hear it's pretty gruesome and I've read Murakami before so I'm thinking this will be a good one!

Congrats on finishing your first ROOT!

>13 lilisin: congrats on pulling your first ROOT!

I just stayed up till 4 in the morning to finish reading -- or rather, I started reading to just read 50 pages before going to bed and found myself turning the next page and the next till suddenly reading 47 more pages really didn't seem like much so here I am reporting myself reading 147 pages to go from the half point of the book to the end of the book. I just found myself very gripped by Henri Troyat's La tete sur les epaules. Highly recommended although upon checking Amazon, it seems only his biographies, and not his works of fiction are translating into English. Considering he's not an author I had heard of before I'm not too surprised. But recommended to any French readers.

And that is my second ROOT of the year.

2) Henri Troyat's : La tete sur les epaules (Head on his Shoulders)

Finally finished reading the last 20 pages of Banana Yoshimoto's ハチ公の最後の恋人 (Hachiko's Last Lover) which I started over the summer and just slogged my way through. I think I'm done reading Yoshimoto. No more!

3) Banana Yoshimoto : ハチ公の最後の恋人 (Hachiko's Last Lover)

On the positive note I've had this book on the pile since 2011 so at least now its weight is finally off my shoulders.

I have only read three of Yoshimoto's books so far - Kitchen and np and Lizard. Of the three, np is my favorite. Good job on at least getting Hachiko's Last Lover off your TBR shelves.

You're making good progress already, I'm impressed with 4 already uprooted! I have a free version of Voyage to the Centre of the Earth on my eReader, it's not something I'd particularly have gone for but if I recall correctly it was pre-installed so I'll give it a go at some point.

>18 lkernagh:

I have NP as well but right now I'm thinking that I'm glad it's on my TBR pile left in the states and not here with me in Japan otherwise I might feel like I'd have to read it. Although I do here it's one of her best books, I just don't need that stress.

>19 Jackie_K:

Thanks! It will slow down again as I have so many other things on my list of things to do (that are fun) but it was a nice running start into the new year. If you ever need a fun, relaxing read that takes no brain activity, then I'd go ahead and read the Verne. It's just so relaxing and takes you to a nice youthful, innocent world of fantasy and adventure.

Oh, and I totally forgot to post about my 4th ROOT that I read a week ago!

4) René Frégni : Tu tomberas avec la nuit

An author I have very much enjoyed in the past and am glad that I got to revisit. I'll pick up another of his books next time I'm in France as he's a good palate cleanser while still pulling you into his plot. This book was an autobiographical tale about how he accidentally got involved in a corruption scandal but, while being innocent, a judge made it their mission to "prove" Fregni guilty. As the judge vows to destroy Fregni's life, Fregni finds himself vowing to take the judge's.

January started off with a bang as I read 4 books within the first half of the month! I then got distracted by other extracurricular activities but I'm still on a reading high and am excited to keep reading. But first, tonight I'm going to go see Star Wars finally. :)

January Summary!

Books read: 4
Manga read: 0
Total ROOTs: 4

Manga purchased: 0
Books purchased: 1
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 26-4+1=23
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 54-0=54

Books read:
1) Jules Verne: Voyage au centre de la terre (Journey to the Center of the Earth)
2) Henri Troyat's : La tete sur les epaules (Head on his Shoulders)
3) Banana Yoshimoto : ハチ公の最後の恋人 (Hachiko's Last Lover)
4) René Frégni : Tu tomberas avec la nuit

So last night I went out to see Star Wars with my friend for my birthday but the movie didn't start till 10pm so we decided to get some sushi, then ended up getting ice cream at Ben & Jerry's (B&J's goes by the name Thirty-One here in Japan and since I turned 31 yesterday I thought I'd eat some ice cream). Afterward we went upstairs to use the restroom and stumbled upon a manga store which had everything I wanted at eye level (how did they know!?). So for my birthday, my friend bought me two titles.

1) 総員玉砕せよ!
2) 神々の山嶺（上）

The first is about the author's experience in the Philippines fighting for the Japanese army. The comic has been successfully translated into English and won major prizes. You can find it as Onward Toward our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki.

The second is a historical drama about ascending Mount Everest. It was also translated into English and received several prizes. It is called The Summit of the Gods by Jiro Taniguchi and I got the first volume (out of three in the Japanese version).

I'm excited to read both although I admit I'm not sure when I'll get to them. Sooner, rather than later, I hope.

By the way, Star Wars was fantastic. I wouldn't ever consider myself a Star Wars fan but I've seen all the movies and I've always found them enjoyable (plus the music is really fun). But I really, really liked this one. It had some great classic moments and it was great revisiting old characters and old battle scenes while getting to see all the new characters (and actors I'm very familiar with and like). The plot was quite simplistic and it was really spelled out for us but still, I had a lot of fun with that. The first movie I watch this year!

Happy Birthday, lilisin.

Happy birthday, lilisin. Looks like you had a great time!

Sounds like a great birthday, especially if ice cream is involved ;) Enjoy your new manga!

Yeah Happy Birthday!
And congrats on your success w/ ROOTs so far!

Happy birthday!

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! I haven't yet read the two comics that were given to me but I have finished a book! ROOT number 5 of the year!

5) Alexandre Dumas : Le Meneur de Loups (The Wolf Leader)

I am a huge fan of Dumas and this is a lesser known work of his. I enjoyed it but for good reason, it is not as well known. It is about a clog maker who is granted wishes for having protected a wolf from being killed. However, the wishes can only be granted if they are done in the name of ill will towards others so soon our clog maker's desire for a life better than his own leads him down a treacherous path full of regret.

I enjoyed the book overall but it didn't feel like a Dumas as the characters weren't as fleshed out as he usually likes to do. And at a short 237 pages, it's hardly the typical Dumas doorstopper. So, enjoyable, but not a book to base Dumas's genius on.

Remaining titles on my TBR pile:

Japanese:
Ryu Murakami: オーディション (Audition)
Hiromi Kawakami: センセイの鞄 (Strange Weather in Tokyo)
Shusaku Endo: 深い河 (Deep River)
Haruki Murakami: 女のいない男たち (Men Without Women)
久美 沙織: いつか海に行ったね (I Went to the Ocean Once)
Otsuichi: 暗いところで待ち合わせ (Waiting in the Dark)
Otsuichi: ZOO 1

French:
Ayako Miura: Au col du mont Shiokari
Jules Verne: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers
Akira Mizubayashi: Une langue venue d'ailleurs
Erich Maria Remarque: Arc de triomphe
Victor Hugo: Quatrevingt-treize
Alain-Fournier: Le Grand Meaulnes
Alexandre Dumas: Vingt ans après
Francois Mauriac: Le Noeud de vipères

English:
Shohei Ooka: Taken Captive: A Japanese POW's Story
Kenzaburo Oe: A Quiet Life
Shusaku Endo: Scandal
Alan Booth: Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan
Kobo Abe: The Ark Sakura
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
Akimitsu Takagi: The Tattoo Murder Case

Looks like I have a nice balance of English/French/Japanese. I need to be reading Japanese foremost, followed by French and English last (question of language maintenance/upkeep), but there really are some good ones in the English category. What to read next....

I'm curious what you choose, lilisin!

>29 lilisin: ooooh very interesting.. I loved the Count, but it's the only Dumas I've read :) I'll have to check that one out!

>30 lilisin: good luck w/ your list!

I really would like for the cold weather to be over. I don't want to wear coats and sweaters anymore!

February Summary!

Books read: 1
Manga read: 4
Total ROOTs: 4

Manga acquired: 3
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 23-1=22
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 54-4+3=53

Manga read:
美少女戦士セーラームーン 5-8

Book read:
Alexandre Dumas : Le Meneur de Loups (The Wolf Leader)

Manga purchased:
1) 総員玉砕せよ!
2) 神々の山嶺（上）
3) コタローは一人暮らし 1

I think March will be the month I finish reading the Sailor Moon series. Also, I'm only 20 pages away from finishing my in Japanese book so that will be popping up soon. After that I'll have to figure out what to read next. I didn't make much headway into my French book however as I was trying to focus on Japanese and didn't want to get pulled away from that.

6) 久美沙織 (Kumi Saori) : いつか海に行ったね (I Went to the Ocean Once)
Japan
2.5/5 stars

That was not the book I thought it was going to be.

I was looking for an easy book to read in Japanese when this book stood out on the bookshelves. I skimmed the first chapter at the bookstore: a kid accuses another kid of lying about having gone to the ocean. The synopsis on the back of the book just recopied the kid's diary entry so I was given no further clue as to the contents of this book. The book flap also said "this book will make you cry!". With this combination I was expecting a book about one of the kids dying from cancer; not a book about a mysterious unknown mold causing a large population to suddenly die, and result in a world where they can't live under the sun and an air one can no longer breathe.

This is not at all a genre I typically read, but being used to American movies about mass contagions, once I realized what the book was about, I expected a mass hysteria that unleashes terror upon Japan.

But once again, that's not what the book was about.

It actually ended up being a social commentary about how unprepared Japan would be upon the discovery of a deadly contagion. Basically stating how, by the time the Japanese government would respond, it'd be too late. And in this book, that's exactly what happened.

Hidden with the book are also aspects of Japanese society that the author finds unsatisfactory and frustrating and are actually incredibly relevant to today's non-viral Japan. In this book the contagion was actually spotted quite early when a reporter wanted to write a piece about a mass of birds having suddenly died. In their lungs was this black goo that the reporter surmised to be caused by fungal spores. He was entirely correct. However, because fungus=mold=yeast, and the newspaper he works for is sponsored by a sake brewery, his article was not published due to fear of backlash from the sponsor.

Further on, we are finally lead to an autopsy as the mold has spread to humans and it is determined strange that recent patients seem to be developing cancer-like symptoms so quickly and dying at an equally alarming rate. Here the author makes a commentary about the lack of forensic pathologists in Japan leading to a backlog of autopsies to be performed. In fact, right before reaching this chapter I had just read an article on the internet about the lack of pathologists in Japan leading to potential unsolved murders because bodies aren't being inspected for potential foul play. Autopsies are not automatically performed on bodies that have died outside of a hospital, like they are, say, in the United States. Thus, if no indication of foul play is suspected, an autopsy will not be performed. Thus, in the book, it takes time before an autopsy is finally performed on one of these mystery patients.

Further criticism of Japan comes about when discussing the publishing of the autopsy's results, receiving finance to perform more autopsies, the crisis behind financially disadvantaged people being indebted by inheritance taxes that end up being used just to pay the medical bills of the deceased.

It's all a huge mess (I mean, Japan is) and it is an important message that the author has portrayed. But the marketing of the book was all wrong. All the Japanese reviewers could only focus on the fact that they didn't cry and that nothing happens in the book. Well, that's what the book is about. Nothing happens so the world becomes engulfed with this deadly spore that changes the way we live.

Oh, and where did the spore come from? Blame it on climate change.

Turns out the spores were perfectly preserved within ice and climate change melted the surrounding ice allowing birds to pick at the spores and spread them across the earth. Quite the predicament.

Final conclusion though. Interesting little book. Poor marketing. This will never get translated.

It's the end of the month and spring is finally here and the cherry blossoms are blooming again in Tokyo. Unfortunately raining is looming above us and threatening to cut the cherry blossom season short. Here's hoping that doesn't happen!

March Summary!

Books read: 1
Manga read: 10
Total ROOTs: 11

Manga acquired: 3
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 22-1=21
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 53-11+3=45

Manga read:
アイ・アム・ア・ヒーロー 10-19

Manga purchased:
アイ・アム・ア・ヒーロー 17-19

Book read:
久美沙織 : いつか海に行ったね (I Went to the Ocean Once)

So instead of finishing the Sailor Moon series, I played catch up with a different series, I am a Hero. I went from fighting sparkling female planet soldiers to zombies! I blame my marathoning of Walking Dead that put me in a zombie mood. I also ended up finishing one book.

I finish March currently reading a new (but short) manga series called The Summit of the Gods in it's English translation and the original Japanese version of Strange Weather in Tokyo. All in all, a productive month.

Next month should bring great weather and hopefully more books! Also, at the end of April will be my first orchestra concert! Mahler, here we come!

I hope April will bring you sunny days and great reads!

>36 connie53:

Thank you Connie! I'm definitely hoping for those sunny days so I can go read in the park and bask in the warm sun.

>35 lilisin: you'll post pictures of cherry blossoms in Japan? I hope to someday see it in person!

& Congrats on your ROOTs progress!

I'd be interested to hear how you like Audition when you get around to it - I never read it, but I saw the movie and that completely blew my mind, so I'm curious if the book has the same effect... (and yes, it is pretty gruesome)

>37 lilisin:

Still waiting for those sunny days to come so I decided to cheat by booking a trip to the Philippines. Will be staying on beautiful beaches from the 29th to the 9th. Very excited. First time visiting the country.

>38 avanders:

I'll try to post some pictures of this year's cherry blossoms. In the meantime you can see last year's by checking out my member gallery).

>39 Britt84:

Definitely hoping to get to that one soon!

---

Finally read my first ROOT this month, I am a Hero, volume 20. Funny enough I bought the comic on Tuesday (the day it came out) and read it on Wednesday so the turn-around time was probably a record in terms of ROOT but it counts under my rules. (Especially since my major rule is that if I'm going to purchase yet another book, it can't be allowed to linger on a pile.)

I have been reading another comic this month but it's at 500 pages instead of the standard 250, and although very good, it's not one I'm finding easy to just sit and read through. I'm very much taking my time with it. But, should get finished this month for sure.

Happy holiday, lilisin.

>40 lilisin: wow how exciting! Enjoy!

& congrats on pulling another ROOT!

I leave for the Philippines tomorrow so I won't be reading anything else before the end of this month. I'm excited to be spending time on the beach but it will be a strange trip as I'm travelling solo so I'm not too sure how that is going to go. I'm free to do whatever I want but I'll have no one to talk to about it. And unfortunately, although I was looking forward to just sitting under a nice warm sun, it looks like the rain is going to follow me. ~sigh~ I just can't seem to beat the weather. Hopefully it's just morning island showers and not all day rain. That would just get depressing, very quickly. In any case, despite my protests about the weather, I'm actually very very excited and am ready to take off.

April Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 2
Total ROOTs: 2

Manga acquired: 2
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 21-0=21
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 45-2+2=45

Manga read:
アイ・アム・ア・ヒーロー 20
コタローは一人暮らし 1

Manga purchased:
神々の山嶺（中、下）

---

For my trip I'm bringing three books along:
Alexandre Dumas : Vingt Ans Apres
Akira Mizubayashi: Une langue venue d'ailleurs
Erich Maria Remarque: Arc de triomphe

With my parents arriving the following day after I get back from the Philippines I need to do some French reading as my mouth was having trouble spitting out words during our last Skype call. I hope 1700 pages of reading is enough. I can't tell as I'm really not sure how busy/not busy I'll be with this trip. Either I'll read nothing or read a lot.

In any case, this is where I'll be:



(Image courtesy of gophilippinestravel.ph)

Gorgeous scenery! Bon voyage et bonne lecture!

Wow - looks like an amazing place! Some rain might be nice and relaxing too, and provide some variety! ;)
Enjoy!!

Bon voyage!

Hope you have a great time in the Phillipines - it looks amazing!

Wow, that beach looks stunning! I'm not jealous at all (much). :D

>43 lilisin: Lovely! Can I carry your bag? Don't worry about having no one to talk to! It will be nice and quiet and you can share your thoughts with us afterwards.

So I'm back from my vacation! At least, part 1. Today I'm at work but after work I meet up with my parents and brother who are visiting me and from tomorrow we will be traveling around Japan. Hopefully my sore throat today is not a sign of getting sick!

Otherwise, my vacation was wonderful. I ended up having only one day of full rain and every day after that was beautiful! I feel like I've been gone a month and not just a week.

I arrived in Siargao, in Pacifico, on Saturday morning. I stayed in a hotel where we had our own cottage, no warm water in the shower and no air conditioning, just a fan, but those two things are not needed. I did have a bit of a problem with ants in my bed but overall, it was just the remote hotel I was looking for. I ended up spending the rest of the day reading on a cushioned lounge chair under the shade and looking at the pristine unpopulated beach. At least until that afternoon I rented a scooter and went next door to the Magpupungko Pool which was cute although I got lots of stares from the locals due to my very white skin. (A year and a half in Japan and I'm the palest I've ever been.) One group even asked to take pictures with me.

Sunday it poured rain so I just went back to the aforementioned chair and read all day which was incredibly relaxing. Monday I left at 7am to take advantage of the wonderful weather and drove the scooter from Pacifico to Del Luna (1 hour of driving) and just soaked in all the scenery. I checked out the Cloud 9 (famous for competition surfing) boardwalk but after seeing way too many beach blond surfer foreigners who looked like Academy Award statues (how do they get THAT tan!?) (Nothing wrong with these people; I'm just not part of the surfing culture.) I decided to flee back to my peaceful corner of the island. On the way back I stopped in the many villages and was followed by flocks of children marveling at my skin color. Some were brave enough to touch me, one cute girl held my hand and another child screamed and cried as his older brother tried to get him to go towards what he saw as the pale white devil. The kids were super cute and even invited me to go swimming with them in the creek. I unfortunately had to politely decline as I'm now incredibly hesitant to swim in non-moving waters due to too many horror stories of flesh eating bacteria and worms that manage to squeeze themselves into your body. At the end of the village stop I bought all the kids a piece of candy to thank them for their tour. I returned to my hotel. Not without a nice sunburn on my thighs and forearms (the scooter tan, worst than the farmer tan?). Back in Japan the tan is now etched in my skin where it looks like I'm wearing a garter belt (I am not).

Tuesday was a swim and read all day kind of day, Wednesday I toured around the north of the island, and Thursday, myself and two younger guests went to a lagoon and had fun horsing around on a paddle board all day. Was really a wonderful stay. Had wonderful conversations with the other guests and in the hotel and we all spend our evenings playing cards and games with another once the sun went down.

The night sky was so beautiful as the lack of anything around the hotel led to a beautiful night sky full of the brightest stars, probably the brightest I've ever seen. Then, in the distance, you could see lights slowly drifting through the low tide as men with headlights waded through the water looking to spear octopus. Was incredibly beautiful.

Friday I left the paradise that was Siargao Island and headed to Bohol which isn't where I really wanted to go but I thought it'd be safe to be closer to my departing airport in case weather were to suddenly get bad. Bohol was not my favorite as it was much hotter, not as beautiful and green and just full of foreigners and locals trying to sell you massages and tours. A week of quiet paradise had spoiled me and made it harder to enjoy Bohol. I started to get more into it by the last day but at that point it was time to come back.

In any case, a really wonderful vacation.

---

I also managed to read over 1000 pages this week finishing two books Erich Maria Remarque's Arc de triomphe and Akira Mizubayashi's Une langue venue d'ailleurs and starting Dumas' Vingt Ans Apres all books I hope to discuss soon.

Welcome back! It sounds like you had a really wonderful time.

>50 lilisin: wow that sounds amazing! Glad you had such a wonderful time! :)

Glad you had a great vacation! Looks like you also got a fair bit of reading done. A success all around! :)

>50 lilisin: See, I should have been there to carry your bags! It sounds like a really relaxing and fun vacation.

Thanks everyone! I am now back from part 2 of my vacation. My parents and one of my brothers came to visit me here in Japan and we did a wonderful tour. I'm back at work for two days while they head off to Sendai then I show them around Tokyo this weekend and Monday before they head back home.

Due to their arrival I had them bring me a whole lot of my favorite snacks and books! Some are books I already owned but want to read soon while others are new books that my mom bought me. So here's the list!

Already owned:
Alexandrer Dumas : Joseph Balsamo
Akira Yoshimura : Le convoi de l'eau
Marguerite Duras : Un barrage contre le Pacifique
Shizuko Natsuki - Hara-kiri, mon amour
Colette - Gigi
Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Ubervilles (read this book in high school and wrote many essays on it and yet remember nothing!)

New books!:
Christine Jordis : Paysage d'hiver, voyage en compagnie d'un sage
Haruki Murakami : L'Étrange Bibliothèque
Zola - La curee
Zola - La terre
Zola - Le docteur pascal
Zola - L'argent
Amelie Nothomb - La nostalgie heureuse
Amelie Nothomb - Petronille

>55 lilisin: Yay! Parents with care packages are the best visitors :)

>55How nice of your parents! Have fun with reading those new books!

And now it's the end of May. What a crazy May I've had what with three weeks of traveling and seeing my family again. Coming back to work has been exhausted and I had a full weekend this past weekend and will have another full weekend next weekend as I go back to Kyoto with a friend. I really just want to sit down and play the violin! I finally got to go to my first rehearsal for our new music (I missed 3 (4?) while I was gone) and it was so wonderful to play again. The pieces are of course, difficult, but they're fun.

In any case, I've only read two books this month, those being the two I read while in the Philippines. Despite not reading much, and despite having just received a significant care package, I still did however manage to buy three more books and five more manga yesterday as I decided to go to the used bookstore while waiting for my friend. Ha, not the brightest of ideas!

May Summary!

Books read: 2
Manga read: 0
Total ROOTs: 2

Manga acquired: 5
Books acquired: 17
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 21+17-2=36
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 45+5=50

Books read:
Erich Maria Remarque's : Arc de triomphe
Akira Mizubayashi's : Une langue venue d'ailleurs

Manga purchased:
Cat's Eye 5-10

Books acquired/purchased (newest 3 on top of list):
Haruki Murakami : Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Takeshi Kaiko : Darkness in Summer
Sawako Ariyoshi : The Twilight Years
Alexandrer Dumas : Joseph Balsamo
Akira Yoshimura : Le convoi de l'eau
Marguerite Duras : Un barrage contre le Pacifique
Shizuko Natsuki - Hara-kiri, mon amour
Colette - Gigi
Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Ubervilles
Christine Jordis : Paysage d'hiver, voyage en compagnie d'un sage
Haruki Murakami : L'Étrange Bibliothèque
Zola - La curee
Zola - La terre
Zola - Le docteur pascal
Zola - L'argent
Amelie Nothomb - La nostalgie heureuse
Amelie Nothomb - Petronille

>58 lilisin: hee hee, these things happen ;)
And 2 is good! Especially for such a busy month :)

Well, you were busy in a very good way!

>58 lilisin: No reason to feel guilty. You were busy with family, that's nice too.

Hello July!
June was a month of relaxing after my crazy May. We didn't have much of a rainy season this year which makes me happy but I haven't yet really sat outside to enjoy the weather. In fact, other than orchestra rehearsals, I don't quite remember much of what I did this month. I'll have to fix that this upcoming month. With festival and fireworks season coming up though, I'm sure that won't be too hard. I'm hoping to also make it to the ocean (here in Japan) this year since I wasn't able to do that last year. All in all, though, looking forward to a great summer.

June Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 10
Total ROOTs: 10

Manga acquired: 6
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 36-0=36
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 50-10+6=46

Manga read:
ふしぎ遊戯 1-8
Change-R 1
永遠の六花

Manga purchased:
Change-R 1
永遠の六花
Trigun 2
Trigun Maximum 2,3,4

First two manga were purchased since I needed something to read on the train back from Kyoto. The Trigun books will probably be one of the upcoming series I read once I collect all the volumes.

Nothing to see here.
Just enjoying the summer which only really lasts for a month here in Japan so I'm outside every moment I can be and not doing any reading. I'll save reading for those cold months. So in the meantime, I'm enjoying fireworks and festivals, going swimming at various beaches, enjoyed long walks outside while catching Pokemon and just soaking up all the warmth I can.

July Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 0
Total ROOTs: 0

Manga acquired: 2
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 36-0=36
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 46+2=48

Manga purchased:
亜人 1,2

>63 lilisin: That sounds like a very good reason for not reading.

>63 lilisin: "Nothing to see here." lol ;)
Glad you're enjoying summer!

And still not much to see. Managed to squeeze in two manga at the end of the month as work has eased up again so I have time to sit down for a proper hour lunch and read manga. At night though I still have no desire to do anything but watch random things on the internet. Not a good habit to have developed.

Orchestra concert is coming up in three weeks and although I'm prepared, I'm not sure the orchestra is so I'm a bit nervous. Like last year, the end of August was cut off by typhoons so summer is now over here in Japan as the jellyfish will soon overtake the waters meaning no more swimming at the beaches. The rain also prevented me from attending a few firework shows and an awaodori festival I adore. I'm really not ready for fall already. Pretty sure we just had winter a month ago. Would be nice to have a boyfriend to spend some time with this year. Probably won't happen though so will just keep focusing on orchestra practice in the meantime!

August Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 2
Total ROOTs: 2

Manga acquired: 2
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 36-0=36
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 48-2+2=48

Manga purchased:
亜人 3,4

I´m not looking forward to fall too. Not to speak of winters.
Good luck with the orchestra (and the search for a boyfriend ;))

We haven't really had much of a summer, so I probably won't notice any difference when fall arrives. It helped with reading, though.

Good luck with your concert!

I sympathize with the watching random things on the Internet instead of reading. In my case, the watching random things is pushing me to later bedtimes, made worse by the fact that I am working from home a few days a week. Without the commute, there is less incentive to go to bed at a reasonable hour!

Hope the concert goes well!

Thanks everyone for the encouragement!
Although my stream of consciousness can sometimes sound pessimistic and worrisome I'm actually quite happy with everything and am looking forward to upcoming engagements and possibly more reading!.

Positive note: The weather today was beeeeautiful. Since coming home my window has been wide open and I've created a breeze through the apartment. Add on three loads of laundry and a successful 40 minutes of practicing and tonight has been heavenly.

>69 rabbitprincess:
Yes! Definitely the staying up late thing! I'm not staying late but I'm watching videos right up until my bed time meaning I'm not letting myself settle into sleep mode. It's making me fall asleep at work every day. Although granted the gentle hum of the machine I work with and the ambient temperature set at dozing mode doesn't help! :P

>66 lilisin: I feel really jealous that you are in an orchestra - I would love that! At the moment our local amateur orchestra is in a national competition on the BBC (I guess a reality TV thing, looking for the best amateur orchestra in the counry). I used to play, but my instrument (clarinet) is very popular so everybody and their dog plays it, and you only need 2 per orchestra, so there's never any chance to play unless you are brilliant (which I'm not, I'm very very rusty!). So sometimes I wish I'd taken up the violin or cello, as I'd quite happily sit at the back sawing away with lots of others! I have many happy memories of playing in the orchestra particularly in my teens.

>63 lilisin: >67 connie53: >68 MissWatson: it would be interesting if we could each have our own weather/season balloons...
for someone like me, who loves fall, rain, winter, and snow, at what point would I get sick of it? How much summer would I have if allowed to choose it completely? I think 2 weeks is the "perfect amount of summer" (I'm not a summer fan)... but maybe if I really only had 2 weeks of summer, I'd feel differently? .... just thinking out loud here ;)

>66 lilisin: good luck w/ your concert - if you're prepared, I'm sure it will go great! Even if the rest of the orchestra is a little... less than amazing, just wow them w/ your brilliance ;)

I think my weather balloon would be something like this starting the first of January, 1 week of winter, 14 weeks of spring, 30 weeks of summer, 6 weeks of fall, 1 week of winter ; -)))

>73 connie53: Love it! It would be so interesting to see everyone walking around in their little weather bubbles :)

I think mine would ("realistically") be, starting in January:
1 month of winter
2 months of spring
1 month of summer
7 months of fall
1 month of winter

;)

September was rain, rain, rain, and more rain. And gloomy skies and some cold days. No one remembers it; that's how dreary it was. There were 4 days of sun that were greatly cherished but it feels good to be out of September.

However, bad news is that while I'm headed off to Siem Reap, Cambodia tomorrow for a 5 day vacation to see Angkor Wat, it looks like the rain will be following me. October is supposed to be the end of the rainy season in Cambodia but looks like I might get stuck in it. Let's hope it's like the Philippines where it said it was going to rain my entire vacation but only rained one day. Really crossing my fingers! Because I know Angkor Wat is going to be beautiful!

Otherwise, in terms of reading, nothing special. Little read, much purchased (I blame good sales).

September Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 3
Total ROOTs: 3

Manga acquired: 57
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 36-0=36
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 48-3+57=102

Manga read:
亜人 3,4,5

Manga purchased:
エリアの騎士 1-34
ママレード・ボーイ 1-8
ハンサムな彼女 1-9
四重奏ゲーム
亜人 5-8
Trigun 1

Oh dear, 57 manga! My first time actually counting it all. MY TBR pile just doubled with that! Maybe this is just me preparing for the winter and I'll get lots of reading done then. Let's hope!

57 Manga!

>75 lilisin: >76 connie53: lol that's a lot of manga! ;)
It's okay, you enjoy it and that's what matters!
Hope the rain wasn't too depressing!

>76 connie53:, >77 avanders:
Thanks for the continuous support and for "looking the other way" at my current manga spending, non-reading trend. The trend continues however!

October Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 0
Total ROOTs: 0

Manga acquired: 17
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 36-0=36
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 102+17=119

Manga purchased:
アイ・アム・ア・ヒーロー 21
コタローは一人暮らし 2
Orange 1-5
血界戦線 1-10

Not to fear though. I will get back in the reading game eventually. I always do.

---

Cambodia -- or I should say Siem Reap as I didn't go to other cities -- was nice. It did rain every day and not drizzle. I mean, very heavy, immediately flood the roads kind of rain. But fortunately I was always either covered by tuc tuc when the rain would start or it was during the night or when I was already back from my day out. So I was very lucky despite having visited towards the end of the rainy season.

Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples are beautiful. Looking at pictures online you would think the temples would all look the same and you'd quickly get bored of them but that wasn't the case at all. Each temple is so unique and beautiful and when you think about the expanse of these temples you immediately start imagining the life of the Khmer people at the time. It's all fascinating. And then the temples that are intact are beautiful, yes, but the ones that are losing to nature and are being taken over by the trees are also so beautiful. You feel like Indiana Jones in search of a relic. I got lost several times in the maze like corridors. Really nice.

I also got to enjoy a day riding a bike in Siem Reap and then also in the countryside. Also got a 5 dollar manicure and foot scrub and also got to try out Dr. Fish which was really fun and left me with the softest feet I've ever had.

In terms of food, due to the heat I lost my appetite and what I did eat was food catered towards the palate of tourists so unfortunately I didn't get the chance to eat anything truly authentic; mostly just variations on kung pao chicken.

So a wonderful vacation.
Japan now is relatively cold for early November. Fall was quite short (this year's weather in Japan has been to cut all the good seasons short it seems) and while we have a stretch of sunny days coming up ahead, we will most likely soon enter winter weather.

At least I hope that brings in the reading craze I need to get through this massive TBR pile! :)

>78 lilisin: I have months where I acquire "too much" too... no worries, we have faith that you'll get it back to where you want it!
You trip sounds very cool! And I can see why it was fascinating!
So glad you had such a wonderful vacation :)

November... November... what happened in November?
Earliest snow Tokyo has had in 54 years.

And... I can't recall anything I did in November. I did go to Disney Sea with a friend. That was fun. But now that same friend is mad at me so that's not good. Working on that one.

But I did read 3 manga!

Also debating what to do for Christmas. It's been a weird month.

November Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 3
Total ROOTs: 3

Manga acquired: 10
Books acquired: 0
End of the month In Tokyo book TBR: 36-0=36
End of the month In Tokyo manga TBR: 119+10-3=126

Manga read:
Orange 1
エリアの騎士 1-2

Manga purchased:
Maison Ikkoku 1-10

>80 lilisin: interesting! Weather anomalies are always so interesting to me ;p
bummer re your friend - good that you're working on it!

I won't reach my goal this year probably, landing just short of 50 but I'll keep pushing till the end. So far, two more added to bring me to 44/50.

However, I just bought 6 huge tomes due to an amazing book sale (English language books on sale for 4 dollars in Japan! - cheaper than the US!) that I couldn't resist. I don't know why I keep buying books, though, as I haven't read a book in over 6 months, and haven't read a book in English in over a year. But it's that fear of missing out on such a good deal while in Japan.

Books purchased:
Natsume Soseki : The Miner
Richard Flanagan : The Narrow Road to the Deep North
HG Wells : The Island of Doctor Moreau
George Eliot : Middlemarch
Wilkie Colins : The Woman in White
DH Lawrence : Lady Chatterley's Lover

I'm actually likely to read the first two as they've been on my wishlist for a while; the last four were purchased spur of the moment just because they were there and they are classics and you can't go wrong with classics.

>82 lilisin: 44 ROOTs is great! and pushing til the end is also a great plan :)
fun new books!

As long as you're enjoying what you're reading, don't worry about the numbers :)

I read The Woman in White in university and liked it, but haven't read any more of Collins' work.