Wednesday In Japan and Summer Reading...

Wednesday In Japan and Summer Reading..., a photo by angryparsnip on Flickr.

My Wednesday post about my life in Japan. . .
and
Today some of the blogs I follow are posting today about summer
reading list, you are to list 2 old favorites, 2 fiction and 2 non-
fiction.

This neatly fits in with my Japanese post today about a book,
Tsuburogu, I found on a recent trip.
This book is about the life of several animals who live with the
writer/photographer.
The main characters in this book (there are several in the series) are
Tsubu the cat, Koto a Terrier, Ume the Bunny and Zen the Scottie.

I'm flatly denying that Scottie on the cover was the only reason I
picked up this book ! and I'm sticking to that story no matter what
and you can't make me change my story !

Here are my summer book suggestions. . .

Fiction:

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The story focuses on four Chinese American Immigrant families. The
book is structures much like the game of mahjong with the women
sharing stories about their lives.

The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman
Hillerman set his mysteries in the Southwest Navajo Nation and
surrounding area. How the main characters deal with crime, and melding
traditional and modern thinking.

Non Fiction:

Like Hidden Fire by Peter Hopkirk
If you want to get a better historical understanding on what is going
on in the Middle East and Central Asia. This book reads like a spy novel but shows how the conflicts in this area are a never
ending circle of disasters and that the players stay the same only the
date changes.

izakaya by Mark Robinson
This book is a history of the izakaya the Japanese Pub. How it evolved
and became a vital and unique place in Japanese life. Also includes
fabulous recipes.

Old Favorites:

Still Life With Chickens by Catherine Goldhammer
How can you not like a book when the paragraph that opens the book has
a sentence with " my diminished resources dictated a move to a run
down cottage in a honky-tonk town where live bait is sold from vending
machines"
The book is about a divorce, a move, and how chickens play a huge and
wonderful part in the new start. I have written before how much this
book made me laugh durning the hell of a divorce my x put our family
through.

Under The Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
What a wonderful read about remolding a home and all the "interesting"
adventures that come with it. So much of my married life revolved
around remodeling homes that we never got to live in but sold and move
on to the next one. Plus she also included some wonderful recipes.

Goodness I see a trend in the books I like. . . . . FOOD !

reading. . . parsnip
music. . . Shoot The Moon, Norah Jones