After writing about Hachette vs the Internet Archive and talking a bit about how much publishers are charging libraries of ebooks, the news broke that Book Depository will be shutting down on April 26th. Because of this, I’ve been having a very interesting conversation with a friend who works in publishing about cheap books. It’s… Read More Discussion Post: Should We Be Paying More For Books?
Okok, I said the next DWJ book would be Book 2 of the Chrestomanci series, but I got way too curious about Black Maria and couldn’t wait so here we are. Black Maria is a standalone novel about Mig, her brother Chris, and their mother Betty as they visit Great Aunt Maria at Cranbury-on-Sea. Despite… Read More Book Review: Black Maria by Diana Wynne Jones
I’m here with a little review of a really cute book that I’ve owned for a while but never talked about! ベルの読書日記, which the book writes as “Belle’s Library” but I feel is better translated as “Belle’s Reading Diary” is a collection of quotes from various classics alongside Belle’s commentary. It doesn’t make sense to… Read More Reading in Japanese: ベルの読書日記 (Belle’s Library)
It’s the beginning of March so it’s time for me to do my second month-in-review post woohoo! What I Read in March March was an exceptionally good reading month because unless I’ve miscounted several times, I’ve managed to read 16 books! One of them was even in Japanese (albeit really short but still!!)! Highlights of… Read More March in Review
I first saw The Twyford Code in a bookshop around the end of last year and the cover intrigued me. But since I’ve been pretty good with not buying books (I’m sorry, bookshops!), I recently ended up borrowing the book from the library. Told through a series of audio transcripts, The Twyford Code is the… Read More Book Review: The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett
As I’m writing this post, I haven’t really seen anyone talk about the Hachette vs Internet Archive and I would really like to hear what others think, so here’s my little attempt at writing down my thoughts. The way I understand it, Hachette vs Internet Archive (which, despite its name is actually Hachette Book Group,… Read More Musings about Hachette vs Internet Archive (and libraries)
I am here with another classic! This time by Dostoevsky, whose last book I read was Notes from Underground and The Double in 2021. What I remember of Dostoevsky in general is that his words have a pessimistic, dark quality about them, which makes them harder for me to read than say, Tolstoy (though I’ve… Read More Book Review: Winter Notes on Summer Impressions by Fyodor Dostoevsky
It’s time for the first instalment in my Lupicia Quick Tea Reviews series! Last week, I managed to try four Lupicia teas – three are from the November tea subscription and one is a sample. The first tea is called Bungo Les Bains and it’s inspired by Oita’s onsens and is supposed to be a… Read More Lupicia Quick Tea Reviews #1
It has been some time since I talked about Studio Ghibli, so it’s time to remind everyone that Studio Ghibli makes amazing films by talking about Mixing Work with Pleasure, Toshio Suzuki’s account of his time spent at Studio Ghibli as a producer and company president. If you want to see some of his calligraphy,… Read More Book Review: Mixing Work with Pleasure by Toshio Suzuki
I picked up this book mostly because I had a suspicion I would be caught in a very, very bad traffic jam and I wanted something to kill the time (I was right but I didn’t have as much opportunity to read). What I didn’t expect was that this book would be captivating and so… Read More Book Review: The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
