Yamamoto has deftly created short stories where the title characters are difficult women. Women who have complicated relationships with their families and significant others. They work hard for independence, like the woman who has breast cancer or the middle aged woman working the night shift, and end up taking the blame when things fall apart. …
A cafe-bookshop, complete with its young owner and her cat, magically encounters those in need of finding memories that were once lost. Four stories written across the seasons, this beautifully written book is a warm hug for anyone that’s lost someone dear, that will leave you feeling hopeful and a little more healed than before …
I love reading. I love language. I love reading about language and there are few people whose thoughts on language I’d rather read than Yoko Tawada’s. She writes in both Japanese and German and I’ve long been a fan of her fiction, which uses language creatively and often explores it thematically. To me, these essays …
The sadness of the underlying story in this novel is only matched by the beauty of the art that connects a girl and her grandfather to their life together. As they race against time to fill her memory with the best of over 500 years worth of Western art, Mona learns what it means to …
Two Face Outs/ “walk me to the shelf” recs for Brian Juenemann, the Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, from India at Spoke & Word Books in Milwaukie, OR: Klan members are turning into nasty little monsters (their outsides matching their insides) called ku kluxes. Our trio of badasses is unaliving them in …
Three interconnected short stories, all centered around the Torunka Cafe by the author of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop. While this book fits into the “healing Japanese fiction” genre, this particular book doesn’t rely on magical realism. The stray cats don’t talk. There is no time travel. It’s just a book about lonely people finding …
A fast read that’s a unique take on the magical girl genre using its tropes for some insightful social commentary on topics like debt and depression, climate change, not living up to your perceived potential, and the darker realities women often face. “The first battle a magical girl must fight is the fight to save …
Abandoned by their mother, adult siblings Salim and Sara rarely leave their house, while their father continuously pops in with bizarre advice as their grandmother lies dying. Funny, slightly insane, and completely absurd, The Endless Week by Laura Vazquez and translated by Alex Niemi has a place on my shelf of perfectly weird fiction. Think …
What if our subconscious dream state was actually a town and we were able to go into a store and buy our dreams? That is exactly what happens in this book. Penny is a young enthusiastic new hire at The Dallergut Dream Department Store. It has been a dream to work here and now that …
I love the story of a girl, her bunny, and her family as they adjust to their new life in the Netherlands and remember their immigration journey from Afghanistan. Funny and heartwarming. –Mimi, Wishing Tree Books, Spokane, WA Discover treasures from around the world at Wishing Tree Books and other independent bookstores.
