Where do I even start with this one? Let’s start with the illustrator. Shinsuke Yoshitake is a picture book author/illustrator who has been translated into English for a few years now. I had The Boring Book for my kids and it was on frequent rotation during reading time. His books are funny, philosophical, and charmingly illustrated. But …
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 …
The book that inspired the Studio Ghibli movie, “Spirited Away,” available for the first time in English! This is a classic Japanese novel by the author of Temple Alley Summer and The House on the Lost Cape — two books that I’ve read with my kids and absolutely loved. –Becky, Ridgecrest Books, Shoreline, WA Find a fantastic read-together …
Magical realism, myth, surrealism, fairytale, folk tale – call it what you will but this story is a major treat! Translated from the Japanese author’s (Maru Ayase) original by translator Haydn Trowell, this is the first of the author’s many novels to be translated into English. What a great decision! Our main character is tired …
The perfect entry point for people new to Murata, this is my favorite of her works translated to English so far. A master of mixing the macabre with the sweet, her short stories will leave you asking questions like, is it weird to a make a table out of human femurs? Should you leave your …
On a … whimsical note, here is Sosuke Natsukawa’s The Cat Who Saved Books, which is about a young bookseller and a talking cat. The cat has a mission, you see—a mission to rescue books from mistreatment, misappropriation, and general misuse. Naturally, the bookseller agrees to help the cat. Mysteries ensue. –A Good Book, Sumner, …
“In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time.” Kawaguchi wrote this story originally as a play which was adapted into a novel …
