Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

2980 views
2020 Challenge - Advanced > 04 - A book set in Japan (host of the 2020 Olympics)

Comments Showing 1-50 of 91 (91 new)    post a comment »
« previous 1

message 2: by Drakeryn (new)

Drakeryn | 708 comments Confessions - contemporary novel about a middle school teacher who discovers her daughter was murdered by two of her students. (Also works for the WOC author prompt, since the author is Japanese)


message 3: by Piajensen13 (new)

Piajensen13 | 52 comments Most of Haruki Murakami's books takes place in Japan.


message 4: by Jenn (new)

Jenn (jenntendo64) | 56 comments Convenience Store Woman
Tokyo Ueno Station


message 5: by Jenn (new)

Jenn (jenntendo64) | 56 comments Pachinko


message 6: by Anabell (new)

Anabell | 355 comments I am going to Japan next year so am looking forward to reading several books taking place in Japan. So will really look forward to your suggestions.
So far I will read The Way of the 88 Temples: Journeys on the Shikoku Pilgrimage


message 7: by C.L. (new)

C.L. (eleventyone) | 7 comments The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2020.


message 8: by Piajensen13 (new)

Piajensen13 | 52 comments Cece wrote: "The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2020."
I've been so looking forward to her next book, but didn't know it would take place in Japan. Can't wait to read it.


message 9: by Ann (new)

Ann Contella (ahnsolo) | 35 comments I highly recommend Out by Natsuo Kirino by Natsuo Kirino


message 10: by Hannah (new)

Hannah | 14 comments I read both Pachinko and Confessions this year. Both were very good.


message 11: by Jenn (new)

Jenn (jenntendo64) | 56 comments I had to read Naomi for an Asian Civ class and I enjoyed it.

As I said in the thread for the Olympic host prompt, Tokyo Ueno Station deals with both the 1964 and 2020 Olympics and takes place in Tokyo.


message 12: by K.L. (new)

K.L. Middleton (theunapologeticbookworm) | 821 comments The Salaryman's Wife is a great mystery set in Japan, and the first book in a series of 11.

The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn is also a great read if you enjoy young adult mysteries.


message 14: by Di (new)

Di This one caught my eye in the local bookshop... I'm going to go with it Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi


message 15: by Karin (new)

Karin The Housekeeper and the Professor is excellent and is also by a Japanese author.

³§³óŲµ³Ü²Ô is historical fiction set in Japan.


message 16: by Lexi (new)

Lexi I really like Shipwrecks as one of favorite books this year but be very careful with reading reviews and many do not label a very major spoiler.


message 17: by Tytti (new)

Tytti | 355 comments Drakeryn wrote: "(Also works for the WOC author prompt, since the author is Japanese)"

I am pretty sure the Japanese wouldn't appreciate being called "people of color", as it sounds racist even to me... It's very much a US term and not exactly politically correct in most other countries, I believe. And I wouldn't use it for Africans or Latin Americans, either, or anyone else really, except maybe for US Americans.


message 18: by Drakeryn (new)

Drakeryn | 708 comments I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?


message 19: by Alex (new)

Alex of Yoe (alexandraofyoe) | 244 comments Silence

Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering

xxxHolic, Vol. 1 if manga counts. Actually this would work for the Olympics prompt too since it's set in modern-day Tokyo.


message 20: by Karin (last edited Nov 19, 2019 07:13PM) (new)

Karin Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"

My understanding is that persons of colour are anyone who isn't white. Japan has a long history of racism in and of itself although things are changing there now, but I suspect it would depend on who you ask and where they live. AND here is an article by an East Asian woman who is angry when people don't call East Asians people of colour .


message 21: by Kristen (new)

Kristen (kristen930) | 2 comments Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Wonderful true story


message 22: by Nadine in NY (new)

Nadine in NY Jones | 9598 comments Mod
Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"


You’re not wrong


message 24: by Brandon (new)

Brandon Harbeke | 696 comments Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin's Road

The Usagi Yojimbo series is another great choice for this challenge.


message 25: by Tytti (new)

Tytti | 355 comments Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"


You’re not wrong"


Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says a lot about the country...) but I doubt that a Japanese author living in Japan defines herself by a term invented and used almost solely by Americans and one that probably doesn't actually mean anything to her (not to mention that her skin looks about as white as mine). She isn't American so could you please keep your racist labels to yourself and not apply them to the rest of the world that doesn't agree with them? (And where a Caucasian means a person from the Caucasus region, not a racial definition that, ironically, probably doesn't include the real Caucasians.)

Also that article seems to have been written by an Asian American and she only writes about issues concerning USA, so I doubt she is talking for all the Asian people living in Asia, only (maybe) for those living in the US. It's still an US American perspective, not an Asian one.


message 26: by Jen W. (new)

Jen W. (piratenami) | 502 comments I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn - part of the book is set in the US, but most of it is set in Japan.


message 27: by writer... (last edited Nov 21, 2019 12:33PM) (new)

writer... (goodreadscomwriter) | 25 comments Popsugar 2020 Challenge ~
Japan features in
To the Farthest Shores by Elizabeth Camden
To the Farthest Shores by Elizabeth Camden


message 28: by Robyn (new)

Robyn Hendrix | 19 comments Piajensen13 wrote: "Cece wrote: "The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2..."

Cece wrote: "The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2020."

Oh yay I didn't know it was going to be a series! I'm so excited now. Loved the first one so much.


message 29: by Chandra (new)

Chandra (chandra_lee) The Warcross duology by Marie Lu takes place in Japan! I read it this year and it was a lot of fun!!


message 30: by Nadine in NY (new)

Nadine in NY Jones | 9598 comments Mod
Tytti wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"


You’re not wrong"

Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says..."



Tytti - You've made it clear that you don't like the term. But you know that neither I nor anyone else in this group created the term, nor did we create this list, so arguing about its offensiveness is not productive here. You are free to interpret it in a way that works for you, or to ignore it entirely and make a new category for yourself.


message 31: by Agnieszka (last edited Nov 23, 2019 08:10AM) (new)

Agnieszka (agnieszka7) Karin wrote: "The Housekeeper and the Professor is excellent and is also by a Japanese author..."

I agree it's a great book I read it recently and loved it so much I plann to read all the books my library has as soon as possible.

So my books for this propt will be either Das Museum der Stille lit. transl: The Museum of Silence or Schwimmen mit Elefanten lit. transl: Swimming With Elephant(s)


message 32: by Michelle (new)

Michelle H | 48 comments Ann wrote: "I highly recommend Out by Natsuo Kirino by Natsuo Kirino"

I LOVED this book. I'm going to try her book Real World for this prompt. The ratings aren't quite as high but it sounds interesting anyway.


message 33: by Michelle (new)

Michelle H | 48 comments Murakami is one of my favorites, and I highly recommend his books The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (probably his best, in my opinion) and Norwegian Wood (my second fave, and the only one of his books that is 100% realistic, instead of his usual surrealistic style. This one is particularly depressing though). I haven't enjoyed his short stories as much, personally, and his latest book was super disappointing, in my opinion.


message 34: by Hannah (new)

Hannah | 68 comments If I can get a copy through my library, I’m going to read The Woman in the White Kimono. It’s a dual timeline book with part of the present day set in the US, but hopefully enough of the book is set in Japan for it to count.


message 35: by Beth (new)

Beth (dogmom6584) | 6 comments I'm thinking of doing The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike for this one


message 36: by Rachel (new)

Rachel (mrshurd) | 33 comments I have been wanting to read Warcross so I am going to pick this one.


The Chapter Conundrum (Stacey) | 404 comments Rainbirds by Clarissa Goenawan works for this prompt too :)


message 38: by Karin (last edited Nov 28, 2019 01:19PM) (new)

Karin Tytti wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"


You’re not wrong"

Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says..."


Someone in Japan might not, but there are many people of Japanese descent her who do, so the question is, since this is an American challenge, to we go by the American definition of the definition in the country of the author?

My mother's family comes from the very first country in the world to outlaw slavery back in 1117 AD (Iceland, whose history has been wrongly stereotyped as primarily pillaging Vikings--easy to google this) and my dad from a religion that has been both abolitionist and pacifistic since its inception about 500 years ago, and his family on both sides comes from generations of this. Since coming to Canada both sides of my family have been becoming more multi-racial through marriage and partnership and my entire family is accepting of this When one of my adopted brothers came out as gay in 1984 almost everyone was immediately accepting, plus my dad already knew but waited for him to come out). BUT I do have one aunt on my dad's side who was very mean to my brother about that, so I am not saying my family has all been accepting.

SO, what I find since coming to live in the US is that I am stereotyped before even opening my mouth, and so is almost everyone else.


message 39: by Tanu (last edited Nov 28, 2019 07:47PM) (new)

Tanu (tanu_reads) | 115 comments A Pale View of Hills would be a good one for this, although it is a bit confusing. I’ve chosen Pachinko


message 40: by Darci (new)

Darci Day | 164 comments I'm probably going with Warcross. However, My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 also looks really good.


message 41: by Ellyn (new)

Ellyn (311yn) | 10 comments Hiroshima, if anyone is looking for a short, easy, nonfiction read.


message 42: by SadieReadsAgain (new)

SadieReadsAgain (sadiestartsagain) | 767 comments I'm going for Geisha of Gion, which is apparently the story of the woman that Memoirs of a Geisha is based on. I loved that book when I read it about ten years ago, but apparently Mineko Iwasaki didn't like what he did with her story so she wrote this.


message 43: by Angela (new)

Angela (skiesclear) Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ automatically sorts books by the setting, should it be listed in the description.
/places/25-j...


message 45: by Brooke (new)

Brooke (brookereview) | 1 comments Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
A book that focuses on the female body & revolves around the stories of three women in Japan.
Will be published April 17, 2020


message 46: by Emma (new)

Emma | 1 comments For anyone who likes creative fantasy the Red Winter trilogy Red Winter is one of my favorites. It was such a unique idea and a very interesting mix of Japanese mythology.


message 47: by Angelina (new)

Angelina Kazuo Ishiguro some of his earlier books would work.


message 48: by Angelina (last edited Jan 02, 2020 12:06PM) (new)

Angelina The Earthquake Birdseen the film on netflix and that’s in Japan don’t know the book


message 49: by SJP_Winter (new)

SJP_Winter | 1 comments I'm currently reading Audition by Ryu Murakami


message 50: by Jenny Dahl Bakken (last edited Jan 04, 2020 02:38AM) (new)

Jenny Dahl Bakken | 34 comments Lian Hearn´s books are set in a (fictional) Japan, but clearly Japan.


« previous 1
back to top