Review #713: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“I have a million things to talk to you about. All I want in this world is you. I want to see you and talk. I want the two of us to begin everything from the beginning.”

----Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami, the international bestselling Japanese writer, has penned a heartbreaking coming-of-age young love story in his book called, Norwegian Wood that reads like listening to a sad, sad song about two young hearts beating for one another, yet separated by hopelessness and pain and where the readers know that they are never destined to be together, yet grasps on to that torturing pain of their longing for another till the very end, until an unpredictable tragic climax will shatter the millions of hearts reading or listening to this tale along with the protagonist. Yet the readers will keep reading/listening to this sorrowful yet enlightening tale of love on repeat till the end of time.

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Review #623: Blue Light Yokohama (Inspector Iwata, #1) by Nicolás Obregón

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“The rain that fell on the city runs down the dark gutters and empties into the sea without even soaking the ground”

----Haruki Murakami

Nicolás Obregón, a British-Spanish author, has penned his debut nail-biting and page-turning thriller, Blue Light Yokohama which is the first book in a brilliantly epic crime fiction series, Inspector Iwata . A tough Tokyo cop is assigned on a second hand case, of the brutal murder of a family of four in their own home with only one clue of a painting of a black sun, alongside an assistant lady detective, together who unravel lots of mysteries surrounding the Japanese culture, the in house corruption in the police department and their broken pasts, the ghosts of which are now coming alive. So despite of the resistance from his seniors, the tough cop is hard bend to catch the killer before the killer strikes again or before he is kicked out of the force.

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Review #607: Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist, #1) by Renee Ahdieh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”

----Abraham Lincoln

Renee Ahdieh, an American bestselling author, is back with another enthralling young adult dystopian-cum-fantasy series called, Flame in the Mist and the first book in the series with the same title opens with the life and challenges of a rebellious Japanese teenage heroine, who, when attempted to murder by a group of Robin Hood-styled bandits, escapes both her fate of getting married to her betrothed and her fate of getting slaughtered by a group of men, instead she breaks in into that group of bandits by cross-dressing as a man.

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Review #545: The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.”

----James Herriot

Takashi Hiraide, a Japanese writer, has penned a soul touching and thoroughly captivating tale about a cat and a couple's relationship in his book, The Guest Cat that is centered around a mid aged couple who are freelance writers and work from their rented cottage and lead a very quite and uneventful life, but one day their life brings purpose as an uninvited as well as the neighbor's cat lands up to their kitchen and starts visiting their household religiously everyday and gradually brings joy and happiness to their quiet life. Although happiness is long lived in this couple's life, as a tragic event shakes them to their very core.

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Review #498: Malice (Kyoichiro Kaga series, #4) by Keigo Higashino

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Because teachers, no matter how kind, no matter how friendly, are sadistic and evil to the core.”

----Heather Brewer

Keigo Higashino, the most popular and biggest selling Japanese fiction author, has penned an intriguing thriller, Malice that is the fourth book in the detective Kyoichiro Kaga series. This book revolves around the murder of a bestselling author right before he was going to leave Japan with his new wife to Canada and also right before the publication of his another book. The infamous detective soon arrives in the crime scene, and within few days he suspects the best friend of the author to be the killer behind the author's death.

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Review #349: Up From The Sea by Leza Lowitz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"In this dangerous world that we live in, where hatred and violence and natural disasters sometimes collide to almost overwhelm us, we each can help in some way. "

----Marsha Blackburn

Leza Lowitz, an American author residing in Tokyo, pens her new YA verse novel, Up From the Sea that narrates the story of a young football-aspiring-dreams Japanese teenage boy whose happy life washes away by the roaring tsunami on March 2011, devastating not only his dreams but uprooting his life from his village, thereby losing his whole family. But this is not a story about grief, this is a story which tells the readers how to survive the overwhelming pain, and stand strong against all odds. Moreover, this book also highlights the benefits and value of unity and kindness during a natural disaster.

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Review #62: The Cherry Blossom Murder by Fran Pickering

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A medley of Takarazuka Revue and an enthralling treasure of a Japanese dynasty spurs a murder of a young woman-- Intriguing and really very captivating!

Before beginning my review, I'd like to mention about Takarazuka Revue, since The Cherry Blossom Murder by Fran Pickering revolves around the world of Takarazuka Revue in Japan. Don't worry; it's similar like Broadway, except the actresses only take part in those lavish and gorgeous plays. In Takarazuka Revue, women form fan club of particular actresses who are hired under contract with so many clauses like no Takarazuka Revue actress can get married while they are serving under the contract period, etc.

Synopsis:
Josie Clark, an English woman, leaves behind her home in England for a job in Japan. But that was few years ago, now Josie has a bff, Keiko, works in an insurance company, AZT, and spends their hobby of attending Tammy's shows at Takarazuka Revue. But on one such show in Takarazuka Revue, a young girl, named, Mai-Chan ends up dead under a Cherry Blossom tree just right outside Takarazuka Revue. Feeling betrayed by the police for not doing Mai-Chan's murder investigation, she dons the hat of a sleuth and rolls up her sleeves to start a proper investigation with her boss, Mr. Tanaka. She comes up across so many suspects from Takarazuka Revue's manager, Ms. Kato to the actress, Tammy to Mai-Chan's childhood bestie, Sumiko. And also she comes across a deadly and a very gorgeous treasure at Takarazuka Revue which belong to a long-forgotten dynasty of Japan and vows to protect the treasure with all her heart and mind. It's the day of Annual Fireworks Display day at Japan, and things are getting little out of control for Josie in the basement of Takarazuka Revue. Who is killer? What is the killer's motive? Is it the treasure or some personal grudge? Read this book, to unlock these mysteries.

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