January 2013 Wrap-Up

January has been a fun month, both on the reading and blogging side.  Of course, it has been dominated by January in Japan, but I've been reading some good non-Japanese books too - more of that next month...

Off we go then with another year of names and numbers :)

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Total Books Read: 7
Year-to-Date: 7

New: 6

Rereads: 1

From the Shelves: 4
Review Copies: 2

From the Library: 0

On the Kindle: 1

Novels: 5
Novellas: 1

Short Stories: 1

Non-English Language: 7 (2 Japanese, 2 German, French, Chinese, Russian)

In Original Language: 2 (2 German)

Aussie Author Challenge: 0 (0/3)

Japanese Literature Challenge 6: 2 (16/1) 

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Books reviewed in January were:

1) Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
2) Ukigumo by Shimei Futabatei
3) Japan's First Modern Novel - Ukigumo by Marleigh Ryan
4) Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki
5) Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words by Jay Rubin
6) The Sheep Man's Christmas by Haruki Murakami
7) Volcano by Shusaku Endo
8) The 210th Day by Natsume Soseki
9) Rivalry - A Geisha's Tale by Kafu Nagai
10) The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata
11) Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami
12) The Briefcase by Hiromi Kawakami

Tony's Turkey for January is: Nothing

While not everything was all kinds of wonderful, I enjoyed all the books I read for my event - success :)

Tony's Recommendation for January is:
Yasunari Kawabata's The Old Capital

Honourable mentions should go to Hiromi Kawakami and Shusaku Endo here, and Marleigh Ryan's non-fiction work was also fascinating.  However, The Old Capital is the kind of book that gives J-Lit its reputation, so it's only fitting that it should be my pick of the month.

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February may be a short month, but I'll have a fair number of reviews to cram into it, including one of a very big book.  And when I say a big book...

Well, you'll see ;)