September Wrap up – What I Read this Month

If last time we've been talking about TV shows and movies (posthere), today we talk about September books. The first autumn month has been a bit quiet from a reading point of view, there three books and two manga I'd like to talk about, and a few of them have been lovely finds.

Image source

Strange Weather in Tokyo, Hiromi Kawakami

I talked about this book in a proper post, that you can find here. It was the first book from this writer I was reading, and although it's not the book of the year, I enjoyed it. It is a delicate, sweet love story: the main character Tsukiko, a woman in her late 30s, one day accidentally meets her previous high school teacher. Day after day they meet at the local bar, share a drink and small talk, and day after day Tsukiko develops a feeling of deep affection for her Sensei. Will he feel the same for his previous student?

Image source

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Haruki Murakami

Another book by a Japanese author, one I know and love already this time. My all time favourite book by Murakami has to be 1Q84, but also Norwegian Wood. I bought “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” without doubting for a second about the quality of this book, and I was right. Although it is not my favourite from the author I still enjoyed it so much and really suggest its reading if you like his writings.

Main character is Tsukuru Tazaki, a train station engineer who lives in Tokyo. His life is quiet and simple, he likes his job, he is dating a girl. His past though, hides a painful secret. Because Tsukuru, in his college years, used to be part of a group of five friends, so close they could never picture their lives without the others. Funnily enough, all of his friends have a surname whose part is the word of a color: Eri Kurono (Kuro=black), Yukuki Shirane (Shiro=white), Kei Akamatsu (Aka=red) and Yoshio Oumi (Ao=blue). Tsukuru adores his friends, all of whom has a characteristic making them unique, and compared to them Tsukuro, with his quiet attitude and standard features, feels “colorless”. Especially because his surname doesn't have any color in it.

One day his friends, for a reason they didn't want to explain, decide to exclude Tsukuru from their group. They call him and clearly tell him they don't want to hear from him anymore. Over 10 years after, the girl Tsukuru is dating pushes him to get in touch with his previous friends and clarify the old grudge, or he will always have a heavy stone on his heart that will never allow him to really live happily. Tsukuru then goes back to his birth town, and one by one, visits his old friends, to ask them what happened long ago, even if that means reopening old, painful wounds.

I loved it, and I really suggest this reading.

Image source

Fairytales on the Phone, Gianni Rodari

I then decided to read this book by one of the most beloved childhood Italian writers. When I was in school I read a few books by Gianni Rodari, but never this one, which is a colleciton of very short fairytales and other stories. The incipit of the book is that a very busy dad uses to tell his little daughter some fairytales before she goes to sleep, but as he works so much sometimes he cannost be at home. Those days, he phones home, and quickly tells his daughter a fairy tale. For this reason all the tales of the book are very short, but not less beautiful and enjoyable, for little and big ones.

And now, two manga I read this month, one a true classic I should have read long ago, the other a 1 volume little gem I am forever grateful to have found.

Image source

She and her Cat, Makoto Shinkai

This beautiful 1 Volume story stole my heart. It is the lovely, delicate story of a girl and her cat, as the title says. The story is narrated from the cat himself, who is adopted by the girl when he is a kitten during a rainy spring day. He adores his master, and its him telling us her life, her worries, her joys, as the girl, who just finished school, went to live by herself and started to work. Living alone, the stress at work and little family issues make her feel sad, but Chobi is on her side, and will never leave her. A wonderful story of friendship and love, suggested especially if you are cat lovers like me!

Image source

Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi

And my last reading of the month, a true classic that I am almost ashamed to say I never read before. Inuyasha is one of the most famous work by Rumiko Takahashi, and even stones know its story: Inuyasha is a half demon looking for the shikon no tama, fragments of a powerful jewel, that might give him the possibility to become a full demon. Obviously everybody is looking for this mystic jewel, and in his wonder Inuyasha is accompanied by a bunch of friends/fellow travellers, like Kagome, a normal girl who one day falls in her house well and finds herself back in time, when Inuyasha lived. Kagome is the reincarnation of the priestess who was in charge of purifying the powerful jewel and make sure it didn't fell in wrong hands, but died trying to protect it. Kagome mistakenly breaks the jewel in many fragments, and she, together with Inuyasha, will need to collect them all and take good care of it. Other funny and unpredictable characters will join them during their pilgrimage, and a powerful enemy ready to do anything in order to obtain the shikon no tama.

And so, those are my September readings! Much less than what I am used to, but its fine, I enjoyed all of my readings and I am looking forward for my October ones. Very soon I'll post the list of all the books I am planning to read this autumn, so stay tuned.

If you read some of these books and liked them please let me know. Also, share your most recent readings with me, I am always looking for suggestions!

Talking to you very soon, until then, take care

M