Tuesday Scribbles #6

Leaving Tokyo behind to enter The Dream House

Thank you to everyone who came to Cavewoman Wines or joined online to talk about Strange Weather in Tokyo (les années douces en français). It was definitely a slow-burner of a book, which some of us appreciated more than others. The delicious descriptions of food were much appreciated, Sensei’s patronising head pats, less so. We admired Tsukiko for not conforming to society’s expectations of women and living on her own terms. Also, the book has been turned into a graphic novel (available in French).

Reading recommendations from the community

• Rachel’s recommendation, Terminal Boredom sounds explosive. Short stories + sci-fi.

• The Woman in the Purple Skirt. Alix’s review: “strange but good”.

• Katrina’s recommendation The Decagon House Murders: Students from a university mystery club decide to visit an island which was the site of a grisly multiple murder the year before. Predictably, they get picked off one by one by an unseen murderer.

• Tiffany’s recommendation, The Miracles of the Namiya General Store features three delinquents and some magical realism.

• If you’re looking for something a little more gruesome, Jennifer recommended Dark Water, a haunting collection of short stories, also adapted into a film.

• I would recommend Lonely Castle in the Mirror, a tender story that brings together seven teenagers with nothing in common, in the magical setting of a fairytale castle.

March Book Club

In March we will read In The Dream House, Lara’s suggestion, which has been translated into several languages.

“Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman, Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she was becoming. And it's that struggle that gives the book its original structure: each chapter is driven by its own narrative trope—the haunted house, erotica, the bildungsroman—through which Machado holds the events up to the light and examines them from different angles. She looks back at her religious adolescence, unpacks the stereotype of lesbian relationships as safe and utopian, and widens the view with essayistic explorations of the history and reality of abuse in queer relationships.”

Register for the in-person session.

Thanks for reading. See you soon, Lou xx