Recos Corner: June Books

I have a bit of an issue with buying books… and because I moved so much in the 16 months, I have quite a few books that have literally travelled the globe (from North America to Europe to Asia). I also have a habit of starting a book and somewhat abandon them, not because they are not good, but simply because I get easily distracted.

Since I am going to travel so much in the up coming year, I decided to finish as many books as possible in January. Recos Corner will include both reading and audio books, and I will try to stay away from the synopsis of book as those can easily be google-able. I like to a variety of different genres of books and will try to offer a few options for the monthly recommendation.

This month’s theme: Summer Thrillers

Note: I am publish this one earlier since I’m working on a special project that will debut in a few days.

Mystery Arena

Keiichiro Fukami

This was a random buy from a bookstore but it was listed as one of the best mystery books sold that year. It is a quick read and a mind boggling in term of format - ah, don’t we just love Japanese authors with their unique style? But if you enjoy short format mysteries, this is very similar in that style and opens your mind about creativity in word play like nothing you’ve read before. I read the traditional Chinese version, so I’m not sure when or if it will be published in English but if you can read Japanese or traditional Chinese, this is a fun read for the summer.

1Q84

Haruki Murakami

This Japanese novel is completely opposite of my previous recommendation. It is well-known internationally, translated into 46 languages, and is a slow 1100+ pages read. However, it is a slow addiction once you pick it up. To this day I cannot explain exactly what the plot is but it involves mysteries, fantasies, cults, and you will feel deeply related to certain parts of the characters even though it seems like you are nothing like them. I’m not the biggest fan of Murakami, but if you have the patience to get through the first 200-300 pages you will slowly get into the world of Murakami, or rather 1Q84.