Welcome!

I’m learning Japanese, Korean and Chinese to be able to read books in these languages. I mostly read crime fiction and post book reviews here. They are mainly reviews of mystery novels that I read in Japanese.

Reading projects:

  • I started two reading projects recently. The first one, started in January 2022, is to read all the winners of the Mystery Writers of Japan Award. A lot of books are sadly out of print and not available digitally, so I have to skip them, but I plan on reading all the ones I can buy from outside Japan.
  • In 2023, I got the collection called 『日本探偵小説全集』, an anthology of 12 volumes of Japanese detective fiction. I’m progressing slowly on this one, but my goal is to finish the 12 books (this might take me several years!).
  • In order to improve my reading level in Korean, I’ve decided to read one short story per week.
  • I’m also progressing very slowly on a Taiwanese novel that I plan on reading over the course of 2023.

I’m not on Twitter anymore, but you can follow me on Mastodon if you want! Here are my latest posts in the Fediverse:

I’m continuing the collection of linked stories called 냉장고와 넷플릭스 (Refrigerator and Netflix) by 홍지운 (Hong Jiun), and in the second story, one character is obsessed by the Ghibli films since they’ve been added to Netflix. I felt like this happened very recently (like this year), but checking it out, it was in February 2020! #Korean #ReadingChallenge

3 October 2023 @ 7:26 am

We visited Dondeokjeon (돈덕전) a Western-style building in Deoksu Palace (덕수궁) that was built during the Korean Empire, but demolished in the 30s. The building has been reconstructed and just opened to the public.#3GoodThings
🆓 The entry to Deoksu Palace was free today so no need to queue up to buy a ticket.
🗺️ There were exhibition rooms inside the building about the diplomatic activities of the Korean Empire. It was very interesting!
🌳 The park is lovely and the weather was nice.

2 October 2023 @ 1:30 pm

#3GoodThings
🍂 I’m just happy that it’s October today! Autumn months are my favourite time of the year.
🍃 And there was a nice cool wind outside, so walking 10,000 steps actually felt refreshing.
📖 I finished a book!

1 October 2023 @ 12:33 pm

Currently Reading

  • Cover of 寝台特急殺人事件. The cover illustration is a picture of a train wagon taken at night. There is a logo on the train that represents a blue bird with the name はやぶさ written on it.
    寝台特急殺人事件 by Kyotaro Nishimura (西村京太郎)
  • Cover of 김대리가 죽었대. The cover illustration depicts a city with tall buildings at night or dawn. There are lights on several floors.
    김대리가 죽었대 by 서경희

I have been writing this blog since 2017, and it has changed a lot over the years. I now focus entirely on writing book reviews, but I used to write about learning Japanese in general and passing the JLPT. You can find older posts and discontinued categories here:

Mastodon