My usual monthly wrap-up post, with all the links and stats for July:) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/j...

July 2026 Wrap-Up

July saw the FIFA World Cup finally draw to a close, and as the games dried up, more time became available for reading, which is always good.  The weather has also taken a turn for the colder down …

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More Natsume Sōseki on the blog - en français... My review of 'Une journée de début d’automne' (tr. Elisabeth Suetsugu), a collection of seven entertaining short pieces by the great man :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/30/u...

Anyone for knights, giants and various magical animals? Then take a look at my latest review, on the collection of Welsh stories/myths that is 'The Mabinogion' (translated by Sioned Davies): tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/t...

As we move ever closer to the end of the Tamakazura saga, today's chapter of 'The Tale of Genji' has me examining a few conversations - and a strangely loose translation... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/23/t...

Just finished a reread of Augusto Higa Oshiro's 'The Enlightenment of Katzuo Nakamatsu' (tr. Jennifer Shyue: Archipelago Books), a wonderful story of a Peruvian man's rapid decline (told in a leisurely manner) into old age - see my 2023 review here :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2023/05/11/t...

A review of a lovely book of short fiction and poetry by a J-Lit giant - my take on Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's 'Hell of Solitude' (translated by Ryan Choi, courtesy of Prototype Publishings): tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/20/h...

Another Genji-themed post today, but with a twist - my review of Lynne K. Miyake's 'The Tale of Genji through Contemporary Manga', courtesy of Bloomsbury Publishing :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/17/t...

Another review from the Dalkey Archive Press and LTI Korea Library of Korean Literature today, as I take a look at Song Sokze's 'The Amusing Life' (translated by Se-Un Kim) - more than forty short pieces that examine the lighter side of life :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/13/t...

Just enjoyed a leisurely reread of Kamal Ben Hamada's 'La compagnie des Tripolitaines' (available from Peirene Press as 'Under The Tripoli Sky' in Adriana Hunter's translation).

Time for a look at Chapter 29 of 'The Tale of Genji', 'Miyuki', in which we have a royal procession, a coming-of-age ceremony and a spot of daytime drinking with two old friends ;) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/09/t...

Around a month ago, I enjoyed a leisurely reread of Anri Yasuda's excellent 'Beauty Matters: Modern Japanese Literature and the Question of Aesthetics, 1890-1930' (link to my review in the comments).

No pigeons were harmed during the writing of this book - Can Xue's 'The Enchanting Lives of Others' (translated by Annelise Finegan, courtesy of Yale University Press), a story of love and literature ;) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/06/t...

Another evening spent perusing the latest copy of @ltikorea.bsky.social's Korean Literature Now magazine, with a focus on folk tales. Lots of enjoyable essays, reviews and original content.

The June monthly wrap-up post, with stats and links to all of last month's reviews (including the monthly pick...): tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/07/02/j...

June 2026 Wrap-Up

June, as expected, has largely been spent in front of the telly, watching grown men chasing a colourful ball around, and that has had a slight effect on my reading.  However, I’ve done my bes…

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Just enjoyed (to put it mildly) a rewatch of the film 'Shaolin Soccer', and if you've ever thought "I'd love to watch something that combines terrible dialogue, OTT kung fu sequences and a football match against an evil team on steroids", well... you know what to do ;)

Always nice when you shoot off a hopeful email, get no reply, and are then surprised by a book landing in your letterbox! Here's today's arrival, Lynne K. Miyake's 'The Tale of Genji through Contemporary Manga' (courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia), one I hope to get to before too long :)

My latest review looks at Sally O'Reilly's 'Hagtale' (courtesy of Scribe Publications), a two-strand novel that takes a new look at an old tale... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/29/h...

‘Hagtale’ by Sally O’Reilly (Review)

I’m always a little suspicious of books that draw on the work of other writers, so when Scribe Publications sent me a novel with a twist on a Shakespearean story, I was a little hesitant to g…

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Something a little spooky for #TranslationThurs as I take a look at Ueda Akinari's 1776 collection of stories, 'Tales of Moonlight and Rain' (translated by Anthony H. Chambers, published by Columbia University Press): tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/25/t...

‘Tales of Moonlight and Rain’ by Ueda Akinari (Review)

I’m extremely fortunate that the university library has a rather relaxed view of lending limits for staff (or that I borrow the kind of books nobody else wants to read…) as I’ve h…

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A fun tale about (wo)man's best friend - see my review of Virginia Woolf's 'Flush', two biographies in one, and a whole lot more :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/22/f...

Given the focus on the World Cup, it's probably not the best time to be dropping 2K words on a Genji chapter, but if you're up for a look at Chapter 28, 'Nowaki', please come this way ;) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/19/t...

My latest review looks at this year's International Booker Prize winner, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s 'Taiwan Travelogue' (translated by Lin King, review copy courtesy of Scribe Publications), a book which is not entirely as it seems :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/15/t...

Just catching up on all the "Jane Austen is too hard for teens" drama on Twitter and was reminded of when my twelve-year-old daughter casually decided to check out 'Les Misérables' after watching the film... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2019/12/07/l...

‘Les Misérables’ by Victor Hugo (Emily’s Review)

If you haven’t heard much from my little helper Emily recently, it certainly has nothing to do with her losing interest in books.  If anything, she’s been reading more than ever –…

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Next week, Biblioasis are publishing the North American edition of Jón Kalman Stefánsson's 'The Heart of Man' (tr. Philip Roughton), and I've used the occasion as an excuse to reread, and reflect (at great length!) on the whole trilogy :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/11/j...

My latest review takes a look at Han Kang's 'Light and Thread' (tr. Maya West, e.yaewon & Paige Aniyah-Morris), a collection that brings the writer's Nobel Prize speech with a selection of other texts :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/08/l...

Just misread “libros” as “litbros”

After a bit of a break, I'm back to my chapter-by-chapter Genji coverage today, with a post that's longer than the chapter it's reviewing! Join me (and Genji and Tamakazura) for Chapter 27, 'Kagaribi' ' :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/05/t...

Something a little more niche today on the blog as I take a look at Paul Gordon Schalow's 'A Poetics of Courtly Male Friendship in Heian Japan' (from @UHPRESSNEWS) - let's hear it for the boys ;) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/06/01/a...

My May Wrap-Up post - a summary of a rather lean month on the blog... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/05/31/m...

May 2026 Wrap-Up

May has been a rather trying month.  In addition to the crappy weather bringing a couple of bouts of illness with it, I was very busy at work and also had to deal with two insurance issues (a sligh…

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A business selling lingerie that helps “your spine and organs move back to where they’re supposed to be”; a girl who gets stuck in a doorway like "an uncooperative cork"; a book that starts with the end of the world; and a home flooded for a hydroelectric dam. Me on new translated fiction:

The best recent translated fiction – review roundup

Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami; All Flesh by Ananda Devi; The White Desert by Luis López Carrasco; The Home of the Drowned by Elin Anna Labba

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My final review for the month is of Shūsaku Endō's early novel 'The Sea and Poison', (translated by Michael Gallagher, published by Pushkin Press) a book that examines a doctor's involvement with some very dark acts during the Second World War... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/05/29/t...