Tiny Navajo Reads: Strange Weather in Tokyo

This was an interesting book…a short book, but the way that it was written and the context that it was given made it a harder book to read for me. But an interesting take on what it means to be alone and to be lonely.

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromo Kawakami

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Allison Markin Powell

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As stated above, this is a short book and when I first checked it out from the library, I thought that I would be able to make my way through it in a blast. That was a falsehood and a lie apparently, to myself. It took me quite a while to make my way through this book, and part of that is because of how heavy it seemed to be.

The premise of this book is about loneliness and what it means to be alone, especially if you live in a largely urban area and are surrounded by people all the time. But just because you are surrounded by people all the time doesn’t mean you know who they are or what they are doing or anything that would constitute knowing a person. So, when Tsukiko, our main character, runs into her old high school teacher at a local bar, she starts up a conversion with him, just as a person would if you saw someone you know and you can’t get away with NOT acknowledging them. As they continue to talk and to get to know each other at the bar, they move from just people who acknowledge each other at the bar, to actually getting to know each other as friends, tentatively and slowly, as though not to spook the other.

As they continue to meet up and talk and eat and drink together, the seasons of the year also progress, with something significant happening and changing along with them, until Tsukiko and her Sensei form an intimate relationship, one that isn’t quite seen as normal, as Sensei is 30 years older than Tsukiko. But the thing about being lonely and being alone, is that once you’ve found a similar soul, who knows the aches and pains on loneliness, then you are loath to let that person go. And even if you’re willing to let that person go, it doesn’t mean that they let go of you. We see Tsukiko and Sensei struggle and glide through figuring out their relationship, not only with each other but with the world, what it means to have found someone who understands the loneliness.

While a short book (157 pages), it is a long story. The writing style and topic chosen to be scrutinized doesn’t lend itself to a quick read. Sometimes that is what is needed to better understand the story, to read it at the speed that the story demands, and not what you demand.

How do you cope with loneliness? Or with trying to read a story quickly that demands a bit more introspection?

Tiny Navajo Reads: The Girl Who Reads on the Metro

This was…a choice I made. I will admit, the title of the book pulled me in than I thought it would. But it shouldn’t have surprised me, books and reading and bookstores tend to be my favorite types of books to read. But here we go!

The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury

The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury

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Like I stated above, I like books about books, reading, bookstores, libraries, things like that. And when a book has that just on its front cover, I’m most likely going to read it! Very rarely do I not read it. This one, I probably could have skipped reading though.

For Juliette, our main character, she lives a perfectly normal life with a perfectly normal job and trying to just make it through life like a lot of us. She loves her commute though, her ride on the metro where she gets to read and daydream about the others on her commute and they’re reading and what their lives are like.

I think the main reason why this book didn’t strike as hard with me as other books about books and bookstores have is because of the characters themselves. Juliette, Soliman, Zaide, while they all have interesting characteristics, they don’t feel like people, or characters even. They feel more like vehicles for the story, more than anything else. There’s no real life, or feeling, or like there’s anything really going on in their lives. But if there is not going to be a lot going on plot-wise, which I don’t mind(!) mind you, there better be more going on character development wise. Which there was not. The story, the idea, was there…execution was not able to support and follow up though. Which makes me a little sad.

Stories like this, where I can see the story and how fun it could have been, make me want to write my own stories. but I know that I won’t get to that point, so I just read and enjoy what I can. And daydream about writing my own story that is inspired by stories I read that just fall a little flat.

What stories make you want to write your own? Why do they make you want to write your own?

Tiny Navajo Reads: Shutter

Hey guys! We’re about half way through spooky month now, and with that I have a spooky book to review. At least, it’s spooky to me, and it’s one written by a Diné author, so that’s even cooler to me!

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

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When I first saw this book at my local Barnes & Noble, what drew me in was that it was orange cover of the book. And then reading the blurb, the fact that it was a thriller written by a Diné author who is a crime scene photographer was even cooler!

Rita is haunted, like, literally haunted by the ghosts that she sees and photographs. Only, no one else can see them, and those that believe her believe that what she does and what she see is taboo. Something that she shouldn’t be messing with, or dealing in her career. The only thing about that is she feels she really can’t do anything else because of what she sees and what she likes doing.

But just because she can see the dead doesn’t mean that she is safe from them. When the latest supposed suicide victim realizes that Rita can see her and hear her, she makes Rita’s life a living hell and demands that she solves her murder. She latches onto Rita and shows other ghosts how to do that as well, so that Rita has to do what this ghost says, or else risk being driven insane.

As Rita does what she can, with the limited resources she has, she realizes that what she’s gotten herself into is much bigger than expected and may lead to her own death next if she isn’t careful.

Rita is a character that holds a lot of sorrow as well as a lot of grief. She was raised by her grandmother on Navajo Nation, and while she had a loving home for a while, Rita’s ability led her to be driven from Navajo Nation. I felt for her in a number of ways, and I hoped that she would be able to do what she needed to do, not only for herself, but for the ghost that latched onto her. Which may sound interesting, but when you see what actually happens to Rita as this ghost continues to haunt her, it’s terrifying and you hope that Rita can escape.

I enjoyed this book overall, and glad to see more Diné authors are being published. I can’t wait to see what Ramona Emerson writes next.

What sorts of spooky stories do you like to read? Do you read more of them during spooky season, or do you read them year round?

Tiny Navajo Reads: The Reading List

My dudes! It’s time for another book review and some general excitement about the Fall weather coming! So I actually have the energy to write up a book review! Let’s go!!!

It’s also Banned Books Week, and while the book I am reviewing is not a banned book, there are books in your local library that are being banned. I’ll have resources listed below you can read through about how to help with book banning at your local library.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

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I’m not much for contemporary fiction, or literary fiction in general. I like to escape my normal world, and reading books that are too similar to this one are not the way to do that for me. But, every one in a while, something will come up that will grab my attention and say “You have to read this!” Rare, but when it hits, it will not let go. This was such a book.

The Reading List is about a reading list (duh) and how it’s able to change the life of two specific people, and others around them. It starts with Aleisha, a teenager who works as a circulation clerk at her small local library, a library with very little interaction and thus the possibility of closing down should its numbers stay low. The fear of almost every small library branch. The other is Mukesh, a widower who’s life has become very small since his wife died.

As the books on this particular list are passed around throughout the community, they start to lead to escape and to change and to helping others. This list allows for Mukesh to make friends with Aleisha. It allows Mukesh to connect more with his granddaughter who loved to read with her grandmother before she passed. And it revitalizes the small community library, as people start to realize that a lot of what they were looking for was extremely close to them. And all it took, was a book.

From Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom:

This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.

Now, what happens when a book you love is banned though? What can you do to help libraries that are being targeted for no real reason? And how can you show support for the librarians and teachers who are doing their best to make sure your children are well educated for the world?

You can share the books you love on social media that are being banned, stating why you love them and why you think they should be read. You can show up at your local library or school board meetings and respectfully share why you think these books should be allowed in libraries and schools. Follow your local library on social media, and show up for their events to show how much the library is needed. Go to Fight Censorship for more ideas and resources on how to challenge book bans.

You can also go to Get Involved on the ALA website to see more ideas of how you can get involved. I used to work in a public library, and I know that it may seem daunting or overwhelming, or you just feel like there’s nothing you can do. But there is a lot you can do, and much of it is small things that you can do quickly. Even just letting your librarian or library workers know that you appreciate all that they do is small but highly impactful. But read through the links above, and just educate yourself on what’s going on locally and see how you can help. Even if it’s just a small thing.

What’s a banned book you’ve read? Why did you read it? What did you get from it?

Tiny Navajo Reads: Qualityland

I’m actually writing this on time! So excited! Anyway, this book is interesting. The cover caught my eye back in October of last year in a indie bookshop I was visiting with my mom, and when I actually read the inside cover, it sounded like something that could possibly happen in our time. So, thought I’d give it a try. Here’s Qualityland.

Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling

Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling

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Okay, while I did get this book back in October, I didn’t read it till this past May. And it was an interesting book, it’s about a where the algorithm rules all as it is the perfect algorithm. This leads to everything from a universal ranking system, to automated matchmaking, to deliveries you never order just showing up at your doorstep because the algorithm says it must be so. For one man, Peter Jobless, once he gets something that he does not want and did not order, he tries to return it.

Have you ever tried returning something that you did not want and the company you’re trying to return it to just gave you the runaround and you finally said, “Fuck it!” and just either tossed it or donated it or it’s just living in your closet somewhere? Well, this is basically what he happened to with with TheShop. There is no way to really do returns, as there is no reason to return purchases, because TheShop and the Algorithm are perfect. What happens next is not necessarily a grand adventure, but a journey to return an unwanted product, with a whole set of characters who are also told they are no longer relevant and thus should be scrapped or left behind.

While a good book and a terrifying look at the possibly future where a big box shop takes over everyone’s life, it didn’t really stay with me after I was done reading it. I has originally rated this at 5 stars, but trying to remember what the book was about knocked it back down to 3 stars for me. Still good, but not mind-blowing. I still recommend you read it, but not one that you necessarily have to.

Have you thought about what happens when your every move and order and thought are tracked? What do you think this will mean for the future as technology becomes more and more pervasive?

Tiny Navajo Reads: Poison for Breakfast

Hey guys! I hope that today is a good day and that you are enjoying the summer now that it has made its way here to the Northern Hemisphere. I know that I’m enjoying the summer and the warmth that it is bringing after the cold winter and cooler spring. We’ve had a lot of rain recently, so it’s been cooler than I’m used to, but I see that as a good thing for this summer. Hopefully.

Anyway, onto the review for this week! And I’m only a little bit late!

Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

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This was definitely a Lemony Snicket book. He has a very distinctive writing voice and style of writing, and when I saw this at my local Barnes and Noble and read the first few pages, I decided it needed to come home with me. Part of that is because I hadn’t read a Lemony Snicket in a long long time, and the idea of you being alerted to the fact that you had eaten poison for breakfast was an interesting one.

That is the whole thing, that Lemony Snicket gets a note saying “You’ve had poison for breakfast,” and he then spends the rest of the day trying to figure out what part of his breakfast was poisoned. He walks to where he gets his bread, his eggs, his pears, his honey and tea, and the water for the tea and how things go at those places and what he thinks of those places.

Normally, I would highly enjoy a book like this, the small idea of someone taking poison for breakfast and trying to figure out how you took it is interesting. Lemony Snicket’s way of writing didn’t really do it for me. I will say that while reading this book, I fell asleep at several points. I read this over a couple of days and I would just fall asleep while reading this! And I don’t normally fall asleep while reading books. At least, I haven’t done that in years! Not just the falling asleep though, I’m not a big a fan of his writing voice and style as I used to be. But an interesting premise!

Are there authors that you’ve grown out of? Why do you think you grew out of them if you did?

Tiny Navajo Reads: Convenience Store Woman

Okay, hands up, this is one of the more unique translated books I’ve read in a bit…did not expect it to go the way I thought it would but it is a good book still. Anyway, onto the review.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

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Again, this was a book I saw floating around on tumblr and it had sounded interesting enough that when I found a copy for cheap, I bought it. And it was interesting. It very much didn’t go the way that I was expecting, but I liked that it still held my attention and brought attention to how people think if those who work in convenience stores in Japan from both sides.

Our main character is Keiko Furukura, a woman in her 30s-ish, who has worked at a convenience store for the last 17 years and she has no desire to find a different job or to do things that would be considered “normal” for other woman her age, which usually consists of marrying and having children. She lives for the convenience store and for making sure that the store runs smoothly. Yet all other other women around her are doing just that.

So, to get people off her back about her not doing the “normal” things, such as having a male partner, Keiko decides to do just that. She “hooks up” with an former male co-worker, who is just the worst, and suddenly all those around her who seemed to support her desire to continue working at the convenience store are congratulating her on doing something “normal” and she doesn’t quite understand why this makes everyone around her so happy.

I will stop there on explaining the story and go a bit more in-depth on the character of Keiko herself and how she seems to present to me. She seems, and I am no expert, this is just my opinion, to present as on the autistic scale, and her “normal,” where she fits in best and be her best self is not what is considered “normal” by the rest of the world. She thought the way she was trying to fit in by mimicing those around her a little bit was helping her fit into a “normal” that everyone considered that, but once she starts doing “normal” things, she finds that she has not direction in life and she doesn’t know what to do with herself anymore. And it makes her so unhappy. That is what really struck me was just how much social norms kind of suck, trying to make everyone into something that is all the same, but it doesn’t work. Everyone’s normal, and how they fit into this chaotic, hectic world of ours, is gonna be different. There is no harm in difference, as long as you’re not hurting someone else at the same time. Let people be themselves and maybe we’ll all just be a little bit better off.

What is your “normal”? And how do you make that fit in with the social norms we all seem to need to conform to?

Tiny Navajo Reads: Amelia Unabridged

Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher

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*Published February 16, 2021 by Wednesday Books*

The cover of this book is what really drew me in, it is dark and evocative and I needed to know what was going on!

Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher

Sparks fly between two teens as they grapple with grief, love, and the future.

Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the young and reclusive prodigy N. E. Endsley. They’re the books that brought her and her best friend Jenna together after Amelia’s father left and her family imploded. So when Amelia and Jenna get the opportunity to attend a book festival with Endsley in attendance, Amelia is ecstatic. It’s the perfect way to start off their last summer before college.

In a heartbeat, everything goes horribly wrong. When Jenna gets a chance to meet the author and Amelia doesn’t, the two have a blowout fight like they’ve never experienced. And before Amelia has a chance to mend things, Jenna is killed in a freak car accident. Grief-stricken, and without her best friend to guide her, Amelia questions everything she had planned for the future.

When a mysterious, rare edition of the Orman Chronicles arrives, Amelia is convinced that it somehow came from Jenna. Tracking the book to an obscure but enchanting bookstore in Michigan, Amelia is shocked to find herself face-to-face with the enigmatic and handsome N. E. Endsley himself, the reason for Amelia’s and Jenna’s fight and perhaps the clue to what Jenna wanted to tell her all along.

This is a bittersweet book and story. I can completely feel for Amelia, when she wants, no dreams of meeting the author of her favourite book series, N.E. Endsley. But when her chance is denied, she’s upset, obviously. It’s not till she finds out that her best friend and life-line since they met at a bookstore when they were younger, Jenna, met with N.E. Endsley right before he cancelled his book signing, that things turn sour and mad between Amelia and Jenna. Then Jenna leaves for Ireland for a workstudy/study abroad before they are to start college in the Fall, without them really patching things up. It’s then that Amelia learns that Jenna was killed in a car crash in Ireland, and now they can really never make up. Grief kind of destroys Amelia for a while until she gets a mysterious package from an bookstore in Michigan that she didn’t order. When she sees that it’s a special edition of the Orman Chronicles, she decides to head up to Michigan to see what she can find out about this special edition.

Once there she finds that there is a lot more going on than just a mysterious package. And it there in Michigan that she finds N.E. Endsley as well. This blows Amelia’s mind, but also reminds her that Jenna got to meet him before her death. With all the emotions and memories and “what if’s” running through her head, it takes Amelia a while in order to start piecing things together. Part of that is just learning about this new area, and part of it is learning about how to deal with the grief of never seeing or talking to her friend again. As Amelia starts to make friends with Nolan and everyone else she meets in Michigan, she starts to learn that while the life plan that Jenna had set up for them to go to the same college, for Amelia to become a college professor in English (a steady job, unlike photography), that that idea isn’t quite what Amelia wanted. But how does she reconcile what she wants with what her friend and her parents are kind of decided would happen, especially now that she is the one left alive to carry on the plan?

Love, grief, pain, and learning how to heal are all topics touched on in this story. It’s about finding the life that you are meant to live, and not living the life that has been laid out for you with all the good intentions of the world. It’s about learning to lean on others for support and learning that you can’t always hide away parts of yourself, even if you feel like you need to. This is story that I’ll say you should look towards reading if just to try and process your own grief, or learn what grief can do to a person. And it is a sweet story with bitter elements, so I would recommend this book in general. What are some bittersweet stories that you have read? What brought them to your attention? Comment below and let me know! You never know when you need a bittersweet story.

Tiny Navajo Listens: The Switch

The Switch by Beth O’Leary, narrated by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Alison Steadman

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*Published August 8, 2020 by Macmillan Audio*

I have read Beth O’Leary’s other book, The Flatshare and I really enjoyed that one, so I decided to give this one a go as well, especially as an audiobook.

The Switch by Beth O’Leary, narrated by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Alison Steadman

A grandmother and granddaughter swap lives in The Switch, a charming, romantic novel by Beth O’Leary.

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some long-overdue rest.

Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.

So they decide to try a two-month swap.

Eileen will live in London and look for love. She’ll take Leena’s flat, and learn all about casual dating, swiping right, and city neighbors. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire: Eileen’s sweet cottage and garden, her idyllic, quiet village, and her little neighborhood projects.

But stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected. Will swapping lives help Eileen and Leena find themselves…and maybe even find true love? In Beth O’Leary’s The Switch, it’s never too late to change everything….or to find yourself.

Boy oh boy…there is only so much you can do before your body starts to shut down and you are forced to take care of yourself before anything else. For Leena though, this is something she doesn’t want to think about. She doesn’t want to have to rest, or take care of herself, or let herself think of anything but work because then she’ll have to think of her sister and the fact that she died a year ago. So, when Leena fails at a presentation for a big client, her boss forces her to take a two month sabbatical in order to rest, relax, and Not. Think. Of. Work. Leena is not right pleased, but there isn’t much she can do about it, so she takes the time. First thing she really does is go to visit her grandmother, who she hasn’t seen or visited in a while. It’s there that Leena discovers that Eileen is trying to find love once again, seeing as her husband up and left her after 50(?) years. It’s then that Leena and Eileen have a genius idea; they shall switch places and lives (as best they can) for the next two months.

This sounds like some of the craziest Freaky Friday mix ups there ever could be, but for Leena and Eileen, it makes sense. Leena needs a break not only from work, but from London. She needs to spend time recalibrating essentially in order to get her life back in some semblance of order. And Eileen isn’t going to find anyone for love and adventure in her small Yorkshire village, so why not try London? See how it goes?

This truly is a loveable book with characters that feel real. I can see some of Leena in myself, but I can also see bits of Eileen in me too, which I think is brilliant! We watch both women find out what it is they want in life, and see how much their lives are not what they want them to be. They both reach out and start to do what they want to do as well as what they need to do in order to figure out what will make them happiest.

Now, I don’t know if this is just something that Beth O’Leary is all about, but with both books that I’ve read so far, the female main characters have had really crappy relationships. They just…get caught up with the wrong men and it’s bad…granted, this is also real life. Men and women get caught up in bad relationships all the time. What I like though is that Beth O’Leary makes sure her characters start to recognize that the relationships they are in are crap, and that there are better people out there for them.

All in all, I would say that while I do enjoy The Flatshare more, I do love The Switch as well. It is cute, fluffy, and it does touch on some serious subjects without being too overbearing either. Beth O’Leary writes well, and I know that she has a new book out now called The Road Trip, but that one sounds like there would be sooooo much second hand embarrassment in it…but I’m also curious, so I may just need to check that one as well and let you all know what I think. Who are some authors that seem to be becoming your automatic must reads? Or, at least, automatic check them out? Comment below and let me know! I’m always looking for new books and authors to read!

Tiny Navajo Listens: The Flatshare

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary, narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher and Kwaku Fortune

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*Published May 28, 2019 by Macmillan Audio*

TW: GASLIGHTING, EMOTIONAL ABUSE, STALKING

I listened to this a second time and it’s just as cute the second time as it was the first time!

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

Tiffy and Leon share a flat

Tiffy and Leon share a bed

Tiffy and Leon have never met…

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

I love this adorable book! It’s just so great and I love how real all the characters are! Tiffy is in desperate need to leave her ex-boyfriend’s apartment, FAST! Things are not going well in that department and she realizes that she needs to get away from that environment. The only two apartments she’s able to afford where she needs them in London are a rat-trap that is absolutely terrifying, or a flatshare where she will be in the apartments nights and weekends, and her flatmate will be in during the day from 9.00 to 5.00. It sounds perfect and just what she needs, even if it means sharing the same bed with someone she has never seen or met.

Leon needs the money to pay for his brother’s lawyer in order to get him out of jail for a crime he didn’t commit. It’s costing an extra 650 a month and when he gets the idea to rent out his flat for that much, he figures “why not?” and so he and Tiffy start living “together.” Tiffy starts to remember things that she didn’t before, she starts to realize that she is starting to figure who she is again, and Tiffy is becoming more the person she was.

For Leon, it is weird to share his flat with someone who is not his girlfriend especially as Tiffy seems to take over his apartment just a little bit. More than a little bit actually, but as he gets used to seeing all of Tiffy’s stuff in his place, and all the notes that they start to leave each other around the apartment, he gets used to having Tiffy in his life, but not in his life.

I really really love this audiobook, it’s adorable and I love the narrator for Tiffy and Leon, I can actually hear how much Leon and Tiffy respond to each other in the way they narrate the other person in their perspective chapters. They start off a bit hesitant and awkward, but the more post-its they leave for each other and get to know each other through their notes, the more they start to warm up to each other and be friends with each other.

This overall leads to their relationship actually working when they start to fall for each other. Those are the best relationships in my opinion, are the ones that have a foundation of friendship first. And I love that Leon kind of knows what Tiffy is going through, only if because he has seen it with his mother. And so while he may fully understand all the things that Tiffy is going through, he does know that she is trying to get better from the emotional and psychological abuse she suffered at her ex-boyfriend’s hands.

I love this audiobook and will probably listen to it again when I want a lovely little story full of fluff and tropes. You should read it as well!