Summer reading

In my June mailing from SYA (which I received weeks late, thanks to a certain mother of mine withholding from me the fact of its existence...)I received information about summer reading that they suggest should be completed before I go to Japan in the Fall. Although they only sent suggestions, not requirements, I took these on as a personal quest! I was very happy to see so many familiar names in the suggested authors of fiction. Murakami Haruki, Yoshimoto Banana, Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio, Natsume Soseki, Sei Shonagon, and Murasaki Shikibu. For those of you who were in Japan bowl with me last year, you will probably realize, just as I did, that we studied every single person on this list! It seems that Sensei and SYA have the same ideas of who is important in Japanese literature. haha. They also suggested some specific non-fiction books for people who just didn't know where to begin (such as myself) when it comes to picking a book about Japanese culture. So, having some money in my pocket from a job I recently completed, I went to the book store, ecstatic to finally have a reason to buy a Murakami Haruki book! Three book stores and $30 later, I have enough reading to keep me occupied for about a month. I got Hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world by Murakami Haruki (I am about a third of the way into this one, and it is amazing!), I am a Cat by Natsume Soseki (this book is A LOT longer than I thought it would be...), and Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan by Bruce Feiler (one of the non-fiction books they suggested). I am so excited to have so much to do, but I still don't feel like it's enough! Hopefully I can read these books quickly and get some more to read, I want to be prepared when I go to my first classes in Japan!


So I mostly just added the pictures to make sure I knew how to add pictures (yes, I am THAT bad at using computers....) but also, look at how freaking huge I am a Cat is!