Tag: Japanese

Books

Book 595: Tableau Num̩ro 20 РEst Em

Geoff W

I came across this on Grace’s blog, Books Without Any Pictures, and her description of it being out of the normal for manga pulled me in. It didn’t hurt that it was short stories, which I’ll talk more about later. I requested this one because of the Spanish title and story names. The other I requested from the library was Don’t Be Cruel (#1 & #2), just because…

I was surprised the library had it, but then I remembered that it was yaoi and not bara (like Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It, which is SO much 100% more sexually explicit. This was the first yaoi I’ve ever read and it was interesting and honestly the part that caught me most off guard was the authors mention of her blood type in the afterward – I was like wait WTF?

Continue reading “Book 595: Tableau Numéro 20 – Est Em” →

Books

Book 477: Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It – Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd and Graham Kolbeins

Geoff W

Don’t worry, I’m going to keep this response PG even though this book is definitely X-rated!

I can’t remember where I first heard about this book, but when I did I remember flagging it to look into. I’m not a big Manga reader or erotica reader for that matter, but when I found out there was an entire genre of manga dedicated to larger gay men I thought it sounded interesting. It is read like a normal manga from right to left and thankfully my earlier dabbling with Jane Austen manga adaptations helped prepare me for that. Two things to note, the word “erotic” was replaced with “Japanese” for some reason in the US Library of Congress’ database and m cover has a different beefy man on it, also drawn by Jiraiya. Continue reading “Book 477: Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It – Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd and Graham Kolbeins” →

Books

Book 367: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo

Geoff W

There are a couple of reasons I sought out this book and read it earlier than I thought I would. Apparently it’s been climbing the charts since it was translated from Japanese into English this past fall, but for me it first came to light when my friend, Carlie, started posting about it on Instagram. For those of you that have been following for a LONG time she got me to read The Hunger Games way back in 2010. I still haven’t read the other book she recommended, The Beans of Egypt, Maine, but I should probably get on that as she’s two-for-two.

After I asked about the book section of this tidying book she sent me the entire section via PM and I realized I wanted to read this book. I’m moving in August so it was the perfect time to take a look at all of my stuff so I grabbed a copy and devoured it.

Click here to continue reading.

30x30

30 x 30: #21 – Eat at a real sushi restaurant

Geoff W

2014 05-24 Even Tried SashimiYup. That’s me smiling as I try a big piece of sashimi. If the piece would’ve been half the size it wouldn’t have been so bad, but in general I enjoyed the sushi and will eat it again in the future. With lunch yesterday I’ve completed FIVE of my 30 x 30 list and I really hope I can keep up the momentum as I head into June.

What was most funny about #21: Eat at a real sushi restaurant, was that EVERYONE wanted to do this one. Most of my friends who checked out the list at some point or another volunteered to do this one. It worked out to be my sister and I, which was perfect as this weekend is her birthday weekend and what better way to celebrate than by eating raw fish. Ha!

Click here to continue reading.

Books

Book 263: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami

Geoff W

It’s funny how quickly things change. Back in May and June of last year I spent a good amount of time complaining about running and if you asked me then, if I’d ever read a memoir about running I would’ve looked at you like your face just fell off. Needless to say, I’m still not enamored with running, but I can say I’m incredibly glad I read it and it’s made me think differently how I will approach the future (both running and normal).

I stumbled across this book randomly and once I got it from my local library I read it in less than two days. I requested it because Murakami’s fiction writing is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever read and I wanted to know how it translated to nonfiction. Not only did it translate amazingly, but this was the exact book I needed to read at the moment. I’ve been struggling to make it to CrossFit and to keep up my training/running.

Click here to continue reading.