The lovely Meredith, at Dolce Bellezza, has announced her Japanese Literature Challenge, her 8th time hosting this lovely challenge. I have enjoyed all the books I’ve read for her past challenges and so I am going to enjoy participating in this one once again this summer. My goal is to read at least one book, knowing that my biggest challenge is to actually finish these Challenges I take on. But I will choose from some very interesting books that I already have, or have been interested in reading some day, and, so perhaps I will be able to finish more than one! Here’s my collection of possibilities:

1. The Housekeeper and the Professor, by Yoko Ogawa
2. Country Teacher, by Katai Tayama
3. Tales from the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
4. The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, edited by Theodore W. Goossen

And here are my reviews of books I’ve finished for her previous challenges:

1. The Big Wave, by Pearl S. Buck
2. Thousand Cranes, by Yasunari Kawabata
3. The Bells of Nagasaki, by Takashi Nagai
4. After the Quake, by Haruki Murakami
5. Twenty-Four Eyes, by Sakae Tsuboi
6. Tales of Moonlight and Rain, by Akinari Ueda
7. Knit Kimono, by Vicki Square
8. The Revenge of the Forty-Seven Samuari, by Erik Christian Haugaard
9. Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata
10. Summer of the Big Bachi, by Naomi Hirahara
11. Kusamakura, by Natsume Soseki

THANKS, Meredith, for organizing another enjoyable challenge and sharing your love of Japanese literature with us!