Night on the Milky Way Railway (1934) by Kenji Miyazawa #JapaneseLitChallenge19

🚅 Giovanni (a strange name for a Japanese boy, by the way) is a poor boy who is usually so tired after his part time job, that he doesn't do good at school. This makes him seems to be a dreamy and weak, that even his friends leave him out when they are playing or having fun. They also ridicule Giovanny because he had said once that his father would come home soon and buy him otter-skin coat. It isn't clear what or where his father is - whether on fishing trip (a prolonged one), or else in prison. I suspect the latter. That is how Giovanni is feeling towards the upcoming Star Festival, or Milky Way festival. Feeling left alone, that even his closest friend Campanella is having fun in the festival (and looks at him with pity), Giovanni suddenly finds himself on board a steam train, after he goes on top of nearby hill and gazes above at the Milky Way.

🚅 But the train isn't a usual one; it's a dream train on a dream track. The train passes some stations, named after the constellations. It embarks from Northern Cross, and on the track are Swan station, then Scorpio, and some other names I forgot. Campanella is on board the same train, which pleases Giovanni, and also some others strange men. One of them is a bird catcher, who catch bird so easily, just by lifting his hands above, and then eats them as it is, which strangely tastes like chocolate cakes.

🚅 Along the journey, we were entertained with more and more strange and magical occurrences, that in the end it doesn't feel very special anymore. It feels more like a long and incoherent dream that we remember nothing after waking up. I could see why it has become a children classic, but for me personally, this is just a confusing story. The galactical theme is a pretty attractive tool for educating children about our galaxy. And the end might be good to preparing children of the frailty of human's life, but I feel it's too dark for children.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Read for: 

Japanese Literature Challenge 19

hosted by Dolce Bellezza

The Boy and the Dog (2020) by Seishū Hase #JapaneseLitChallenge19

🐶 After a devastating combination of earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, a young man found a stray dog in front of a convenience store. The name tag shows its name as Tamon. The man took the dog in, after making sure that the owner couldn't be found/contacted by the vet - no doubt it has been separated from the owner after the disaster. The young man, Kazumasa, has lost his job, and was at loose end to take care of his sister and their ailing mother. He was offered a job related to criminal activity, which he took for the money he desperately needed. He always took Tamon while on the job, as his guardian. One day the criminal operation failed, and Tamon was brought away by the criminal; and then he became Tamon's new owner.

🐶 The story consisted of several parts, each dedicated to Tamon's "adventures" with its different owners. It usually stays with one owner, taking care of them - or becomes guardian to him/her - until its 'services' are no longer needed, so to speak, either because of the owner's death or changed circumstances. Then Tamon will disappear one day, to be found several days or weeks later, usually in poor condition by the next-owner-to-be. One thing that Tamon's owners always notice, is that Tamon is always looking to the south direction whenever it is on journey with the them, as if there's something or someone in that direction it wants to come home to. It makes whoever owns Tamon for the moment, becomes a bit jealous of its dedication and purpose. But meanwhile, Tamon never fails to protect them. 🐶 Tamon's journey spanned for five years before he arrived at or found what he's been looking for. I won't reveal exactly whom or where it was, since it's part of this book's charm - the little mystery of Tamon which baffles us until the last chapter. The theme of the book is of the beautiful bond between human and dog. Tamon's owners are mostly the desperate or downtrodden individuals; and Tamon's friendship and deep connection with them always provides encouragement and comfort when they need it most. It shows the wonderful gift dogs have for whomever choose to accept it. 🐶 On the whole, this was a heartwarming story - consists of unrelated events, but tied together by the same affectionate dog, whose main goal in life seemed to be helping humans to find comfort in sorrowful moments. And if you happen to shed some tears in end - like most stories about dogs tend to do to us - so what? It's tears for the wholesomeness of life, anyway.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Japanese Literature Challenge 19 hosted by Dolce Bellezza

The End of Summer (1971) by Rosamunde Pilcher

🌸 Jane is a twenty one year old Scottish girl who has lost her mother in childhood. Her father has immediately moved them both to the United States, where he's been working as screenwriter for Hollywood. After years in America, Jane still miss Elvie, the beautiful estate near the Loch where she had spent happy childhood. Elvie also correlated with Sinclair, Jane's cousin, to whom she had secretly dreamt of marrying some day. One day in this titular summer, Jane has a lovely surprise - a family lawyer called David Stewart brings a summon from Jane's grandmother, for Jane to come home to Elvie. Jane is torn between her duty to look after her father, and her heart. But as her father brings home a lover, Jane knew he would be looked after, and decides to go with the young lawyer to Elvie, leaving her American beach home, including her "date" with a young surfer she has just made acquaintance with, the day before.

🌸 Arriving at Elvie, though, Jane soon finds out that Sinclair isn't what she has thought him to be. There is long-buried secrets which shaped Sinclair to his true self, a rakish and opportunity-seeker, and which secret is also affecting Jane's future. Now Jane needs to make a decision, should she accept Sinclair's proposal - a marriage she had been dreaming growing up - or should she listen to her instinct?

🌸 Many readers said The End of Summer isn't Pilcher's best, and one in particular daubed it as her least favorite of Pilcher. I haven't read many of her, my only other acquaintance with her was The Shell Seekers, which I loved, and even got to be one of my favorites in 2025. But I think, The End of Summer is not that bad. It maybe lack of depth, at least when compared to The Shell Seekers, but the characters are well drawn, and I loved the picturesque description of the Scottish landscape. Jane is not a memorable main character, rather weak and insipid. My favorite is perhaps the lawyer, David Stewart; he's a true gentleman and well balanced person.

🌸 I was kind of interested about the surfer Jane chatted with on the beach, though. It's ashamed that we don't hear about him any more. It will be lovely if we can follow Jane when she's back in California and meet again with him. But of course, the circumstances are changed, so maybe it's not a good idea. Still, although the story is set mostly in Scotland, I kind of love the beach house (or shack) where Jane and her father live. My favorite scene is perhaps the arrival of David Stewart at the beach house (the first time Jane met him) - it ends up hilarious at the end, but at the moment, it was quite thrilling. Jane was alone (her father was on business trip), it was a dark night. Jane saw a silhouette of a man approaching the house from the beach, which should be deserted after sunset, and this terrified her, imagining every evil scenario imaginable. 

🌸 On the whole, it was an okay read; short (only 150-ish pages), and with an unexpected twist concerning the family secret, and a pleasant ending (the one I have been hoping).

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (1967) by Lilian Jackson Braun

🐈 Jim Qwilleran and Koko the cat are together again solving a murder mystery. We were introduced to the pair in the first book of the The Cat Who... series by Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. Then Jim Qwilleran, a veteran journalist, has landed a job in a smallish company called Daily Fluxion, where he was assigned to handle a weekly column in art section - a field in which he had neither experience nor knowledge to begin with. But he soon adapted to the art world, and offered a lodging with a senior journalist - Koko's initial master, and a murder-victim-to-be. And that's how Qwilleran had been first introduced to his future partner-in-crime. When Koko - a Siamese cat whose full name is Kao K'o-Kung - lost his master, it was he who inadvertently 'supplied' clues for Qwill to solve the murder.

🐈 This second book started where we left the first. Koko moved in with Qwilleran, who has now learned of the cat's quirky interest in literature (he loves 'reading' dictionary!), and Qwill has been transferred to a new assignment: the interior design section - of which he has also zero knowledge. Right after the first issue of Gracious Abodes - the weekly magazine - has been published, the covered residence was burglarized, and the lady of the house murdered. It was soon followed by the second issue, and the next. Qwilleran must solve the murders ASAP, before he and his fellow cameraman were to be sacked.

🐈 Like in the first book, what I loved most about this mystery is Qwilleran and Koko's bonding. I liked the character of Qwilleran; I liked how he adapts to each new assignment with fresh vitality, and how he indulges with Koko's eccentricity, besides his own eccentricity - if moustache quivering when he 'smells' something fishy can be called eccentric. Koko was having more stage in this second book than the first. He's having a concerning problem mid story; Qwilleran caught him eating some of his ties, and even the green upholster of the Danish Modern (a kind of sofa) which didn't belong to him. It turned out, through a psych-cat-trist, that Koko is lonely, and needs a companion (a good lesson for an inexperienced cat owner!) 🐈 The most interesting stage of the mystery is when Koko disappeared. He was found later on at the neighbor's mansion - also one of the suspects - along with a tragedy connected to the mystery. Along Qwill's investigation, Koko had been scattering some clues - along with many red herrings too. Either when he lost his beloved ball (and Qwill would extract a clue when retracting it under a cabinet or something), or when the two were playing an invented game related with the dictionary (also Koko's beloved item). Koko would put his paw on random word in the dictionary, and Qwill would tell him (or search for) its meaning - how one find that kind of game amusing is beyond me. On the whole, just like the first one, this mystery proved to be a fast-paced exciting murder mystery, with hilarious moments with some eccentric but lovable characters (humans and cat). A very delightful read to start a new year! Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026 hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook

The Layton Court Mystery (1925) by Anthony Berkeley

💙 Anthony Berkeley Cox was one of the most influential authors during the Golden Age detective fictions era. He was also the initiator of the Detection Club, which was formed in 1930 by several murder mystery authors such as Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and their peers. As a fan of that sub genre, I was a little ashamed that I have not yet read many of Berkeley's works. I have read The Wintringham Mystery two years ago, and quite liked it, but none of his Roger Sheringham series. And so, I plan to work through the series by starting properly at the beginning, our first introduction to Roger Sheringham, the amateur detective. Interesting fact, The Layton Court Mystery was first published anonymously. 

💙 Roger Sheringham is a writer with intelligent mind. Along with his friend, Alexander Grierson, was invited to a house party at Layton Court by a wealthy businessman Victor Stanworth. At first, the atmosphere of the party was a jolly one; particularly for Mr. Grierson, or Alex, as Sheringham calls him, who has just been engaged to a girl called Barbara, also another guest at the party. However, things were quickly changed. First of all, Barbara suddenly calls off the engagement, with no clear reason. Then, the host, Mr. Stanworth was found dead in the library, shot on the head, with his hand still clutching the gun. The room was locked from the inside. The police and the coroner concluded that it was a suicide. But was it so? Roger Sheringham found some facts that didn't match with suicide idea, and with the help of Alex (the Watson to his Sherlock), Sheringham decided to investigate the murder, which, he was sure, was the true cause of his host's death.

💙 Berkeley had an idea to create an imperfect detective - contrary to the typical Golden Age detectives, which were usually good in their jobs, who could find the whodunnit when no one else could. They might made a few mistakes at first, but usually solved the case near the end. Roger Sheringham isn't that. He is confident of his deduction skill - and boasts about it a lot to Alex - but he made a lot of rush judgement, which usually leads him to a humiliating failure. I don't think this aspect appeals to me; I like it in fictions when the hero, well, acts like a hero, not fallible like we readers should be. Another thing, I felt that interactions between Sheringham and Alex were mostly redundant. I would love it if Berkeley involved the other characters more. I admit that the redundancy had something to do with the plot twist at the end (a very good one), but I have had lost interest long before the juicy part of the mystery came out. And thanks to Sheringham's many faulty deductions, and the redundancy, I have guessed the plot twist a chapter before it's supposed to be revealed. 

💙 On the whole, it is interesting as a debut series, but I would have enjoyed it more had it followed the usual course of Golden Age detective stories. I wonder if Roger Sheringham would turn better in the next cases. I might try another one, but if it's the same as this one, I might stop reading the series altogether.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026

hosted by Carol's Notebook

Keeping A Nature Journal (2021) by Clare Walker Leslie

🌿 So, this is my first read for the new year. A surprise, because I don't usually pick a non fiction to go to on a Christmas holiday. However, I have been itching to start a nature journal, and the holiday seems to be the perfect time to do it. I would share my first ever nature journal later (yay!), but first of all, about the book. Clare Walker Leslie has been nature-journaling for forty years, and is now teaching students how to connect to the natural world and record the impression into diary or journal.

🌿 "The foundation for a naturalist's learning is curiosity and willingness to pursue learning in many different ways: watching, considering, recording, researching, asking questions." And that is what this book is about. First of all, Clare encourages us to take time noticing the natural world around us, wherever we are - in the backyard, taking stroll in the neighborhood, picnicking outside, or even when doing chores inside your house, take time to see outside your windows. Be curious, and record what interest you in quick sketches, even when you're not quite sure what animal or bird or tree you're looking at. In short, Clare instructs us to be more mindful. Clare always keep her journal very near her, so that if something interesting appears, she could instantly take a quick sketch, to be perfected later on.

🌿 Next, is the main topic, that is, the journaling. Clare gives us detailed instruction and many examples of how to keep a nature journal - what to sketch, what to write, what information to put in. There are steps to draw or sketch, from leaves, flowers, trees, insects, birds, larger animals, to tree and landscape. She also gives full instruction of how to scratch a layout from an object in several seconds. From which we can add the details later, with help from guide books, if necessary. We can use colors for shading, either by using coloring pencils, crayons, or watercolors. In many of her examples, Clare often uses pen too to do shading.

🌿 All in all, this book is a perfect one to get anyone starting nature journaling. It is not overly technical, and Clare is humble enough to encourage anyone, even if one never draws, to try nature journaling. It's not the drawing that matters most, anyway, but the mindfulness and the connection to the natural world. The only drawback, for me personally, is Clare's instruction on seasonal sketching. For someone who lives outside America, or at least the West, these sections are a wasting of time. However, the rest is instructive enough, and it really encouraged me to do the hardest step: to produce the first nature journal. And I have done that on the first day of my Christmas holiday. I have planned to go outdoor every day, but alas, I caught a terrible fever on Christmas Day, followed by intestinal cramps that forced me to rest in bed for several days. But I have achieved the hardest thing - to start the nature journaling - so I'll just repeat it on any weekends ahead.

It's not perfect, but I'm proud of myself nonetheless. I am even thinking of creating a blog for these nature journals. Will update about it soon!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Reading Plans for 2026

First of all, Happy New Year, everyone! A new year means a new reading plan. For 2026, I will keep it moderate, not overly ambitious, but still with some challenges to keep it exciting enough. Here's my plans (so far)....

Personal Challenges

First of all, I have decided to take a Sabbatical from hosting Agatha Christie Short Stories Read Along for 2026. It has taken a lot of energy for me last year. I would still continue to read Christie's short stories, but maybe in the next year or two. For this year, there will be no #AgathaChristieSS.

However, I will still create a sort of mild challenge for myself. During A Century of Books, I realized that I have not read many books published in the 1970s, except perhaps some children books, and Agatha Christie's. I was born and spent my childhood in the 1970s, hence my first reading experience as adult started only in the 1980s. Now I want to rectify it by starting a personal challenge: Reading the 1970s. It's partly inspired too by Simon & Karen's Reading the Year every April and October!

It's basically reading books published in the 1970s, one year at each year. Since I would turn 55 this year, I want to celebrate it with reading my birth year: 1971. So, here it is...

Reading the 1971

Books I have Read:
- The Days of the Jackal (Frederick Forsythe)
- Nemesis (Agatha Christie)
- When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Judith Kerr)

The tentative reading list:
1. The End of Summer (Rosamunde Pilcher)
2. If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? (Erma Bombeck) 3. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Elizabeth Taylor) 4. In the Shadow of Man (Jane Goodall)
5. Then Again, Maybe I Won't (Judy Blume) 6. Summer at World's End (Monica Dickens)
7. Not to Disturb (Muriel Spark)

Let's see how many I would end up reading, but they sound really nice. My target is at least read four or five of them, but I might end up reading all (and perhaps more..). If you have any titles in mind that you think I might be interested, please let me know!

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026

Once again I will be participating in Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026 hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook. My aim is for Detective Level (16-25 books). I have done the same for last year, and ended up reading 20 books. This year I'm planning to read at least 25. 

The tentative reading list:
1. The Layton Court Mystery (Antony Berkeley)

2. A Murder is Announced (Agatha Christie) - reread

3. They Came to Baghdad (Agatha Christie) - reread

4. The Ten Teacups (Carter Dickson)

5. Murder on Black Swan Lake (Andrea Penrose)

6. Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) (Jesse Q. Sutanto)

7. They Do It with Mirrors (Agatha Christie) - reread

8. The Body in the Dumb River (George Bellairs)

9. The Beckoning Lady (Margery Allingham)

10. Murder in Regent's Park (A.C. Koning)

11. Murder on Wheels (Stuart Palmer)

12. The Carter of "La Providence" (Georges Simenon)

13. The Frangipani Tree Mystery (Ovidia Yu)

14. Fell Murder (E.C.R. Lorac)

15. Death Around the Bend (T.E. Kinsey)

16. Death in Daylesford (Kerry Greenwood)

17. To Fetch a Thief (Spencer Quinn)

18. Richardson Scores Again (Basil Thomson)

19. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (Lilian Jackson Braun)

20. Come A Stranger (E.R. Punshon)

21. Murder at Mallowan Hall (Colleen Cambridge)

22. Dim Sum of All Fears (Vivien Chien)

23.

24.

25.

Other than those two, I would still be participating in some of the fun reading events/challenges hosted by other bloggers throughout the year, such as the Reading Year, Paris in July, Reading the Meows, WIT Month, Spinsters September, 20 Books of Summer, Novella in November, Nonfiction November, Dean Street December, etc. 

Have you any reading plans for 2026? Or do you just read whatever you want to?

Six Degrees of Separation, from Mountains to Beach: A Wild Card

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme, now hosted by Kate @ books are my favorite and best.

On the first Saturday of every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

To kick off the new year, we get a wild card by starting with the book you finished your December chain with. I love wild card!

0. In the Mountains by Elizabeth von Arnim

Excerpt from my review: In the Mountains is an epistolary novella by Elizabeth von Arnim, which is structured as diary. The author, thus the narrator, is an English woman, who seeks refuge at her chalet on the Swiss Alps. It's post Second World War, and for some mysterious and dark reason, our narrator is depressed and longed for peace and solitude of the Swiss Alps mountains to be cured. However, just when she feels quite refreshed after spending hours in languid nature while admiring the beautiful views and cold crisp air, our narrator becomes restless and lonesome. It's her birthday, and as she wants to be busy herself to avert her mind from "the thing", she gives the servants holiday. And it is when she's alone, two women clothed in black, arrive on the scene. Here's the complete review.
I always feel refreshed after reading books set in the mountain, maybe because I myself live in a tropical country, and prefer cold and crisp air than hot and damp ones.  

1. Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart

Here's another book set in the mountain, which even has "mountain" in the title too. 

Excerpt from my review: Jade Dragon Mountain is Elsa Hart's debut historical mystery novel, set in Dayan, a small mountainous town at the Chinese border with Tibet, in 18th century. Our sleuth is Li Du, an imperial librarian in exile, who is visiting his cousin, who were the magistrate of Dayan, during his journey. Dayan was an insignificant town in the vast empire, but at present it's proudly preparing for the upcoming visit of the Emperor himself, as a total solar eclipse would occur in several days... You can read my complete review here if you're interested.

This reminded me of an author whose name was associated with the days of the week.

It's not often that we have a Chinese detective in a crime-mystery novel, and although Li Du isn't a proper detective - he's more of a scholar with good deduction skill and intuition. 

2. The House without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers

Excerpt from my review: This is the first book of Charlie Chan series. He's probably the most exotic detective you'd ever read about; a Honolulu police detective, who is a Chinese-Hawaiian. Charlie Chan is portrayed as intelligent and honorable. His eagerness to learn English through poems shaped his way of talking, always polite and with admirable choices of words. It's one of the amusements this book provides, besides, of course, the mystery. You might need to read the complete review to know more about this book.

Charlie Chan, the Chinese-Hawaiian police detective, doesn't appear much in this first of the series. Nevertheless, he provided a charm to this delightful locked-room murder mystery - or to be more precise, a murder in the house without a key, which was implied in the title...

3. The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier

This one also has 'the house' in the title, but with a far different atmosphere. Like most of du Maurier's, it's a gothic semi-thriller, but with time-travelling theme.

Excerpt from my review: As is usual with all of du Maurier's, this one is also a gripping story about the addiction to another life when ones' own is less eventful and stuck in a place one doesn't want to be. Richard Young has befriended Magnus Lane since university. He often stayed with the Lanes on holidays at Kilmarth, an ancient house near the Cornish coast. Magnus Lane is now a scientist, a chemical researcher or biophysicist at the University of London, and Richard, or Dick, has often been his guinea pig. Magnus has a laboratory in his house, and here he is perfecting a special concoction, which Dick has agreed to test. You can read my complete review here.

4. Genderang Perang dari Wamena by Djokolelono

This is an Indonesian children fantasy novella, where two teenagers are having a thrilling adventures while rummaging through pile of stuffs at the backyard shed. Here's an excerpt from my review: Opening a box in which Adi's father kept stuffs from the museum, they found a little drum. It's a traditional music instrument from Papua which is usually called tifa. Playfully one of them starts to beat it, and a strange thing happens. The player can't stop beating the drum, his hand goes faster and faster, while the other can't stop dancing on the tune. Then a white mist fills the shed, and the shed suddenly turns into a jungle. The boys are time-travelling to the jungle of Wamena in Papua, in the 18th century, following a Dutch expedition consisting of four white men and some locals. And here's the link to the complete review.

5. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Baillett

And here it is another thrilling adventure of two teenagers (a boy and a girl this time) that I have enjoyed very recently. Excerpt from my review: It was an entertaining story about art theft (Vermeer's A Lady Writing painting) and coincidences, full of puzzles and codes, and some suspenseful actions; not mentioning the history of art (particularly Vermeer). [...] This was an exciting read for me. I always love books with art theme, especially paintings. And Vermeer is one of painters I always admire (Girl with A Pearl Earring is my favorite by Vermeer). Apart from the far-fetched dream of Petra (the Lady asked for help and guided Petra to her location), this is an educational and entertaining read for middle grader. Read the complete review here.

6. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

The painting which was the backbone of this book is a fictional one, as well as the painter. Nevertheless, I could see it vividly in my mind, thanks to Pilcher's lovely narrative, but partly also to the cover of this audiobook version. 

Here's the excerpt from my review: The Shell Seekers is the title of a painting which hung on the wall of Penelope Keeling's abode. It was a wedding gift from his father, with herself as one of the shell seekers depicted in the painting. The story opens when Penelope is sixty years old, and has just been out of hospital and recovering from a heart attack. After that, the story runs parallelly between Penelope's past and present, giving us the view of how she had become what she is now, and why she does things that is incomprehensible to her children. And here's my review.

And so, that's how I had begun in the mountains, and ended up on the beach.

Have you read those books? If you do #sixdegree too, how it works out for you this time?