Can you believe we are half way through the year? So far this year I’ve been reading some really good books but unfortunately June was not the most outstanding month. I finished two books and both were very light reads: The Seafront Tearoom by Vanessa Greene and The Island House by Nancy Thayer.

I may actually finish another book tomorrow night but for now we are just going to say two books. However, I am in the middle of five books so hopefully that means July will be a better month numbers-wise.

Of course it’s hard to keep my mind on my current reads when I keep hearing about new books so I think I’ll stick with my current reads and try to make some progress this weekend but I’ll leave you with two links that I think you’ll enjoy:

Nancy Pearl’s Summer reading list. Lions by Bonnie Nadzam is a book I’ve had my eye on for a while. After hearing her segment on NPR this morning though I wanted to add all the books to my list. She is so enthusiastic about the books and I just love hearing her.

5 Crime Must-Reads for July. I’m really looking forward to Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner. I read her debut novel last year and thought it was a great read so I’m interested to see what she has in store for her characters with her second novel.

Have a wonderful weekend and let me know what are you looking forward to in July?

Have you heard that the Japanese Literature Challenge is back? Dolce Bellezza is once again hosting the challenge which runs through January 2018. This is an easy one, you only have a one book commitment, but of course the more you read the better! I’ve enjoyed participating in this challenge for several years now so I’m excited to join in once again.

Of course when we talk about challenges one of the fun things to do is look through the shelves and set aside potential reads. I have quite a few books I can choose from and also a couple of others on my Kindle. Here are some of my selections:

The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami. Objects for sale at the Nakano Thrift Shop appear as commonplace as the staff and customers that handle them. But like those same customers and staff, they hold many secrets.

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami. a wonderful combination of fantasy, mythology, mystery, comedy, and drama that leads the reader through the journey of one man’s quest for his own identity, as well as for a very special sheep.

Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto. The corpse of an unknown provincial is discovered under the rails of a train in a Tokyo station, and Detective Imanishi is assigned to the case. Writer Matsumoto is one of Japan’s leading mystery writers.

The Silent Dead by Tetsuya Honda. When a body wrapped in a blue plastic tarp and tied up with twine is discovered near the bushes near a quiet suburban Tokyo neighborhood, Lt. Reiko Himekawa and her squad take the case.

These were just some of the titles that I quickly grabbed off of my shelves but I’m pretty sure there are many others that would be perfect for this challenge. Are you joining and what do you plan to read?

Let me know if you’ve already read some of these and what you thought!