Fistful of fun 5 Books to Read this Month
All You Need is Kill: 2-in-1 Edition by Ryosuke Takeuchi and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, original story by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, and illustrated by Yoshitoshi Abe
Before the action packed movie Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt was released in theaters this June, it was a 2004 light novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka with illustrations by Yoshitoshi Abe known as All You Need is Kill. In January of this year, Ryosuke Takeuchi with illustrator Takeshi Obata started a manga version of the story and made it available for digital download on June 17. It is this two volume digital download that will be available in print and in English this month. The story follows Keiji Kiriya, a United Defense Force member responsible for repelling the alien Mimics’ invasion of Earth. Keiji is trapped in a violent loop repeating the battle and the day prior to the battle over and over again. With the help of Rita Vrataski, another member of the UDF with the nickname Full Metal Bitch, he must figure out how to stop the loop and defeat the Mimic force.
The Giving Tree by Shel Sivlerstein
Last month Hyogo Times was too busy giving you fantastic music recommendations that it neglected the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest children’s books written by one of the greatest authors of children’s books and poems. In October 1964, Shel (it’s actually short for Sheldon) Silverstein published his iconic story The Giving Tree about the tree always willing to provide and love a boy even when they both become stumps of their former selves. A surprisingly heartbreaking coming-of-age story that shows just how powerful selfless love and how damaging selfish desires can be. While revisiting childhood memories, take the time to read some of his lesser known, but no less enjoyable works like A Giraffe and a Half and Uncle Shelby’s ABZ.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
By now you’ve probably heard from all of your friends the rave reviews of Gillian Flynn’s newest novel Gone Girl, and if you haven’t heard about the book, then you surely know about the amazing job David Fincher, director of Fight Club, Seven, and The Social Network, has done adapting it to film. If you have yet to jump on the bandwagon, it’s time to leave the ground since you only have one more month to read the book before its theatrical release here in Japan. After years of a decaying marriage, Nick Dunne’s wife Amy has gone missing on their fifth anniversary and he’s the prime suspect. Gone Girl explores the demanding roles – loving spouse, distraught husband, amazing daughter – that the media, the public, and the ones we think care about us the most often force us to play.
Revival by Stephen King
             For many Stephen King readers, he’s either hit or miss. Pure works of genius or novels so long and drawn out that you ask yourself why you didn’t stop reading before the struggle became real. Yet King has undoubtedly secured his name among the top authors for suspenseful and horrifying fiction. It’s almost impossible not to immediately think of Carrie, It, or The Shining when asked about popular books in those genres and he surely isn’t looking to stop anytime soon. His newest novel, Revival, will focus on the Jamie Morton and Charles Jacobs, who first meet when Morton is a child and Jacobs becomes the town’s new minister. Their relationship formed by a shared obsession is temporarily suspended when Jacobs is forced to leave the town after a family tragedy, but after years of traveling across the country, Morton meets Jacobs again and the two make “a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising.†“A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.†Interest piqued? The Rolling Stone has an exclusive excerpt and its audio version here. Here’s to hoping that this is one of his hits.
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
             Always trying to push the HAJET agenda, The Shining Girls by South African author Lauren Beukes will be the topic of discussion for our next book club scheduled for November 30.This means you have less than a month to finish the book and join other JETs in literary analysis. If you missed last month’s synopsis, here it is again verbatim: A time-traveling thriller similar to Looper, in which Harper Curtis finds a house that allows him to travel through time, but only if he continues to kill “the shining girls.†Hunting down these girls mercilessly, he believes he is unstoppable, that is until one of his victims survives. If you are interested please RSVP to the event on the Facebook page here.
Sean Mulvihill
