Japanese Books We are Reading

Okay, so a while ago we ordered some new Japanese books for Mia...and for us (our sanity was being tested reading the same things over and over again).

We bought them through Amazon Japan, and the shipping was actually not too terrible. I think it was actually cheaper to do it this way rather than buy them from the Japanese bookstores here.

In one of the books below, it is a story about a goldfish who jumps out of a bowl and you have to find him in the different pictures. It is so cute. One of my favorite children's books ever.

A set of 4 baby sized books that are basically just words and pictures, a  book of sounds, and the cat book is a famous character.

A set of books about rice, veggies, and fruit...very cute.

Different themed books in a set of 4. 

Similar to the above...a book on carrots...a book on a girl with crazy hair, you get the idea from the pics

These books I wasn't super impressed with when I was choosing them online. The pictures are just so plain, but they are one of the popular kids books....so I went ahead and ordered them. Mia seems to like them, and I think she will like them even more as she gets older.

We also ordered her a set of these three Darumasan books. I knew that she loved these, and it was definitely a good choice. As soon as we got them out, she was all smiles. 

She loves the rocking motions that we do with Darumasan.

Followed by some sort of action....this one is falling on your side. Do we have a similar book in English? If so, please let me know because she would love it!

Finally, we bought her this DVD...and we have already watched it countless times. It is cute to see her dancing along with it, and she was even singing the other day. Should have gotten a few more maybe? Oh well, Christmas will be here in a few months.

Anyway, that is what we bought. I basically just went through Amazon Japan and found picture books for babies as well as the best seller lists and chose from them. Some of the books I knew that she liked and other we took a gamble with. Overall, she likes all of the books...whew!

P.S. Hydrangea are in bloom here. This is my favorite flower! They make me happy :)

Summer Reading - Part 1

I used to be or or am an avid reader. I'm not sure which sentence is the more correct one, but I have definitely gotten out of the habit of reading recently. It's really too bad, but with 40 minute nursing sessions currently completely taking over my life I've found that I have huge chunks of time where I am glued to the couch
and a sleepy baby. So with this in mind, I am giving myself a bit of a summer reading challenge. I plan on reading 30 books in the next three months. This is really an arbitrary number and considering I just read one book in two days it probably isn't much of a challenge. However a number will keep me on track.


So here are the first 15 books I plan on reading:


The Hunger Games Trilogy: Yes I know I'm a bit behind. I also didn't read Harry Potter or Twilight until after a while either....but I eventually got around to it. I've already finished the first in this series, and I am absolutely hooked.


The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Life of Pi, Blindness, Trylle Trilogy, and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: I honestly don't know a whole lot about any of these books really; however, they were all recommended to me by Facebook friends. I figure since they took the time to give me some good ideas, then I will take the time to read them. Also, I like seeing and knowing what interests others, so I'm really looking forward to these.


Madame Bovary (have I read this already? maybe), Life on the Mississippi, Emma, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Don Quixote: I will admit that these books aren't what you would consider to be light reading, but I love classics. These are usually the kind of books that I hope will never end. Also, the added bonus of them being free doesn't hurt either.


Anyway, so these are the first 15 books that I plan on reading this summer. And no, I'm not planning on doing any type of book review after I finish each one...but you never know. I also do have some ideas for the next 15 that I want to read too but I am definitely open to suggestions.


Any other books that are must reads?

War and Peace

I finally finished War and Peace, and this should be considered a lifetime achievement...hahaha....but it was 1455 pages...and a good portion of that was dedicated to troop movements and war strategy. The other half was dedicated to...well....love, religion, and pretty much every other theme.


I recently read an article that said that people who read fiction books are better socially adjusted because they are exposed to a variety of social situations. I guess that this might be true especially if you tackle books like this that cover every topic.


I'm not a book critic, so I won't attempt to talk about its complexities and blah, blah, blah...but here are just a few of my favorite quotes:

• When I finally say I love you to any man and really mean it, it will be like a defeated general who's lost all his troops, surrendering and handing his sword to the enemy. ~ Natasha Rostov

• I have sinned, Lord, but I have several excellent excuses. ~ Pierre Bezukhov

• The only important battle is the last. ~ General Kutuzov

•  Did you notice he almost never smiles? While I was singing, I turned around suddenly and caught him looking at me and he was smiling then. And I felt - but it's almost impossible to describe - I felt as if someone had given me the most enormous, beautiful present. ~ Natasha Rostov

Really beautiful writing....