Summarizing the books I've read.

I have tried summarizing the books I read each month before.
I learned that Canva has a graph creation feature, and I made this article because I wanted to use it right away.

It's been a while since then, so I counted the books I've finished again.

The reason I can count them so quickly is thanks to an app on my smartphone called "Book Manager."
It doesn't have features for sharing reviews or connecting with others, but I find it simple and easy to use when I just want to manage my own collection.

So, I have read 177 books (including manga) from the beginning of this year through August.
The blue part of the graph represents books, and the orange part represents manga.

I was mentally falling apart in June, so I couldn't really bring myself to read actual books.
Instead, I read manga and tried my best to "change my mood."
In the end, manga wasn't enough to change my mood, and I solved it by going to a psychosomatic clinic in July to get medication.

Just when I thought I was finally able to calm down mentally in July, my whole family caught COVID one after another every few days.
For about two weeks, someone was always bedridden with COVID.
As the last one to catch it, I felt very tired for two or three weeks even after my fever went down.
I would go shopping and then take a nap, prepare a meal and then lie down...

Even so, I regained a lot of my energy by mid-August.
I was worried about information regarding the Nankai Trough earthquake, so I didn't go far during the Obon holidays, which allowed me to read more books than I had expected.

...And that's how things have been lately.
There was a time when I couldn't write many notes, but I've recently started to get back into it.
I've also been writing pseudo-reviews of the books I've read, and I'd like to list five of the best ones I've read since May.

Naruse Takes Over the World

I'm sure every bookstore was promoting this heavily.
The sequel, "Naruse Follows the Path She Believes In," is also interesting.
I'm sure it will be released as a paperback eventually, but I'm glad I read it without waiting for that! That's what I thought about this book.
I'm not sure if it will make Shiga Prefecture a "prefecture you're curious about" for everyone who reads it, though.

Naruse Takes Over the World (Mina Miyajima, Shinchosha)

Singing Ghost

An essay by Rain Kudo, who is both a tanka poet and an essayist.
I was interested in tanka, so I thought Rain Kudo was a tanka poet.
And for some reason, I was convinced that she was a man.
The essays are even more interesting than the tanka, and it turns out Rain Kudo is a woman.

Singing Ghost (Rain Kudo, Kodansha Bunko)

Amber Summer

A work by Mizuki Tsujimura.
I became a fan of Mizuki Tsujimura after reading her essays.
I am currently slowly collecting her novels.
By the way, her essays are just as interesting as her novels.
People who can write interesting novels can also write interesting essays.
...Although I can't say that for sure.

Amber Summer (Mizuki Tsujimura, Bunshun Bunko)

The Origins of the Japanese People

Not "The Mood of the Japanese," but "The Origins."
It seems the knowledge we adults learned in school about the Jomon and Yayoi periods has been significantly updated.
I knew that, but I didn't know how exactly it had been updated.
I was able to quickly learn about it with this mook (Newton Mook).
However, since it was published in 2018, it might not contain the latest information.
In fact, the "30,000 Years Ago Voyage Project" by the National Museum of Nature and Science, which is treated as an ongoing experiment in the book, has already concluded.

Newton Light "The Origins of the Japanese People" (Newton Mook, Newton Press)

Untangling the Feeling That "My Parents Are Exhausting"

I had always felt a sense of unease regarding my parents.
This year, a major incident occurred between us.
Since then, my physical and mental health deteriorated, and I had to seek help from a psychosomatic clinic.
With the help of medication, my physical symptoms have temporarily settled down.
But I don't know what will happen if another major incident occurs in the future.
I want to find a fundamental solution.
I cannot change the other party (my parents) in this trouble, but I should be able to change my own way of thinking.
This is a valuable book that allowed me to think for the first time in my life, regarding my parents, that "It's okay to think, 'Dealing with this person is exhausting!'"

Untangling the Feeling That "My Parents Are Exhausting" (Neko, KADOKAWA)