My latest review looks at Shūsaku Endō's 'The Final Martyrs' (translated by Van C. Gessel), a collection of stories with themes both personal and historical (my thirteenth Endō review!): tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/23/t...

Not content to just live blog my umpteenth reread of 'The Tale of Genji', I'm slowly (very slowly...) taking a second look at 'À la recherche du temps perdu', with this one arriving a few days back, allowing me to spend this afternoon at the dinner table with M. du Norpois ;)

Fair play - that's quite a burn ;)

I'm up to Chapter 22, 'Tamakazura', on my chapter-by-chapter stroll through 'The Tale of Genji, with today's passage taking us far away from the big city to meet a woman we've met before (albeit long, long ago...): tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/19/t...

Today's review looks at Helle Helle's 'They' (translated by Martin Aitken, courtesy of Giramondo Publishing), the first in a trilogy of books about a young Danish woman and her ailing mother: tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/16/t...

My latest review, for Reading Independent Publishers Month (#ReadIndies), looks at Alta Ifland's 'Voix de Glace / Voice of Ice' (courtesy of Punctum Books), a bilingual work of prose-poems that may or not tell us all about the writer :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/12/v...

Reflecting on past travel in the time of COVID - Karine Rosso's 'Between the Island and the Turtle' (translated by Anita Anand), the most recent addition to the QC Fiction catalogue :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/09/b...

I'm up to Chapter 21, 'Otome', on my Genji travels, in which we find out that the kids really are alright ;) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/06/t...

Off to Chile today with Simón López Trujillo’s 'Pedro the Vast' (translated by Robin Myers, review copy courtesy of Scribe Publications), a novel of community, trees and... mushrooms? tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/03/p...

My January wrap-up post has all the links and info from #JanuaryInJapan - click on the link for more info :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/01/j...

My latest #JanuaryInJapan reread is of Kuniko Mukōda’s 'The Woman Next Door' (translated by A. Reid Monroe-Sheridan: Kurodahan Press), an engaging set of five stories featuring ordinary people in slightly depressing lives... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2021/06/07/t...

My final post for #JanuaryInJapan looks at Thomas Gaubatz's 'The Textual Townsman' (courtesy of Columbia University Press), a book that takes us back to the Tokugawa period and examines it through the eyes of two writers: tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/29/t...

Another book about 'The Tale of Genji'?! My latest #JanuaryInjapan review looks at Richard Bowring's 'Landmarks of World Literature: Murasaki Shikibu – The Tale of Genji' :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/l...

We're back with Genji for my latest #JanuaryInJapan post, and in Chapter 20, 'Asagao', he's once again making eyes at a woman who's trying to say no - while poor Murasaki's heart breaks back at home... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/23/t...

My latest #JanuaryInJapan review takes us far into the future with Hiromi Kawakami's 'Under the Eye of the Big Bird' (translated by Asa Yoneda, published by Granta Books), a novel telling us all about the human race, and how it ends... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/u...

Another #JanuaryInJapan reread (see the comments for a link to my 2010 review) is of Yukio Mishima's sublime 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion' (translated by Ivan Morris).

Calling Haruki Murakami fans! My recent #JanuaryInJapan reread was carried out to enable a post comparing the book and film versions of 'after the quake' (translated by Jay Rubin: directed by Tsuyoshi Inoue).

My most recent #JanuaryInJapan reread was of Shion Miura's 'The Great Passage' (translated by Juliet Carpenter), which - as is hopefully obvious from the photo - has to do with creating a dictionary.

If you were missing some sword-fighting for #JanuaryInJapan, today's post has got you covered as we head back to the 14th/17th century with 'Chūshingura' (translated by Donald Keene), the story of revenge being best serve cold and violently ;) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/c...

Check out RJL'sreading project for #JanuaryinJapan 2026. 31 days of free-to-read short stories or excerpts from novels, encompassing a short history of modern Japanese fiction. I'll post a new short story every day, and you're welcome to read along!

Yo! I'll be in Paris tomorrow launching Ghost Mountain in French translation by Charles Roux. The launch is in L'Ecume des Pages at 7pm. I'll be interviewed by the wonderful Tim MacGabhann. www.parislibrairies.fr/agenda-18792...

It's Osamu Dazai time today for #JanuaryInJapan, with a slightly more feminine side than usual - take a look at my review of 'No One Knows' (translated by Ralph McCarthy, published by New Directions), a collection of fourteen stories told by women :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/n...

Reading from the library and indulging a few temptations from a flash book sale. 4 borrowed, 4 bought and a dozen donated, the dangers and delights of book sales. #library #books 💙📚 clairemcalpine.com/2026/01/11/a...

Le Montagne Fantome by Rónán Hession - Translated by Charles Roux and published by Les Grands Vents is out today in France in all good bookshops and libraries. Magnifique. @thebookseller.com

It's #JanuaryInJapan, and I'm back on my Genji adventures - find out what happens in Chapter 19, 'Usugumo', with a look at what happens in at home and away (and in the translator's pen...): tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/08/t...

Just took a new photo of my private Genji library, ready to get started on my first chapter post for the year - quite a spread, eh... #TheTaleOfGenji

Hurray!

My first new review for this year's #JanuaryInJapan has me looking at Fumiko Hayashi's 'Floating Clouds' (translated by Lane Dunlop, published by Columbia University Press), a novel of dreary lives in post-war Japan: tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/f...

As you may (or may not) be aware, round these parts the first month of the year is #JanuaryInJapan, in which J-Lit is front and foremost in our minds (not that it isn't usually!).

After seventeen full years of blogging, how did 2025 go? Find out in my annual State of the Blog Address ;) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/t...

If numbers aren't your thing, keep on walking, but if you're partial to some stats, come this way for my look at what *you* all read on the blog last year :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/03/y...

The highlight(s) of the blogging year - the 2025 Tony's Reading List Awards! tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/01/t...

Part Two of my review of the year looks back at the best books from July to December :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/t...

Part One of my yearly wrap-up looks at the best books from January to June :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/30/t...

My final monthly wrap-up posts tells what I was up to in December on the blog :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/d...

When you’re chronically ill, the holidays hit different. They’re exhausting, isolating and lonely. It’s important to set and hold boundaries. Make your own traditions and find ways to cultivate joy. Here’s to another Chronic Illness Christmas: www.disabledginger.com/p/another-ch...

Inspired by a reread of 'The Book of Coventry' (edited by Raef Boylan, published by Comma Press), I knocked up my Christmas present to you all, 'Duffy's Dog', a story of fear, loathing and mutts on the mean streets of Stoke Aldermoor in the 1980s ;) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/25/d...

My final review post for the year continues my Genji obsession as I take a look at the essays included in the 'Criticism' section of Dennis Washburn's translation :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/t...

My final Genji chapter-by-chapter post for the year looks at Chapter 18, 'Matsukaze', as a familiar face makes the move in the direction of the big bad city and I get yet another book for my shelves... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/t...

Never got around to doing this during #GermanLitMonth, but here's a family photo of my Christa Wolf collection - the link will take you to all my reviews, too :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/category/chr...

We're in Melbourne today for a look at Elliot Perlman's 'Three Dollars', a novel of life in the neo-liberal nineties... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/t...

A bit of reading and a spot of exercise - my look at Haruki Murakami's 'What I Talk About When I Talk About Running' (translated by Philip Gabriel): tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/12/w...

New on the blog, my review of 'Exclusive! Dispatches from The Paris End' - a collection of essays by Cameron Hurst, Sally Olds and Oscar Schwartz, courtesy of @GiramondoBooks :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/08/e...

Back to Genji today, after a bit of a break, with a look at Chapter 17, 'Eawase', in which we... look at some paintings? tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/04/t...

"A new republic of books that transcends boundaries" - today we're announcing the shortlists for our Translation Prizes 2025. Nine prizes will be awarded at the ceremony in February next year, including the inaugural John Calder Translation Prize.

The first December review on the blog sees me spending some time in a very big (imaginary) house in the country, in the ever-engaging company of Gerald Murnane ;) My take on 'A Million Windows', published by @GiramondoBooks: tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/a...

My final review for #GermanLitMonth is an early Heinrich Boll novel, And Never Said a Word (translated by Leila Vennewitz): 1streading.wordpress.com/2025/11/29/a...

My monthly wrap-up post for November is out, rounding up all my #GermanLitMonth reviews :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/11/30/n...

Rounding off this year's #GermanLitMonth reviews, all hail the undisputed Queen of GLM, Christa Wolf - see my review of 'Leibhaftig' ('In the Flesh') here :) tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/l...

Week 3 of #GermanLitMonth and I'm reading Volker Weidermann on Thomas Mann: peakreads.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/m...