The Non-Fiction Book Club Nominations List

Ranting about Kyoto

It was mentioned by the Youtuber Kyota Ko who basically likes to rant about things.

Art History, Culture.

It doesn’t go too into the streams and groups that existed, or much of the characteristics of the art itself that identifies it as ukiyo-e or its symbolism, but it still gives a bit of intro to some of these things and there’s plenty of cultural references from what was drawn, cute explanations of what you see, sometimes there are also legends or characters that are known in very specific contexts and etc.

Life Sciences.

It’s an easy read (other than all of the vocabulary necessary) but if you do remember any of your high school biology it’s quite a bit easier to read. There’re lots of different subjects in the series.

Linguistics.

It’s fun to read about Japanese in Japanese and see what points of it confuse native speakers as opposed to learners.

Anime history.

An anime critic writing all about the history of anime and certain anime masterpieces + what makes the masterpieces. Even if you don’t watch anime often it’s an interesting cultural topic.

Investigative journalism, history.

This is kind of on the line of true crime given it is about an island known for human trafficking (historically, but not currently). It should steer clear of the more problematic aspects of that genre as it seems to be taking on the topic through a journalistic and historical lens.

Linguistics, Manga Essay.

The layout is typical for the genre with an essay on one page and a related manga on the other.

History.

To learn about Himiko and Yamatai. There is a second book as well, that covers from where this one finishes until a few years ago.

Cycle 2 Winner 🏆

History/sociology.

bungakushoujo read and reviewed it and it sounded really interesting: “Initially, I expected a pop-science book about the brain and concentration limits based on the somewhat misleading vibe of the title and cover. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was more like reading a thesis that covered a very wide range of topics, starting with the history of reading and labor in modern Japan from the Meiji era onwards. It moves through time, finally examining the present-day labor market in Japan (and much of the developed world) and exploring what it means to exist as a worker and engage with knowledge and information in the current hyper-competitive global capitalist economy.”

Cycle 1 Winner 🏆

History/Culture/Linguistics.

Note: There is the orignal 2011 version and a new updated 2021 version to reflect the current society.