In the absence of any new Murakami novels last year, I went on a fairly serious Japanese murder mystery bender. Of the 58 books I read in 2022, I’d say the best were Journey Under the Midnight Sun, The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, and Masks. I also discovered that a) Banana Yoshimoto is actually a pretty good pop writer and b) Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s literary influence not only runs deep, but is well-merited.
China Mieville, This Census-Taker
Mike Florio, Playmakers
Robert E. Howard, The Robert E. Howard Omnibus
Seth Wickersham, It’s Better to Be Feared
Keigo Higashino, Journey Under the Midnight Sun
Keigo Higashino, The Devotion of Suspect X
Keigo Higashino, A Midsummer’s Equation
Keigo Higashino, The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping
Keigo Higashino, Naoko
Keigo Higashino, Salvation of a Saint
Keigo Higashino, The Miracles of the Namiya General Store
Seicho Matsumoto, Points and Lines
Seicho Matsumoto, A Tale of False Fortunes
Fumiko Enchi, Masks
Kaoru Takamura, Lady Joker
Haruki Murakami, The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories
Rampo Edogawa, The Black Lizard
Seishi Yokomizo, The Inagumi Curse
Seishi Yokomizo, The Village of Eight Graves
Seishi Yokomizo, The Honjin Murders
Keigo Higashino, Silent Parade
Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
Banana Yoshimoto, Goodbye Tsugumi
Junchiro Tanizaki, The Makioka Sisters
Yuko Tsushima, Territory of Light
Eric Cline, 1177 B.C.
Glenn Cook, Gilded Latten Bones
Glenn Cook, An Empire Unacquainted With Defeat
Glenn Cook, The Black Company
Glenn Cook, Shadows Linger
Glenn Cook, The White Rose
Glenn Cook, Shadow Games
Glenn Cook, Dreams of Steel
Glenn Cook, The Silver Spike
Julian May, The Many-Colored Land
Julian May, The Golden Torc
Julian May, The Nonborn King
Julian May, The Adversary
Julian May, Sorceror’s Moon
Julian May, Ironcrown Moon
Julian May, Congueror’s Moon
Julian May, The Intervention Omnibus
Yoko Ogawa, The Memory Police
Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way
Kanae Minato, Penance
Kanae Minato, Confessions
Joel Dicker, The Enigma of Room 622
Soji Shimada, The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
Piero Chiara, The Disappearance of Signora Giulia
Osamu Dazai, Crackling Mountain and Other Stories
Bill Simmons, The Book of Basketball
Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon and 17 Other Stories
Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice
Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman
Yoko Tawada, Facing the Bridge
Chuck Dixon, Siege of the Black Citadel
I never got around to posting these on the blog last year, but I’ll go over the list on the Darkstream.