Lonely Planet City Guide to Kyoto

Lonely Planet City Guide to Kyoto
Chris Rowthorn
3rd edition
(Lonely Planet Publications, Australia: 2005)

READ: July-August 2006 (and ongoing reference)

Yes, I like Lonely Planet guidebooks. And yes, you know exactly why I bought this book. Anyway, we used it thoroughly when we went to Kyoto in August, and we plan on going back once or twice in the next few months, so I feel I got my money's worth. (Heck, even if I had never gone to Kyoto, it was worth every penny - it's interesting, informative, and has pretty pictures.) It's fairly extensive, covering pretty much anything you might be interested in seeing in Kyoto, and there's a lot! There are also short sections on things to do in Nara, Osaka, Kobe, and Miyama-cho (a small town north of Kyoto), as each is an easy day-trip from Kyoto.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
J.K. Rowling
(Bloomsbury, London: 2005)

READ: August 2006

Ah, the always irrepressible Harry Potter and his gang. Yes, I managed to wait many months before reading the latest instalment. In fact, it was one of the few English books at my school's library, so I felt compelled to borrow it.

I have kind of enjoyed the Harry Potter books thus far, and this one was the same. At times, I found it hard to put down, and at others, looked for a fast-forward button. Don't even get me started on the movie versions of these books, but J.K. Rowling, while a good, entertaining writer overall, could do with a bit more editing sometimes. Anyway, Harry and his friends get up to more hijinks - some of them are fun, some make you shake your head and roll your eyes. It was a good read, and I have to say I am anxious to read the next one to see how it will all end!

2006 Booklist (Part 2)

books from my japanese bookshelf

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling


2. Why I Hate Canadians by Will Ferguson


3. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes by Stephen Hawking


4. The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language by Melvyn Bragg


5. Lost Japan by Alex Kerr


6. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne


7. The Book of Ikebana by Kawase Toshirou


8. Dogs and Demons: The Fall of Modern Japan by Alex Kerr (unfinished)


9. A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester


10. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones


11. Things Not Seen by Andrew Clement

still waiting:

• Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan by Alan Booth


• Vintage Murakami (collection of works) by Haruki Murakami


• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez


• Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada by Will Ferguson


• The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman (updated and expanded version)


• Wild Grass: China's Revolution from Below by Ian Johnson

constant companions:

• Lonely Planet Guide to Japan


• Lonely Planet City Guide to Kyoto


• Japanese for Busy People (Kana Version) by the Association for Japanese Language Teachers


• How to Tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles: Comparisons and Exercises by Naoko Chino


• Japanese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar, 2nd ed. by Rita L. Lampkin


• Basic Kanji Book, vol. 1


• Minna no Nihongo I


• How to Teach English by Jeremy Harmer


• TESL Certification Course: Training Manual prepared by Oxford Seminars


• Handbook for Team-Teaching, rev. ed. prepared by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology


• Resource Materials and Teaching Handbook prepared by the Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations