I wrote an essay on the Akutagawa story Hell Screens for Weird Fiction Review here. I’m loving the Penguin Classics short story collections. Added to this is the excellent translation by Jay Rubin, introduction by Haruki Murakami and the extensive end notes. Favourites included the classic Rashomon, the bizarre afterlife of Horse Legs, the tragic ending of Spinning Gears and the incredible opening of The Story of a Head that Fell Off. I loved the stories which combined the supernatural with social commentary. Akutagawa’s range and depth is highly skilled. I had read In a Bamboo Grove before, but I’ve loved discovering some of his other work. I can’t recommend this collection enough. The best thing I read all year was Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s collection of short stories published by Penguin Classics. Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Jay Rubin (Translator), Haruki Murakami (Introduction) I read some good ones, a lot of average ones, but there were only a few I absolutely loved. I felt like I didn’t read a lot of life-changing, knockout books this year. Sometimes you need to allow yourself time to deal with life. I read 46, although I have a few in progress I should finish soon. Between moving house and changing jobs, I didn’t meet my goal of 52 books in a year. My tastes generally run to genre fiction, especially noir and weird fiction.Īlthough it’s been a good year, it was also stressful. They’re not necessarily published in 2017, but I like to share what I’ve been reading. Each year I sum up the wonderful books I’ve read over twelve months.

Best books to read 2017 nytimes