Reading Material

In my journey across the sea, my two suitcases were filled mostly with two things: clothing and things to read. The clothing is mostly for work, which means suits, ties, shoes, etc. The reading material, though substantially less in number, is a lot more varied. Prior to my departure my buddy Eug gave me a terrific book, one that had me hooked in these first few weeks during every moment of free time. It's called An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese-English writer, and I finished it a few days ago. I highly recommend it for anyone at all interested in post-WWII Japan. I have since moved on to a book I've been reading for the past year off and on, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I'm about halfway through book one of three, so hopefully I make a lot of progress with my after-work reading habit. Here's what else I brought with me to read:
The Beatles (authorized biography) by Hunter Davies
The Short Novels of John Steinbeck
Double Nickels on the Dime by Michael T. Fournier
Five copies of Waxpoetics
It Ain't Got That Swing (If It Don't Mean A Thing) by Haruki Murakami (Japanese)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (translated by Haruki Murakami into Japanese)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Coffee in Kyoto (a guide to coffee shops in Kyoto)
Chinese phrases book
Constructive Living by David K. Reynolds
The Complete Guide to the Music of The Beatles

So actually, it's a little less varied than I'd imagined, but whatever. Hopefully I can finish reading everything.