What's in a (Business) Name? Ciento Seis

 Rendezvous at the meat shop.

Spotted along P Remedio St, Mandaue City

For more amusing business names, please visit Go Random.

Front Desk

Front Desk
Kelly Yang

Front Desk is a middle grade book (for 8- to 12-year-olds). I am decades beyond this age range, but I still enjoyed reading this beautifully written story about a Chinese family who immigrated to the US and had to work and live in a motel (most of the events in the book are based on the author's experience!). The book teaches about prejudice and poverty. Whether you're 8 or 88, read this book.

For more book recommendations, please visit Go Read.

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store
Keigo Higashino

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store is another book whose movie adaptation I had seen before reading the book; the other was Before the Coffee Gets Cold. And like Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Namiya is a fantasy story. The synopsis (taken from Goodreads): "When three delinquents hole up in an abandoned general store after their most recent robbery, to their great surprise, a letter drops through the mail slot in the store's shutter. This seemingly simple request for advice sets the trio on a journey of discovery as, over the course of a single night, they step into the role of the kindhearted former shopkeeper who devoted his waning years to offering thoughtful counsel to his correspondents."

It is a beautiful story that I highly recommend. If you're not into books (then why are you here? Haha!), then at least watch the film adaptation or adaptations—there is a Japanese movie and a Chinese movie (I have only seen the Japanese adaptation).

For more book recommendations, please visit Go Read.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Toshikazu Kawaguchi

There's a cafe in Tokyo where one can go back in time, but one must come back to the present before the coffee gets cold. The book is written simply and every chapter (there are four) is about a different customer who travels back in time.

This is the first contemporary novel written by a Japanese author that I did not find boring or weird (but then I have only read a few books by contemporary Japanese authors). The story was very interesting for me that I decided to read the book eventhough I had already seen the movie, hence, know the story. (I found out about the book, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, as the credits to the Japanese movie "Cafe Funiculi Funicula" rolled.)

I am looking forward to reading the second book Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe, but don't have a copy yet. Please drop a comment if you know where I can find one (book or ebook).

For more book recommendations, please visit Go Read.