Japan, Beyond the Genkan
An Insider’s Guide to the Soft Power, Strong Market, and Social Harmony of America's Asian Partner
by Joshua W. Walker, PhD
June 2, 2026, Amplify, NetGalley
Book description: Part memoir, part diplomatic and political treatise, and part love letter to a culture he lived in as a bicultural and bilingual American, Dr. Walker shares the tools to fully comprehend and appreciate what Japan offers to the United States and the rest of the world today.
He explores Japan’s notions of soft power and social harmony, and the robust markets that help the nation to have global standing as America’s largest investor. In Japan, within a house the genkan is the semi-public lobby entrance that goes into the private space where guests are greeted. Dr. Walker as an adopted dosanko—the title of someone from Hokkaido, Japan—invites us beyond the genkan into a rare insider’s view of the country.
West Meets East: Stories of Americans in China
by William N. Brown
July 28, 2026; Amplify Publishing, NetGalley
Book description: Author Bill Brown, who planned to stay in China for two years and ended up staying for thirty-five, knows the power of intercultural exchange first-hand. In this intimate collection, he shares the stories of twenty Americans who have lived long enough in China to truly understand it.
Despite an at times fraught relationship between the two countries, these people have discovered up close that the China Dream and the American Dream are both the universal dream of peace and prosperity for our families and our nations..
Nice Places
by Vincent Chu
June 2, 2026; Forest Avenue Press, NetGalley
Genre: world travel, satire, humorous fiction
Advance Praise
A must-read book of 2026, The Sunday Times
"The Californian writer Vincent Chu pokes fun at the tired clichés of therapeutic retreats and transformative 'gap yahs' in this punchy satire."
—The Sunday Times
“Vincent Chu manages to recover the art of the travel narrative, dusting off the ashes of our expectations and capturing, with humorous, cutting prose, a picture of the places and people who might yet revive us."
—Tupelo Quarterly
"The jovial novel Nice Places finds philosophical gold beneath a surface of absurdity."
—Foreword Reviews
"Hilariously sharp, Nice Places is an anthem for anyone who has felt like a cog in the machine. Vincent Chu delivers a profound, high-stakes meditation on the identities we curate and the messy realities of finding where we truly belong.
What are you reading this week? Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday
East Meets West is definitely a winner for me, I will look for that at the library.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you enjoy these books Harvee.
ReplyDeleteI love the notion that what we all want is peace and prosperity. It feels like that can be the basis for a better world.
ReplyDeleteI detect a theme to your reading choices this month. I like reading on themes, too, often one book leads to another. Oddly mine in Moby-Dick right now.
ReplyDeleteI put both Japan, Beyond the Genkan and West Meets East: Stories of Americans in China on my TBR list
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated with Japan and China, so I'm always on the look out for books about them. I'm very curious about Nice Places. It will be interesting to see what you think about this story!
ReplyDeleteI am listening to Brighter Than Before by Courtney Walsh and reading Between the Sound and Sea by Amanda Cox, it is full of secrets and is so good.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy these, thanks for sharing your week.
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