yet another request for books to read

I haven't partied this hard since... well, since never. I have a tendency of liking quiet nights at home, but ever since coming to Japan, I've been out and about way more than ever. It might be because everything still feels temporary and I'm still adjusting to the fact that yes, I will have a whole year here where I can explore Japan, get a feel of a whole new world, and become One with my desk. =P

I have requests again.

It turns out that I have plenty of free time too. Enough so that I've been getting back to my oldest hobby: reading. During college, it was hard to find free time (or any time) to read besides the shitload of stuff we read for classes (which, while very good on its own, is not something I personally relax too. Maybe some of you do. And more power to you). Here, I have a few hours where I can just sprawl on my loveseat and absorb material I'd been meaning to read but never got around to. It's quite gratifying.

So.

So far I either have with me in Japan or is on its merry way in one of the four boxes coming:

Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell
The Historian
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Kafka on the Shore
Good Omens, random Discworld books
A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius
Kushiel Trilogy
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Catch-22
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Handmaid's Tale
Lolita
Fight Club
Wicked
Harry Potter (eventually all six)
Sandman Vol 1 (still haven't read this, but ellen_fredemon suggested it a long time ago (Nimbus) and I've finally gotten around to getting it)
Anita Blake (the first one)

Yeah, it's a pretty random selection of books, but I would love more books to put on my booshelves. For one... these are finally MY bookshelves! My home! My little hole in the world! It's an unbelievable feeling and I want to make it a cozy little place with books and love and food and... anime and manga and just so much stuff. =)

Um, yeah.

Also, cedarlibrarian - is there any website you'd recommend to browse through on a regular basis to find books? My way and tendency is to wander around the bookstore and library looking at random covers, but that's a little difficult to do in Japan.

Still need to send out a torrent of things.

Anime Night

I'm going to have a steady (probably weekly) anime night at my apartment.

Suggestions on what to show? I can dl just about anything that's not been licensed and I can buy everything else on Amazon (do people know whether the other anime DVD sites deliver to Japan?). I have some ideas, but what would people suggest for a good starter anime? And no, I'm not going to show DBZ or Sailor Moon (though I kind of want to show Sailor Moon. Good stuff, good stuff). I'm willing to go for almost any show, but some of the people attending are anime newbies, and I don't want to shock them into never watching anime again. ~_^

I'm such a request-whore.

But yes! Just toss out your anime names to me!

And by the way; while I have found people into yaoi and slash, I unfortunately will be unable to show them things like Sukisyo or Loveless or even Yami no Matsuei. =( Muraki would have been so fun to watch.