Reviews

An exchange of letters between Suzumi Suzuki and Chizuko Ueno. As I read it, I got the impression that, if anything, Chizuko Ueno was providing mental counseling to Suzumi Suzuki. What struck me most strongly was the obvious yet undeniable fact that an individual’s values and ideas can ultimately only arise from their own personal experiences. Ryomi Suzuki’s views and judgments regarding men are grounded in her own extensive experiences and differ significantly from my own values. However, bo...

A collection of essays that offers a glimpse into the mind of the relatively unprolific George Orwell. In particular, I could discern his perspective on power throughout many of the essays. I truly came to realize that the ideas embedded in *Animal Farm* and *1984* were grounded in his experiences during the Spanish Civil War and his time serving as a police officer in Burma. In particular, I felt that “The Hanging” and “Shooting an Elephant” were essays that only he could have written.

This is a practical introductory guide for those who are thinking, “I want to implement a recommendation system, but I don’t know where to start.” It goes beyond simply explaining algorithms to cover how to manage projects, UI/UX, integration into actual systems, and performance evaluation. In reality, when dealing with recommendation systems in a professional setting, it’s rarely enough to simply be well-versed in algorithms alone, so I strongly agree with the decision to structure a book th...

Written by an author specializing in cultural anthropology and African studies, this book introduces surprising business practices uncovered through in-depth research into Hong Kong’s Tanzanian immigrant community. Working in the IT industry can lead one to fall into a narrow-minded view where “business equals web services,” but this book shatters such preconceptions.

Even in Reiwa-era Japan, which is supposed to be an “era of diversity,” this ensemble drama depicts the hardships faced by those who cannot hope to be included within that “diversity,” as well as the prejudice directed at them. The portrayal of the characters is frighteningly realistic, and I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of person the author is (and how they perceive themselves). After that, I read some of their other works, including the “Yutori Trilogy,” and became a huge fan.

It has an overall gloomy feel to it, and with reality and fantasy existing side by side, it gives off a “dark and gory Haruki Murakami” vibe. Genre-wise, it might be similar to Sayaka Murata’s work.

I’d been seeing it mentioned all over the place since it was first published, so I was curious about it, but I hesitated to read it after seeing the 2021 controversy over the reproducibility of behavioral economics. However, recently, with the emergence of OpenAI o1—said to employ System 2 thinking—Sam Altman’s endorsement, and the proposal of a preference optimization algorithm inspired by prospect theory, I’ve been seeing it mentioned more frequently again, so I finally decided to give it a...

Everyone who's read it has nothing but praise for it, so I'm curious—I can't wait to read it.

In this book, the author—who was Facebook’s COO at the time—discusses what can be done to increase the number of female leaders, drawing on anecdotes from her own career and family life. Although the title might be misleading, this book is not intended solely for women. It candidly shares stories—including how even someone of Ms. Sandberg’s stature often loses confidence and experiences imposter syndrome—and I found it encouraging to read from a male perspective as well. I also learned that...

I first learned about it through the film *All of a Sudden*, set in Paris and screened at the Cannes Film Festival. *Suddenly Feeling Unwell* is a collection of letters exchanged between Makiko Miyano, a philosopher diagnosed with cancer, and her friend, medical anthropologist Maho Isono. Being diagnosed with cancer is not simply a matter of “getting sick.” It means that a life you had taken for granted—one you assumed would continue indefinitely—suddenly transforms into a life where “you don...

A collection of essays by Russian interpreter Mari Yonehara, focusing on food cultures from throughout history and around the world—with a particular emphasis on Russia and Eastern Europe. This book explores not only the uniqueness of the foods themselves, but also the history and cultural context behind “why those foods came to be eaten in those regions.” I was particularly surprised by the episode about livestock blood in Prague, where she spent her childhood (there was a service that...

I like how the character’s emotional shifts are portrayed with care without being overly dramatic. People like this protagonist, who can put their thoughts into words, are amazing. I guess it’s necessary for making proper choices and decisions. This really makes me reflect on my own life, which I often just drift through without much thought!

The act of writing a novel means being bound by a theme one has chosen oneself. The situation for book reviewers is even worse; they are bound by the works they are tasked with discussing. Just as an author writes about fictional characters, why shouldn’t a book reviewer try writing about fictional books? Wouldn’t this restore creative freedom and bring the spirit of the author and the spirit of the critic together? That is the argument being made. The idea might be interesting, but I got tir...

I read this around the time it was making headlines for winning the Akutagawa Prize. The story is set in Tokyo in 2030. LLMs have become completely mainstream, and everyone uses a chat AI called “AI-built” for writing and research. The protagonist is Sara Machina, a world-renowned architect who designed the recently constructed Tokyo Sympathy Tower (commonly known as the Tokyo Sympathy Tower) near Shinjuku Gyoen. Although the tower functions as a prison, its inner workings are entirely...

BUTTER" (written by Asako Yuzuki, Shinchosha, 2020) is a suspense inspired by the serial murder case committed by defendant Kanae Kishima. The model woman, Manako Kajii, is arrested on suspicion of serial murder after bilking middle-aged men out of their money, but the work focuses less on the case itself and more on the emotional changes in Rika, a weekly magazine reporter who meets with her. As Rika actually cooks and reports on the food she was assigned as a condition for the interview, sh...

This is a truly unique book that explains the fundamentals of cooking—such as “how our sense of taste works,” “how fats, proteins, and sugars change with temperature,” and “how cooking tools work”—from a scientific perspective. Since it’s nearly 500 pages long, it took me several years to finish reading it, but it satisfied my curiosity while helping me improve my cooking skills—making it the perfect book for someone like me who loves both cooking and science. Since reading this book, cooking...

I read this to my kids, but the repetitive nature and lack of variety make it a bit of a chore to read.

This book is similar in concept to *The Laws of UX Design*, but as the title “101 Rules” suggests, it offers more concrete, immediately applicable techniques. Here are a few that stood out to me: Icons should have text labels, but text should not be placed inside the icons Even in flat design, buttons should look like buttons. Make destructive actions reversible. It’s also considerate to display a “Do you want to undo this?” option after the action is executed. When the user journey is long,...

This is a collection of UX design principles based on psychology. It is based on the author’s website, “Laws of UX.” Since it’s a collection of principles, it doesn’t contain anything particularly new, but as a user, I often feel that products I find inconvenient tend to fail to adhere to these principles.

I read this book when I moved from Japan to France in 2023, and I realized that I had been putting most of its advice into practice without even realizing it. It was helpful to use it as a way to check my understanding. You can find a record of our discussion based on this book here: https://hippocampus-garden.com/dual_career_couples/

*Product Management: Avoiding Build Traps and Delivering Value to Customers* (by Melissa Perri, translated by Ryutaro Yoshiha, O’Reilly Japan, 2020) is also often cited as a prime example of a product development book. However, this book focuses more on organizational topics than *The Complete Guide to Product Management* and advances its arguments through a narrative set in a fictional company. Since the content and writing style differ significantly from the other book, reading both will...

*Everything About Product Management: From Business Strategy, IT Development, UX Design, and Marketing to Team and Organizational Management* (Takuya Oikawa, Kumiko Ogi, Haruki Sonehara, Shoeisha, 2021) is an ambitious book that attempts to comprehensively explain the full range of tasks required in product management. As can be seen from related articles published by the author, Ms. Ogi, this book articulates, systematizes, and diagrams abstract knowledge that has not been formalized. I...

This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to get a glimpse into the authentic world of Italian cuisine. While it costs two to three times as much as a typical cookbook, it offers two to three times the content and quality, so you won’t regret buying it. In addition to professional-grade recipes, it covers everything from explanations of ingredients like various types of pasta and cheese to the history of Italian cuisine. It also delves into the differences in culinary culture acros...

Birds living in cities coexist with human society thanks to their remarkable adaptability. *The Ecology of Urban Birds* (by Koichi Karasawa) introduces the ecology of wild birds unique to urban environments, such as peregrine falcons hunting for prey from the tops of skyscrapers, rock thrushes targeting beehives on the rooftops of Ginza buildings, and Japanese bush warblers feeding on midges emerging from manhole covers. The author’s passion for research is extraordinary; I was amazed by the...