Summary: Hirai Taro (1894-1965), much more familiar as Edogawa Rampo, was the first modern writer of mysteries in Japan. The author’s pen name is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of Edgar Allen Poe. Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination is a collection of nine bloodcurling, chilling tales present a genre of literature largely unknown to readers outside Japan. Lucid and packed with suspense, these stories have enthralled Japanese readers for half a century.

As a Detective Conan fan, reading these was a must! The stories are way different from Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes Tales. In a way, they were more about being weird, than mysterious. Yeah, they were just weird mostly. Rampo was way into psychology and incorporated the element into his stories a lot. This translation I had made this a fast and fun read. My favorite stories were The Red Chamber, Two Crippled Men, and The Twins.

Overall: 5/5

Summary: With broad strokes, Barry once again satirizes corporate America in his third caustic novel (after Jennifer Government).This time, he takes aim at the perennial corporate crime of turning people into cogs in a machine. Recent b-school grad Stephen Jones, afresh-faced new hire at a Seattle-based holding company called Zephyr,jumps on the fast track to success when he's immediately promoted from sales assistant to sales rep in Zephyr's training sales department."Don't try to understand the company. Just go with it," a colleague advises when Jones is flummoxed to learn his team sells training packages to other internal Zephyr departments. But unlike his co-workers, he won't accept ignorance of his employer's business, and his unusual display of initiative catapults him into the ranks of senior management, where he discovers the "customer-free" company's true, sinister raison d'être.

I loved it more than Jennifer's Government, which I read last summer. I really need to get around to reading Barry's first book, Syrup. Anyways, this book is humorous and well... mind-bogging. You read this book going "wtf" like Jones, the protagonist, until you find out what the company is really about. It's humorous and satirical, which makes it <3. I could not put this book now, and finished it one sitting.

Overall: 5/5