Welcome to J-Sei’s Virtual Book Club
Our next book that we’ll be reading together is
BULLET TRAIN by Kotaro Isaka
Book Club members will have a two-month window in which to read the book (it’s about 415 pages long, or about 50 pages per week). Along the way, you will be encouraged to add your input to the J-Sei Book Club blog and engage with other readers. Around September, we’ll meet as a group to discuss what we’ve read.
ENGAGING IN BOOK CLUB
Join the Club, Buy the Book
JOIN BOOK CLUB – Join the J-Sei Virtual Book Club and connect with others as we delve into a different book each season. For those interested in participating, send inquiry here (please include “Book Club” in your email’s subject line).
BUY THE BOOK – We have arranged with Eastwind Books to handle book sales. Just order the book online at the discounted price of 10%. You can elect to pick up at the store, arrange for shipping, or designate J-Sei for delivery/pick-up in your order (include this in the “Note to Seller” box when you place your order).
READING – Read the book at your own pace. While you’re reading, you’ll be notified when a posting has been updated as a check-in and to solicit your feedback.
REFLECTING – As you’re reading, you can access the secure J-Sei Book Club webpage (password-protected) anytime. On this Members-only webpage you’re free to submit observations, opinions, and questions in the Comment area as it strikes you and share your impressions with fellow Book Club members. Check back regularly to read comments submitted by the moderator and by other Book Club members.
CHAT – For a real-time online chat with fellow Book Club members, connect to DISCORD. Instructions to connect to the J-Sei Discord server are provided on the Members-only webpage.
DISCUSS – After allowing time for members to finish reading the book, we will schedule a Zoom meeting to get together and hear everybody’s thoughts about the book. Other special events may occur; members will be notified in advance. Thank you for your interest in J-Sei Book Club. Happy reading!
— Kathy Hashimoto, moderator
A massive bestseller in Japan, Bullet Train is an original and propulsive thriller that fizzes with an incredible energy and surprising humor as its complex net of double-crosses and twists unwind. Award-winning author Kotaro Isaka takes readers on a tension packed journey as the bullet train hurtles toward its final destination. Who will make it off the train alive—and what awaits them at the last stop?
“Part high-octane thriller, part farce, and laced with philosophical and literary debates, this is an unusual and thoroughly enjoyable read.” –The Guardian
About the Author
Kotaro Isaka is a bestselling, award-winning author of novels and short stories. After graduating from Tohoku University School of Law, he worked as a system engineer before switching to full-time fiction writing in 2000. He debuted as a writer with Audobon’s Prayer, which won the Shincho Mystery Club Award for new mystery writers. He has also won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize, and the Shibata Renzaburo Award. A prolific writer, he has to date written 25 novels and 14 short story collections, leading to 14 different movie adaptations and 1 TV limited series. So far, 3 novels and 2 short stories have been translated into English. His books, in Japanese and in foreign editions, have sold millions of copies around the world.
Previous Book Club books
