Fiona here with a book recommendation, actually one that my reading book will be discussing this evening, and possibly even chatting with the author via Skype. Tracy Franz used to live in Kumamoto and wrote this memoir of her time here while her husband was training to be a Zen monk. She writes about her job at a local college, pottery lessons, karate, meditation and challenging trips to Alaska… it’s a fascinating read and if you’ve been in Kumamoto a while there’s the added bonus of occasionally meeting a character in the book who is someone you know. The book is called My Year of Dirt and Water and is published by Stone Bridge Press. Here’s a review that was in the Japan Times: