I have only read むらさきのスカートの女 and Convenience Store Woman (in English) and I liked them both. What I really appreciate is that they weren’t ‘preachy’, like a lot of modern books. Because of that I liked the characters a lot.
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You may like おいしいごはんが食べられますように or 破局 then since the author leaves things a little ambiguous and up to your own interpretation. ハンチバック was also great but slightly more “preachy” in the sense that the author made it overt what topics she was writing about. But there is still a lot for me to think about and interpret after reading the book and I don’t have a negative feeling at all like I would when a book is preachy.
ETA: Also check out 穴. I personally didn’t enjoy it but I can see how others might, and it has an English translation if you want to dual read. 
I know what you mean though, these days a lot of books published in the Anglosphere are a bit on the nose in terms of the message.
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Thank you! I’ll check them 
I live in a very sexist country, so even the “preachy” ones are welcomed by me 
. It’s just that with limited time and money if I have to choose one book, I prefer to read one that gives me more space to think and figure things out for myself, and is less ‘loud’.
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I am curious what word autocorrect got confused with here. 
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“can”? But I don’t see how.
I personally liked 穴 very much, but I can see how others might not. 
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Confused? 
For me this means “I (being Texan)” or “for me (as a Texan)” but maybe I’m wrong after all
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Why would being Texan affect one’s enjoyment of a book?
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Lol 
it was “can” and a tragic accident caused by the swipe functionality on my mobile keyboard. Corrected now haha!
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I love autocorrect mistakes. They amuse me. Maybe I am too easily amused, but I get enjoyment out of them.
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Because different nationalities and/or surroundings imply different world views and opinions and tastes, was my take Like, I sometimes enjoy other things than people from other countries. 
But yeah, there was a much easier answer
Now I’m curious: Are you Texan after all? 
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I am not and I’m not even sure I’ve ever typed that word on my phone before so I’m not sure how it ended up in my autocorrect! I am glad this has brought so much amusement, though.
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One of the booktubers I follow posted a video introducing all of the winners since 2020, so I thought I’d share in case anyone is interested.
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I finished reading 貝に続く場所にて | L41, the winner from 2021年上半期! Will share my spontaneous review here 
Rating: 
貝に続く場所にて deals with the topic of memory, both individual and collective, death and loss, and distance. The narrator is an art history student from Sendai living in Göttingen and working on her doctoral thesis. She lived through the earthquake in 2011 and lost her sempai to the tsunami, but hasn’t processed her feelings about that time or his death. Suddenly he contacts her one day to let her know that he is coming to Göttingen, and they reunite for the first time in nine years. After his arrival, time begins to warp and strange things start happening all over the town…
This is one of the most complex Akutagawa books I’ve read so far, not necessarily from a language standpoint, but from a literary standpoint. The story is filled with symbolism and metaphors and reading it felt like slowly piecing together a puzzle, working from the border pieces inwards as I slowly got more info. Despite being somewhat dense, the prose was beautiful and a pleasure to read. 石沢麻衣, being an art historian herself (I believe?), incorporates this background into her writing, describing the settings and actions almost like a painting, with special care given to light, color and contrast. While the storyline takes an abstract turn towards the end, the descriptive language ensured that I could still keep a visual grasp of the unfolding events, which I found impressive. All in all, I’m not sure if I had fun reading the book, but it was an experience and the ideas presented in it were fully explored in a way that created an emotional catharsis at the end.
This contained a lot of specialized vocabulary related to astronomy and art history, specifically medieval European religious artwork and saints, which could make this challenging for most readers here. So, I’m not sure I’d recommend this for anyone who wants to casually read an Akutagawa prize book. If you’re looking for something to really dig into though, this may be an interesting one for you.
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Unblocking this thread for @bungakushoujo
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The Akutagawa prize for the first half of 2024 will be announced tomorrow and even though this is pretty late, I thought it may be fun to make a prediction poll on the winners!
- 東京都同情塔 by 九段理江
- 猿の戴冠式 by 小砂川チト
- Blue by 川野芽生
- 迷彩色の男 by 安堂ホセ
- アイスネルワイゼン by 三木三奈
- ダブル受賞！ Comment which two books you think will win
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voters
There are Youtube videos with summaries of each at this YouTube channel if you want to practice your listening:
They are unfortunately not super informational - but the あらすじ of each if you want to read them and make your best guess for fun:
『迷彩色の男』安堂ホセ
〈怒りは屈折する〉。ーー都内のクルージングスポットで26歳の男が暴行された姿で発見される。事件の背後に浮かびあがる”迷彩色の男”を描いた、最注目作家の第二作。
『猿の戴冠式』小砂川チト
ある事件以降、引きこもっていたしふみはテレビのなかに「おねえちゃん」を見つけ動植物園へ向かう。言葉を機械学習させられた過去のある類人猿ボノボ”シネノ”と邂逅し、魂をシンクロさせ交歓していくーー”わたしたちには、わたしたちだけに通じる最強のおまじないがある”。
幻想と現実が互いに侵蝕していく圧倒的筆致。
人間存在の根源的な闇に光をあてる”唯一無二の才能”。
『東京都同情塔』九段理江
ザハの国立競技場が完成し、寛容論が浸透したもう一つの日本で、新しい刑務所「シンパシータワートーキョー」が建てられることに。犯罪者に寛容になれない建築家・牧名は、仕事と信条の乖離に苦悩しながら、パワフルに未来を追求する。ゆるふわな言葉と実のない正義の関係を豊かなフロウで暴く、生成AI時代の預言の書。
『アイスネルワイゼン』三木三奈
32歳のピアノ講師・田口琴音は、さいきん仕事も恋人との関係もうまく行っていない。そんな中、ひさびさに連絡をとった友人との再会から、事態は思わず方向へと転がっていくーー。静かな日常の中にひそむ「静かな崖っぷち」を描き、心ゆすぶる表題作（第170回芥川賞候補作）。
選考委員の絶賛を浴びた文學界新人賞受賞作「アキちゃん」を併録。「すべての結果としてこの作品は、新人離れした堂々たる手腕を示すことになった」（川上未映子氏の選評より）
『Blue』川野芽生
『人魚姫』を翻案したオリジナル脚本『姫と人魚姫』を高校の文化祭で上演することになり、人魚姫を演じることになった真砂は、個性豊かな演劇部のメンバーと議論を交わし劇をつくりあげていく。しかし数年後、大学生になった当時の部員たちに再演の話が舞い込むも、真砂は「主演は他をあたって」と固辞してしまい……。
自分で選んだはずの生き方、しかし選択肢なんてなかった生き方。
社会規範によって揺さぶられる若きたましいを痛切に映しだす、いま最も読みたいトランスジェンダーの物語。
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I want 迷彩色の男 by 安堂ホセ and Blue by 川野芽生 to win, but probably not gonna happen. They sound really interesting, though.
I am not sure I completely understand what the rest of the books is about. 
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You can watch the announcement live here:
The 170th Akutagawa Prize and Naoki Prize Announcement & Winners’ Press Conference - Wednesday, January 17, 2024 16:00 - Nico Nico Live Broadcast (nicovideo.jp)
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It looks liked @Negin and I guessed correctly and the winner is 東京都同情塔! 
How exciting that we now have another Akutagawa prize book to read for this challenge.
Anyone planning to read 東京都同情塔 or any of the other nominees? 迷彩色の男 and the monkey one, 猿の戴冠式, sounded quite interesting to me.
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I think I need to get my reading level up first. The arasuji already sounded so confusing for some of them that I don’t think I’d have a great time with them right now. 
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I’m also curious about アイスネルワイゼン, mostly because I don’t understand what it might be about, but people seemed to praise it a lot, and even thought it might win?
In any case, I’ll happily read any of these, although it’s usually best to let some time pass, they tend to be expensive at first.
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