Hi everyone. I figured I should follow Ana's lead and introduce myself as I've also just been granted official membership status. Here's a few notes about me.

I'm an American, living in Tochigi Prefecture in Japan. I've been living here for roughly three years or so and continue to find new reasons to stay. The food, the culture, the books.

Although I don't read Japanese very well, I've developed an affection for Japanese authors. I have to resort to the translated versions, but, in particular, I'm a huge fan of both Haruki Murakami and Leiji Matsumoto (he writes manga, but I'm counting him).

Authors from the rest of the world that I enjoy include Mark Twain, Hemmingway, Nabakov, Jules Verne, and H. G. Wells.

Of course, I only read those guys every couple of years. When I'm in the bookstore I tend to devour anything by Neil Gaiman, Alan Dean Foster, Robert J. Sawyer, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Letham, and Isaac Adamson.

The list goes on.

I became interested in Bookblog after reading a post on neilgaiman.com (I may be remembering this wrongly so don't shoot) and realizing that I had read many of the books that have been discussed combined with a desire to read several of the books up for discussion in the coming months. I look forward to discussing things with all of you and to hosting a book sometime. Thanks.

Joel