Since the pandemic began, I haven’t picked up any books outside of my professional textbooks and reference works—I’ve spent most of my free time on games and videos. Lately I’ve felt that this fragmented pace combined with quick dopamine hits has seriously eroded my ability to read and think, so I’ve decided to do a quarterly roundup of everything I’ve read (kind of my New Year’s resolution for 2025 🤔). In this first phase, my main goal is simply to restore my reading stamina, so I’ve chosen mostly easy‑to‑read mystery novels; once my reading ability rebounds and the brain fog lifts, I’ll gradually work my way up to heftier, more serious works.

体育館の殺人 - (New Star Press) Yūgo Aosaki

The first volume in the Urazome Tenma series. Compared with the next two entries, it really hit the ground running. Although the core device is a bit transparent, the deductive reasoning is so tight and well executed that it hardly matters—highly recommended.

水族館の殺人 - (New Star Press) Yūgo Aosaki

The second Urazome Tenma novel. It leans more into slice‑of‑life (if that’s what I wanted, I’d read Yabusaka Hayasaka’s light‑novel–style mysteries…). The suspects lack distinctiveness—I guessed the culprit immediately, and neither the clues nor the central trick stand out.

図書館の殺人 - (New Star Press) Yūgo Aosaki

The third Urazome Tenma story. The suspense and scene‑setting in the first half are very gripping, but the motive and reveal at the end fall flat. Hope the next episode 映画館の殺人 avoids the same missteps…

風ヶ丘五十円玉祭りの謎 - (New Star Press) Yūgo Aosaki

A short‑story collection, but apart from ノッキンオン・ロックドドア 1, it’s by far the most engaging volume so far. The everyday logic and debate sequences are solid—definitely worth a read.

ノッキンオン・ロックドドア 2 - (New Star Press) Yūgo Aosaki

The sequel short‑story anthology; the puzzles here are even weaker than in the first volume, and the few linked main‑cast episodes feel too bland. It would adapt well to animation—there’s yaoi appeal plus straightforward tricks and motives.

早朝始発の殺風景 - (New Star Press) Yūgo Aosaki

Another short‑story collection set in a youth‑campus environment… The logic and deduction in this one are even more muted than in the previous two, and the final character tie‑ins are utterly predictable.

メルカトルと美袋のための殺人 - (fan‑translated via ZLibrary) Yutaka Maya

An excellent short‑story collection. My favorite is Maya’s earliest career piece, シベリア急行西へ，and Maya truly lives up to the nickname “Maya‑god”-highly recommended.

Story of Your Life - (Yilin Press) Ted Chiang

I actually first read this short‑story collection around 2018 but abandoned it due to its heavy philosophical and religious explorations. Looking back, the title story Story of Your Life is the standout—given Chiang’s ethical background, I suspect the heptapod language subtly alludes to Chinese characters. More importantly, it’s a profound exploration of causality. Chiang’s ideas are deeply inspiring; this collection is well worth your time.

Alles, was Sie über Charlie Munger wissen müssen - (CITIC Press) Rolf Morrien/ Heinz Vinkelau

A dreadful little booklet. Whereas Poor Charlie’s Almanack at least included some of Charlie Munger’s actual speeches, this feels like two authors talking to themselves after stripping out all the details and case studies. It’s absurd that such a thin, worthless pamphlet still retails for over ¥40. Dog poop.

Overall, Q1 2025 was a strong start: after a handful of mystery and sci‑fi reads, my reading ability is slowly recovering, and I’m once again willing to carve out uninterrupted time for books. I have to admit, though, that most of what I read this quarter was by Yūgo Aosaki—and none of it lived up to the “Heisei Ellery Queen” label. With that time, I’d have been better off playing more puzzle games…

My Q2 (April–June) shortlist is already taking shape, including:

• And Suddenly an Inverntor Appeared (might pick up some useful tricks for work)
• One Up on Wall Street (worth reading for multiple times!)
• Source Code (this year marks Microsoft’s 50th anniversary; after reading Bill Gates’s blog post about origianal Altair BASIC source code, I immediately decided to buy his memoir)
• The Insulted and Injured
  …