After spending two years in the land of the rising sun, I'll be packing my bags and jetting off to my homeland in just a few days. Among my things, I'll be bringing a young adult fantasy series with me and a bunch of books ranging from The Sea of Trolls to Half the Sky. I'd like to use this post as a chance to think about how the writing and the reading fit into everything else I've done here, teaching English, learning about the culture, and living life.

In Japan, it's commonly believed...