497 ratings | 99 reviews | avg rating:3.51

more photos (2)

DC’s Year In Books

DC’s 2024 Year in Books

Take a look at DC’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to DC’s 2024 Year in Books

DC Palter’s Followers (25)

DC’s Bookshelves

to-read (2)
currently-reading (8)
read (497)
best-books (8)
japan (2)

DC’s Friends (9)

Karimama

728 books | 37 friends

Elaine Post

762 books | 57 friends

Javier Rivero

1,140 books | 123 friends

Janine

782 books | 2 friends

Kỳ Nguyễn

1,924 books | 66 friends

Catherine

606 books | 7 friends

Bruce W.

67 books | 1 friend

Christina

668 books | 171 friends

More friends…

DC Palter

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://dcpalter.com

Twitter

dc_palter

Genre

Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Influences

Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie, Monty Python, Kurt Vonnegut

Member Since

February 2013

edit data

DC Palter is a startup founder and venture investor, with twenty-five years experience leading tech companies. His articles on venture funding are followed by tens of thousands of startup founders.

Living in Japan for many years as a research engineer, he became the first non-native person certified by the Japan Society as a Japanese language instructor. He’s the author of Colloquial Kansai Japanese, a guidebook to the Osaka-Kyoto dialect published by Tuttle, and editor-in-chief of Japonica, a daily journal of Japanese culture.

He is the first-ever winner of the Little Tokyo Fiction Contest for short stories in both Japanese and English. His first novel, To Kill a Unicorn, was a 2023 American Fiction Awards finalist for Best Mystery Novel a ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask DC Palter questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
DC Palter’s books

Average rating: 4.08 · 166 ratings · 76 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	To Kill a Unicorn 4.01 avg rating — 77 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Colloquial Kansai Japanese: The Dialects and Culture of the Kansai Region: A Japanese Phrasebook and Language Guide by DC Palter (Goodreads Author), Kaoru Slotsve 4.06 avg rating — 71 ratings — published 1995 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Countdown to Decryption 4.41 avg rating — 17 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Satellites and the Internet it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2003	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Kill A Unicorn (Japantown Murders Book 1) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by DC Palter…

2 posts
DC Palter's Blog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

One of my book clubs was reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery. I heard it had some relevance to Japan, and a quick search online showed that one of the main characters was named "Kakuro Ozu." Hmmm.

I almost didn't pick up the book. There are too many novels that feature Japan as a setting or include a Japanese character or two, written by people who know nothing about Japan and t Read more of this blog post »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 15, 2014 19:02 • Tags: barbery, elegance-of-the-hedgehog, kakuro, translation

View all 2 posts »

DC is Currently Reading

DC Palter is currently reading

Vera, or Faith

by Gary Shteyngart (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Nov 23, 2025 04:17PM

DC Palter is currently reading

The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science

by Dava Sobel

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Aug 26, 2025 11:33AM

DC Palter is currently reading

A Long Long Way

by Sebastian Barry

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jun 06, 2025 09:02PM

rss
DC’s Recent Updates

DC Palter is currently reading Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 23, 2025 04:17PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter rated a book it was amazing Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 23, 2025 07:18AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter rated a book really liked it Tilt: A Novel by Emma Pattee (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 12, 2025 06:50AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Tilt by Emma Pattee. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Tilt by Emma Pattee <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter rated a book really liked it The Antidote by Karen Russell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 05, 2025 06:51AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Antidote by Karen Russell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Antidote by Karen Russell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter rated a book liked it The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 18, 2025 01:55PM · 2 likes · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter rated a book liked it Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 13, 2025 06:02PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter is currently reading Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 13, 2025 02:04AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter rated a book really liked it How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 11, 2025 02:03AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter is currently reading Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 27, 2025 07:18AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
DC Palter rated a book it was ok The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 27, 2025 07:18AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">