Well, I copied both of your test answers, so there!
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I’d like to join the bingo for 2025, no idea how to make the super cool cards with the book covers on them but think it would be a good idea to encourage me to read more out of my TBR pile and hopefully encourage less new buys for 2025 for me 
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Honestly low-key hilarious that so far almost all of us are picking the same 4 options, the odds of that happening 
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I want to join the 2025 bingo! 
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So, an update on my Korean Bingo. I decided to go for pictures as I lost the original list to my bingo anyway, so this works too and I get to see the book covers.
I haven’t read that much, but hey, that’s two bingos!
Previously read
- In TBR the longuest: 흥부전 | L16
- New author: 바보 동자 | L22
- Something free: 저녁 같이 드실래요? 1 | L19
- 1 volume in a day: 구멍놀이 친구 | L19
- Fantasy setting: 마녀를 잡아라 | L23
- Book that I added: 책이 사라진 날 | L19
- Book club pick: 이상한 과자 가게 전천당 1 | L20
- No reviews/gradings/ratings: 매일매일 아침밥 먹으리 | L22
- Non human protagonist: 우리는 조구만 존재야 | L21
- Highest Natively level: 심청전 | L25??
Potential future reads
I’m still not sure what I’ll do for the series. I don’t think I’ll finish the Darakwon Korean Readers 다락원 한국어 학습문고 | L11-13 this year, probably early next year. The new A2 book I can read quickly, but the C2 one not so much. As for 사라진 날 | L19 , unfortunately only 4 out of 5 of the books are on Storytel, so I won’t be finishing that one either.
For the lucky draw, I’ve settled on 죽이고 싶은 아이 | L25, for lightest cover, I just need to finish reading it.
I’ll probably do 밤을 건너는 소년 | L26?? for the novel with an award, as long as I manage to keep up with the book club’s rythm.
And well, for the debut, I have 아몬드 | L27 sitting on my shelves, but I’m really doubtful as to whether I’ll finish it before the end of the year, we’ll see.
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Ok so it seems like yes we want to do some bingo again and we’d like a separate thread. I’ll get something set up this weekend. 
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Almost a month since I last updated
Well, I did read a few things since the last time.
Published in 2007: 伯爵と妖精 花嫁修業は薔薇迷宮で | L30
Historical fiction: 吉原手引草 | L46??
Oldest bought: 妖狐×僕SS いぬぼくシークレットサービス 1 | L24 (Not the one I was planning to read, but it is true that I bought this one much earlier… it’s just that I sold it before finishing it the first time around 
)
That’s like 5 bings bongs, I reckon?
Previous stuff
- Food related title: 幻想古書店で珈琲を 青薔薇の庭園へ | L31 (Coffee is foodstuff, right? I think my blood is at least 33% coffee at this point, so I think it counts)
- Shares a kana initial with me: ゴーストハント1 旧校舎怪談 | L33
- Debut work: しかもフタが無い (ちくま文庫 よ-32-1) | L26??
- Cheapest (not free): 京都寺町三条のホームズ | L31
- TBR male author: 瞳ちゃんは人見知り 1 | L18
- One character title: 穴 | L36
- TBR shortest title: 破局 | L32 (this only works because I finished 穴 first and thus removed it from my TBR)
- TBR random: 十二秘色のパレット 第1巻 | L23??
- TBR female author: ギンモクセイの仕立て屋 上
- Read for free: 地獄くらやみ花もなき 肆 百鬼疾る夜行列車 | L31
- “most recently published TBR” 本好きの下剋上 ハンネローレの貴族院五年生1 | L32??
- “TBR longest title”: 魔法使いの引っ越し屋 勇者の隠居・龍の旅立ち・魔法図書館の移転、どんな依頼でもお任せください | L30
- spicy: 阿修羅ガール | L29
- Non human portag: 地獄くらやみ花もなき 参 蛇喰らう宿 | L31
- No reviews/ratings: 好き好き大好き超愛してる。 | L31
- TBR next in series: 女装してめんどくさい事になってるネクラとヤンキーの両片想い 12巻 | L25
- No other adaptation: 30歳まで童貞でいたら魔法少女になりました 1 | L28??
- TBR warm colors: 7SEEDS 外伝 | L30
- “wholesome”: 事情を知らない転校生がグイグイくる。 1 | L21
- “fiction of non fiction”: どこの家にも怖いものはいる | L32
- TBR cool colors: 吸血鬼はお年ごろ | L26
- TBR colorful cover: 忘らるる物語 | L34??
- latest bought: 私の推しは悪役令嬢。2 | L33
- workplace: わたし、定時で帰ります。 | L35
- TBR lightest cover: リウーを待ちながら 1 | L30??
- TBR darkest cover: リウーを待ちながら(2) | L30??
- Non-fiction: スマホはどこまで脳を壊すか | L30??
- Award winner: ハンチバック | L33
- TBR don’t remember why: 本を守ろうとする猫の話 | L31
- TBR hesitate the most: 私の推しは悪役令嬢。 | L33
- TBR easiest: ふらいんぐうぃっち 6 | L19
- Lowest level: 人外さんの嫁 1巻 (ZERO-SUMコミックス) | L17
- Prettiest book: 地獄くらやみ花もなき 弐 生き人形の島 | L31
- “shortest TBR” 銀河鉄道の夜 | L32
- “no middle- or high-schooler” 後宮の烏 | L36
- “elderly main character” 献灯使 | L39
- “has media adaptation” スレイヤーズ 1 | L35
- “hardest ever” 春琴抄 | L52??
- “what should I read next” どうも、噂の悪女でございます 聖女の力は差し上げるので、私はお暇頂戴します ベリーズファンタジー | L30??
- “ultimate random” このたび不本意ながら、神様の花嫁になりました1巻 | L24??
- “finish a series” (technically just the latest published volume): TRPGプレイヤーが異世界で最強ビルドを目指す 9 下 ~ヘンダーソン氏の福音を~ | L40
- Untranslated: TRPGプレイヤーが異世界で最強ビルドを目指す 4 上 ~ヘンダーソン氏の福音を~ | L40 | Natively (kinda feels like cheating, but it’s true).
- Vol2: 葬送のフリーレン 2 | L25 | Natively
- Book club: 今日からマのつく自由業! | L33 | Natively
- New to me author: 東京ヒゴロ 1 | L28 | Natively
- In a single day: 蟲師 1 | L29 | Natively
- Contains a character that speaks a dialect: 神様はじめました | L28 | Natively(putting the series because I don’t remember in which volume she appears first)
- Bad cover: TRPGプレイヤーが異世界で最強ビルドを目指す 2 ~ヘンダーソン氏の福音を | L40 | Natively
- Chosen for me: BANANA FISH 1 | L33 | Natively
- Webstore suggestion: TRPGプレイヤーが異世界で最強ビルドを目指す 3 ~ヘンダーソン氏の福音を~ | L40 | Natively
- Added by you: ドッグスレッド 1 | L28?? | Natively
- Published 2020~ TRPGプレイヤーが異世界で最強ビルドを目指す 1 ~ヘンダーソン氏の福音を~ | L40 | Natively (that means I am using different volumes from the same series twice, but I guess that’s legit?)
- 神社⛩️ 神様はじめました 第1巻 | L28 | Natively
- 0~1 kanji in the title BANANA FISH 2 | L33 | Natively (already used volume 1)
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Just six left, if I’m not miscounting. You’re so close to a blackout!
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7! But yes, getting there!
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New squares:
- Read a debut: class X | L24
- Read something with no reviews/gradings/ratings on Natively: 明烏夢恋唄 | L25 (had a few choices for this one, but this one has a pretty cover)
- Read a book with a bad cover/read a book you bought or wanted to read despite the cover: https://learnnatively.com/book/fb4d459132/ (it’s drawn by the child the manga is a biography of)
- Read something from the free samples/something you can read for free: こぼれ落ちた砂~無戸籍のまま生きて~ 話売り #1 (エレガンスイブ&フォアミセスCOMICS) | L22 (first chapter was free)
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I haven’t updated in a while. 6 bings! All at once!
Books finished June-Oct
- Frieren 1-2 For the New author (to me) category and non-human protagonist. I’m leading the club at WK for this book and enjoying it a lot!
- しろくまカフェ 1 for workplace setting with the repeat club at WK. I bought all 4 volumes years ago in one of my first attempts to read in Japanese. It’s fun to now be further in my journey and able to enjoy these in a light-hearted way.
- 都道府県のおはなし - in the cover with cool colors category. This one has some interesting facts, but since they don’t always feel like the most important things about a prefecture, or explored in depth, it was a bit boring and I was glad to see the back of it (it was my first attempt to join a book club)
- なぜ?どうして?科学のお話2年生 - in the non-fiction category. Again, this was in my “bought years ago for my first attempts to read Japanese”. For this series, I much preferred the biographies book (link in below finished in February)
Now my reading is packed with continuing series from books I’ve finished here that won’t fulfill any more squares: (Frieren 3, しろくまカフェ 2, 脱出せよ 2, Slam Dunk 2, Zenitendo 5) and the current WK IBC book 妊娠カレンダー that starts tomorrow. Originally I thought I might give up on the last two Bing squares, but today I was thinking about getting a Natively streak of levels. I have a gap from 15-17 that I could fill with free Tadoku readers- and those would be perfect for the last two squares. Even though that would be super easy for me now, they would be harder than the level 14 manga I was happy to finish at the beginning of the year! I think I’ll do that, then my longest Natively streak would be from level 13-20 
just for fun.
Previously posted
I finished 3 books in the last month (May-ish):
- ジャングルから脱出せよ (Survival Jungle Escape Book) - A choose your own adventure book I found that fits the category “Add Book to Natively”. We’re choosing which one to read next if anyone wants to join the club on WK.
- とんがり帽子のアトリエ 1 (Witch Hat Atelier 1) Coming in at Natively Level 26 for my “hardest read yet” category.
- チョコっとちょこちゃん 1 (Little Miss Chocolate) - winner of “bad cover” - I feel like everything from this publisher looks the same. “Cute little blond girl does x” but it was cute and easy to read. I’m going to attempt reading Vol 2 in one day at the end of the year to complete my card.
I finished 2 books in April:
- Slam Dunk 1 - “Award winner” and I started an informal club on WK as I’m totally reading the whole thing!
- ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂 1 (Zenitendo: Mysterious Sweet Shop 1) - “Book Club” which I throughly enjoyed and I’ll definitely continue this series
I finished 3 books in February
- 10分で読める伝記 2年生 - (Biographies you can read in 10 min Grade 2) “longest on tbr pile”. I wrote a nostalgic retrospective on my log at WK
- Reading Road - “no reviews” (which now has my review)
- ちいさな森のオオカミちゃん 2 (Wolf of the small forest 2) - “finished a series”
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So it looks like I might be doing another cdjapan order this year after all, so I’m looking for bingo square candidates. Anybody got suggestions for finding “non human protagonist” books? Natively has a lot of tags, but that isn’t one of them…
(Natively has no “order search results by number of pages”, either, which is a little bit niche but would be handy for finding “read in one day” candidates.)
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I only know the classic 吾輩が猫である (which you probably read already) and 狼と香辛料 (which you might have read as well), but I asked one of my language partners, and he came up with the following:
The story of a family car:
The story of a bee:
A 東野圭吾 written from the perspective of a marionet:
Maybe one of them strikes your fancy?
(PS: I used 世界から猫が消えたなら as my “non-human protagonist” book but it’s a bit of a lie as there is a human protagonist as well as non-human one and a cat , and also it’s a bit of a tearjerker so not sure if I want to recommend it).
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Yes (P.S. は not が ) and yes (though I would say that Laurence was the protagonist in that one personally). I’ll have a look at your suggestions…
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Not a suggestion for how to find, but a recommendation for 木になった亜沙 | L27! The first short story has non humans.
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At 156 pages that might be a candidate for “read in a day”… (I’m also considering 夢について | L30?? for that – contra the Natively classification, I think this might be non fiction essays.)
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I enjoyed 優しい死神の飼い方 | L30 - the main character is a dog and a shinigami. It’s definitely on the ‘intentionally heartwarming’ side of things, and a bit over-explained at time, but it was fun and the plot was interesting.
本を守ろうとする猫の話 | L29 has gotten mixed reviews, but I personally enjoyed it a lot. I think if you approach it as a children’s book it’s much more fun than the adult novel it supposedly is.
I don’t seem to have read many non-human protag books myself, though
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Natively allows you to export your data in the csv format. You can then use your favorite software to sort by page numbers.
Of course that only works with stuff in your wishlist
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I did it! I had a lot of stuff on my plate in September and October so my reading time suffered a lot compared to the months before, but I’m still super proud 
Took the liberty to put 日本男色物語 for the “higher level” square even though the original writing in it is not that hard, because brother, it’s been 10 years since I had to engage with 漢文 and 文語 and all of that 
(and the author did not always provide 現代語訳). Also so many 仏語 in the nonfiction (and the horror!) I read, which likewise is (was?) not my forté. But now it’s done. On to read even more! 
Learned a lot, read a lot of boring works (especially in the fiction department lol) but also some real gems that I will treasure having experienced forever. Guess I’ll have to write a journey post about my thoughts 
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That’s an interesting leg position on the cover
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