finished another bingo square, “Set in a country that is not where the book’s language is spoken”: 碧いホルスの瞳 -男装の女王の物語- 1 | L28
as it’s easy to guess from the cover and title, it takes place in ancient Egypt. it’s historical fiction, but the main characters are based on real people, and probably some parts of the story are based on real events, but I haven’t read much on the subject yet (reading the wikipedia article might spoil something )
First bingo! Thanks WK Readathon! I’m thinking of reading 吸血姫美夕 for my free slot. I was excited when it got released digitally this year! I haven’t read the manga, but the anime/OVA was a fav of mine as a kid.
5: Finished 2 more vol of GLT - Really enjoying this series way more than I ever imagined. I love the artwork and the feelings it invokes can sometimes even hear and feel the surroundings and the philosophical questions are fun to ponder. Was worried I’d never get this square having 6 books in a single square (and in a freaking corner slot ) However at this point seems like an easy square to get.
8: Office Romance 峰岸さんは大津くんに食べさせたい | L24
This was recommended to me years ago but it was way too difficult at the time. Picked it up again and now enjoying it. There are a total of 3 Vol, only finished the first vol so far. Want to read the other two vols but really need to work on other bingo squares before starting new stuff, finishing existing shousetu…
21: Is technically done if I switch out my planned reading for the current BL BK book, but for now going to leave it for the shousetu I did plan to read. If I run out of time, can always switch it and still get the square
Several other squares are still in progress…. Slowly moving forward
It’s tempting to chase more bingos that are easy, but I really need to start more of the harder shousetu stuff…column G would be a fairly easy get though
blackout is starting to seem doable …
Previous Squares
Previous Books:
1: Read a Collection of BL Short Stories: #BがLする 4ページアンソロジー ~そのとき僕は、恋をした! ~ | L28
2: Story has a Yakuza Character: 拾われ子猫と元ヤクザ 1巻 | L23
3: Something spicy (ヤバい本) 獅子と明星 | L29
4: Something with a Dragon: 骨ドラゴンのマナ娘 1 | L25
5: NOT DONE – Vol 4-6 to go Reread first book (ever read) and read the rest of the series: 少女終末旅行 (1) | L20 why did this have to end up in a corner square!!!
11: Received as a gift from a Japanese Friend: Four seasons | L25
13: Free space https://learnnatively.com/book/1030c11685/
14: Read the first vol of a scary BL series: キリング・ストーキング | L29 will finish this series but prioritizing bingo squares (blackout doesn’t seem impossible anymore)
18: Finish a short story book previously dropped 5分後に意外な結末 - 赤い悪夢 (1) | L25
22: Has Cats: ふしぎねこのきゅーちゃん 4 | L15 Used Vol 4 because I really just wanted the square (this was originally going to be the “cat book” that’s in the free space now).
23: Friends recommendation that’s been sitting unread for years: 俺が見つけた、コンビニの恋 1 | L17
24: Read The Next Book in a Series (already started) 腐男子家族 5 | L23 Really enjoy this mangaka’s the art style and humor
Two book update! So story time, I somehow removed わたしの幸せの結婚 from my previous update, and I thought I had the “features siblings” square still open, so I panicked a bit when I had to put 本好き３ somewhere. “Keep hearing about” still seems appropriate, at least, even if it’s more the series and less the individual book, but anway.
No. 6 pretty easily slots into that Sci-fi square for me. Only 7 squares left, and I’m close to a bingo on two! I’m pretty sure the current isekai trash I’m reading won’t be able to fill any of the slots; I’m thinking I need to start purposefully aiming for some bingos here; I’m getting a bit nervous at having none this far into the year… I’ve got three options, at least, so not too bad. I’m thinking maybe 推し、燃ゆ | L36 for won an award…
Oh shoot! I completely forgot I hadn’t added 妖魔と下僕の契約条件 1 | L29 to my card! So it looks like I did add it at some point past? And then apparently didn’t save that bingo card and didn’t update my home post. I don’t know what I’m doing, guys.
(It wasn’t technically the shortest on my TBR, but was pretty short and close enough. Who has the time to check all their digital book pages anyway. If 推し、燃ゆ | L36 goes in the award space and I read (what I think is) my next shortest book, I’ll put it in this square instead.)
So I actually already have my first bingo! I love it when things work out like this!
New Natively level to me: Levels I haven’t read a non-manga at so far: 24, 26, 38+. The only books I have that fill that level criteria are 38+, so I’ll either need to relax my “TBR only” rule for this square (TBR counts as having bought before 2025), or toughen up and pick something green.
Smne else’s card: Need to do a survey. Might end up being a book club book I bought but didn’t finish. (木洩れ日に泳ぐ魚 | L32 ?)
Plot involves revenge: Probably situational? I.e. I didn’t buy anything specifically because it contains revenge, so it’ll have to come up organically as I read other stuff.
*During the readathon I read something like 165 pages to finish this book. I had previously only read 2 out of the 9 stories. I got too tired by the end of the day to reread the two stories I had read before (but I did in the morning). But I still felt it was a win worth celebrating with a bingo square.
Took me a while but I managed to finish 坊っちゃん including the back pages that weren’t quite and あとがき for my “one word title” square.
It will definitely need to be a re-read at some point because there were large chucks I was barely understanding but I think I’m going to do a re-read of Zoo book 1 next for “title includes a number” then maybe Zoo book 2 for “second volume of a series”.
I read the first volume with the club, and afterwards picked the remaining 4 volumes. The first volume was nice but felt that the story was only beginning. Overall the story was enjoyable, without any exaggerated drama, though a few parts of the romance were a bit abrupt.
It also gets an automatic +1 from me for having adult main characters!
I think I found this one in Tokyo, but it may have been Kyoto. Based on where it was in my photos, it was Kyoto (oh and duh, it says it right there on the cover).
Alright, it’s been a long time since I posted an update of my bingo card.
Not that I read that much since then, but there are still two updates:
Character retired (age): あん | L30 (could also be “character with disability”, if I ever finish おらおらでひとりいぐも | L37 to fill this slot instead)
Set where I’ve lived: エゴイスト | L30 (mostly takes place in Tokyo)
Or even “book + adaptation” if you manage to grab hold of the movie… It was one of the first Japanese movies I watched (before I even started learning the language) and I thought it was truly amazing. (Plus, the main actor is the late Kiki Kirin )
I joined the 癒し系 book club and voted for this book. I enjoyed the first two chapters, but the rest felt repetitive. I’m also disappointed that the ending is left open-ended.
Free!
I’m filling this square with this book because this is the only suitable square for it. I bought the novel along with its manga version and I want to finish the remaining manga in my TBR pile as soon as possible. I didn’t quite like the plot for this book though.
Long time no update! Today I finally went through my completed books to see which fit on my board. With this I’ve raised my filled squares from 2 to 15. I managed to completely miss any and all bingo chances.
On the plus side, now that I’ve put in the work I can see what else is missing and maybe choose my books accordingly…
)
) However at this point seems like an easy square to get.
I don’t know what I’m doing, guys.
I love it when things work out like this!
)
I managed to completely miss any and all bingo chances.
