1 week for nominating any book we are interested in reading - in this case from Monday, Sept 30th (Europe time), to Sunday, Oct 6th.
1 week for voting on which book to read - Monday 7th to Sunday 13th
1 week to acquire the book - Monday 14th to Sunday 20th
And then we read!! We’ll figure out the schedule depending on the book.
Nomination ground rules
because i feel like we need some, but please let me know if you want to remove / add anything:
Books levels 15 and down
No graded readers?? Please let me know how you feel about this.
Everyone is welcome to join, even if your reading level is much higher and you just want a chill read. It would also be fun, if we end up deciding on a book that has been translated into another language, to have learners from other languages join, like the Korean in Translation book club.
Discussion ground rules
I am copying this straight from the Japanese Mystery Novel Book Club because I feel like the same rules should apply, thank you @cat for the template!!)
Spoilers behind spoiler tags
Always mention where you are in the book when discussing, ideally by chapter so people reading different versions have a clear point of reference.
Feel free to read ahead if it’s exciting! But please refrain from spoiling ahead of the appropriate week
If you have a question about grammar, vocab, cultural things, etc - ask! That can be part of the discussion too and I’m sure some folks would be happy to help.
So here we go:
It took me an embarassing amout of time to realise that 요츠바랑 is actually Yotsuba to; which I have heard about in the wanikani forums since the beginner japanese learners seem to be really into it.
And it does seem interesting, and approachable!! So, even though it is not a native Korean book, I think it could be a fun read for an Absolute Beginner Book Club.
Just a reminder that nominations are still very much open
So far we have 1: my own, so the voting will be cut real short, and I’ll get to feel like a despot, a dangerous thing for my ego. Proceed with caution
here is my nomination! i made a typo when first checking its level on natively and stressed myself out whilst trying to determine the level based on the preview on ridi . thankfully i checked again and discovered that it is in the under 15 range!
(this is showing up weird in the preview, i hope the formatting comes out right)
I was hesitant to tag people, but since it has been suggested I’m assuming it’s fine @TheWoman@soboro@bungakushoujo@NihongoLearner19 if you’re still interested feel free to cast your vote!!
I voted but don’t let me be the tie breaker if it ends up that way since I’m not sure yet if I’d join in…but I’m available for language questions and help!
It’s a tie!
I’m not sure what to do, I voted but could really go either way. I guess since @bungakushoujo didn’t want to be a tie-breaker, we’re going with 요츠바랑?? And we start reading on Monday 21st?
I’ll try to buy it asap and work out a reading schedule. If anyone has any idea of the size of the chapters, or how to divide the readings, please share with the class, I’m going in completely blind I guess it also depends how long we want to spend on it… So many variables, so little time to think on it!
I’ll report back once I have the book and can see how much text there is on each page.
sorry about that false alarm, i hit reply before actually finishing the post
So, i got the book, and it runs up to 228 pages (the ebook that is).
I worked out a few different reading schedules:
I don’t think we can do 1 chapter a week, as some chapters, especially the earlier ones, are quite long.
So i’m thinking, if we do it in 10 weeks, averaging a little over 20 pages per week, we would finish just in time for 2025! That timeframe scratches a very nice itch in my brain, but I completely understand if 20 pages is still much for an absolute beginner book club. It would also cut the reading at random points.
Another way is to do 1 chapter every 2 weeks.
So here are the options:
option 1: speed
Chapter
Pages
Start Date
End date
1
48
21/10
27/10
2
38
28/10
3/11
3
28
4/11
10/11
4
26
11/11
17/11
5
30
18/11
24/11
6
32
25/11
1/12
7
20
2/12
8/12
option 2: 2025
Chapter
Pages
Start Date
End date
1
24
21/10
27/10
1
24
28/10
3/11
2
19
4/11
10/11
2
19
11/11
17/11
3
28
18/11
24/11
4
20
25/11
1/12
4-5
22 (6+16)
2/12
8/12
5-6
24 (14+10)
9/12
15/12
6
22
16/12
22/12
7
20
23/12
29/12
option 3: 1 chapter-2 weeks
Chapter
Pages
Start Date
End date
1
24
21/10
27/10
1
24
28/10
3/11
2
19
4/11
10/11
2
19
11/11
17/11
3
14
18/11
24/11
3
14
25/11
1/12
4
13
2/12
8/12
4
13
9/12
15/12
5
15
16/12
22/12
5
15
23/12
29/12
6
16
30/12
05/01
6
16
06/01
12/01
7
10
13/01
19/01
7
10
20/01
26/01
Another option is allowing everyone to read at the speed they prefer, making sure to mention the page number when posting in the home thread.
Final poll (I hope!):
Choose your schedule!
speed is my middle name (option 1)
i like a challenge, let’s finish by 2025 (option 2)
this is an absolute beginner book club, let’s not get carried away (option 3)
Since I’m not a beginner, I’ll refrain from voting.
Just thought I’d note that the manga retains the Japanese right-to-left reading direction - I just got the first volume from Ridi and that already threw me off!
Also, if you’re not sure whether you want to join, there’s a free 28-page preview you can look at to get an idea of the language level (you might need to log in to view):
I created the thread for the actual reading. I’m not 100% sure I know the difference between a regular book club and an informal book club, but I’ll just open the one thread, and everyone reading along can comment there. 1 a week seems excessive.
. thankfully i checked again and discovered that it is in the under 15 range!
I guess it also depends how long we want to spend on it… So many variables, so little time to think on it!
