初心者のライトノベル読書会 📚 Beginner's Light Novel Book Club L20-29 - NEXT READING 明日の世界で星は煌めく - Vote on start date until Dec 16

Inspired by the fact that the ライトノベル読書会 :books: Light Novel Book Club picks have all been L30+ so far, it seems like there’s some potential interest in having a book club dedicated to L20-29 light novels. Assuming all goes well, we will probably start reading in Jan 2024, since November & December tend to be busy for people.

(I’m shamelessly stealing the format from the original club, thanks @eefara )

Next Reading 明日の世界で星は煌めく

When do we start? - Vote until Dec 17 0:00 UTC

Also how should we handle ties in general

:books: Nominations List :bookmark:

How it works:

  • People nominate books using the template below :point_down: :point_down:
  • At a set time after the previous book finishes (one or two weeks after, probably) we will hold a vote on the nominated books. There will be a week to vote.
  • Upon that poll closing, a new poll (and thread for the specific book) will open to vote upon cadence for reading the book (ex: 30 pages a week, 1 chapter a week, etc.)
  • A new thread for each week of the book club will be made to separate out spoilers and discussion into manageable chunks.
  • Books between L20-29 only are welcome for nomination
  • Since light novels vs novels is a bit vague, please nominate things that are in the LN category, or that seem/feel like they could be. Feel free to ask, if you’re unsure
  • Unless there’s an exception, we’ll probably only read the first volume of a series in order to keep things snappy.

Discussion ground rule suggestions

  • 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 :slight_smile:
  • 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.

Template for nominations

**Book**: Put a Natively link here! (put it on its own line, for the fancy card view)
**Is there an ebook available?**: yes or no (buying options are visible on the Natively book page)
**Is there an audiobook available?**: yes or no (if so, please list where it is available, since that information isn't easily grabbable on Natively)
**Is there an all-furigana version available?**: yes or no (optional; if you know if there is one available, please link it here)
**(Optional) Is this book available in Korean?**: yes or no
[details="Summary - Japanese"]
you can copy/paste this from wherever you'd like. Please have it in a drop down like shown.
[/details]
[details="Summary - English"]
Optional! Check Anilist or similar site to see if they've got an English summary. If not, use a machine translator like DeepL or Google Translate.
[/details]
[details="Content warnings if known"]
You can't be expected to know all the content of a book you haven't read yet, but if you know it deals with specific heavy topics, or the author is known for doing so, please include it here.
[/details]
**Why are you nominating this book:** This section is also optional, but it's nice to know why someone else is interested in reading a book, and might sway others to vote for it!

Simply copy and paste the above text (not quote) into a reply to nominate!

Previous books:

Previous polls
13 Likes

Current Nominations (Note: series status and # of volumes provided for the reader who may want to read past the club. We will likely only be reading volume 1 in this group, but groups can continue independently if they want.)

Cooldown

Can be re-nominated in round 4 (we are in round 3 currently)

Cover Name/
Natively link
Nom link Audio ver? Furigana ver? Language Series Status/# of Vols
00ad0a9f-c454-4046-90ae-1a6815b33231 ひげを剃る。そして女子高生を拾う。| L27 link :headphones: :x: :jp: :kr: Finished;
8 vols.
おまえをオタクにしてやるから 1 おまえをオタクにしてやるから、俺をリア充にしてくれ! | L26 link :x: :x: :jp: :kr: Finished
16 vols.
88f67af4-d5cd-480a-903b-72380f67da3b MONUMENT あるいは自分自身の怪物 | L22?? link :x: :x: :jp: Finished
1 vol.

Already Read

Cover Name/
Natively link
Nom link Audio ver? Furigana ver? Language Series Status/# of Vols
summer wars サマーウォーズ |L22 link :x: :beginner: :jp: Finished
2 vols.
4 Likes

Well, I went ahead and made the club :slight_smile: We’ll see how it goes. Will leave nominations open until there’s 15-20 nominations, or until the end of November I guess.

If there’s anything I forget / you’d like to see added, please let me know!

6 Likes

Book:

Is there an ebook available?: yes
Is there an audiobook available?: yes, Amazon Audible
Is there an all-furigana version available?: yes or no
Is this book available in Korean?: yes, 수염을 깎다. 그리고 여고생을 줍다. 1 | L25??

Summary - Japanese

5年片想いした相手にバッサリ振られたサラリーマンの吉田。ヤケ酒の帰り道、路上に蹲る女子高生を見つけて――「ヤらせてあげるから泊めて」「そういうことを冗談でも言うんじゃねえ」「じゃあ、タダで泊めて」なし崩し的に始まった、少女・沙優との同居生活。『おはよう』『味噌汁美味しい?』『遅ぉいぃぃぃぃぃ』『元気出た?』『一緒に寝よ』『……早く帰って来て』家出JKと26歳サラリーマン。微妙な距離の二人が紡ぐ、日常ラブコメディ。【沙優と吉田の朝を描く、限定書き下ろしショートストーリーを収録した電子限定版】

Summary - English

Office worker Yoshida has been crushing on his coworker, Airi Gotou, for five years. Despite finally scoring a date with her, his confession is promptly rejected. Drunk and disappointed, he stumbles home, only to find a high school girl sitting on the side of the road. The girl, needing a place to stay the night, attempts to seduce Yoshida. Despite rejecting her advances, he nevertheless invites her into his apartment.

The next morning, the girl, introducing herself as Sayu Ogiwara, reveals that she has run away from Hokkaido all the way to Tokyo. During her six-month spree, she continually traded sexual favors for a roof over her head. Yoshida, however, remains unswayed by her seduction. Instead, he has her do a different kind of work—one that entails washing dishes and doing laundry. And so, a touching relationship between a heartbroken adult and a runaway high school girl begins.

Content warnings if known

Not sure

Why are you nominating this book: interesting premise, and all the reviews I’ve read suggest that it’s fairly wholesome, so it’s been on my wishlist list for a while now.

4 Likes

Thanks for starting the club :slight_smile: I’ll be quite busy in the next week or so, but afterwards I’ll be sure to add 2~3 nominations I am interesting in reading.

4 Likes

Book:

Is there an ebook available?: yes, including free on Syousetu
Is there an audiobook available?: no
Is there an all-furigana version available?: no
Is this book available in Korean?: yes, 아픈 건 싫으니까 방어력에 올인하려고 합니다. 1 | L25??

Summary - Japanese

どんな攻撃もノーダメージ! ラスボス級大型新人、出陣!

ステータスポイントをVITのみに捧げた少女メイプル。その結果得たのは、物理・魔法攻撃・状態異常無効に強豪プレイヤーも一撃死のカウンタースキル!? 自らの異常さに気づくことなく、今日も楽しく冒険に挑む!

Summary - English

Though she doesn’t play many MMOs, Maple has either a natural talent or impossibly good luck, because by pouring every last stat point she has into Vitality, she’s created a character who can’t be hurt! Whether it’s physical attacks or magic or status effects, nothing poses a real threat. In no time at all, news spreads across the server about the adorable terror who can’t be defeated. While Maple may just be having fun, her broken build is sure to attract lots of unexpected attention…

Content warnings if known

Why are you nominating this book: Fantasy/Isekai LNs are pretty popular, but most are in the mid-upper 30s. This seems cute, and might serve as a helpful bridge for folks looking to read those sort of LNs. Also nice to see a fantasy novel with a female lead, and apparently primarily female cast.

2 Likes

Book:

Is there an ebook available?: yes
Is there an audiobook available?: no
Is there an all-furigana version available?: no, though apparently furigana are fairly common
Is this book available in Korean?: no

Summary - Japanese

死んだっていい。 君と出会う前は、そう思っていた――。

「私は死神。あと七日で死ぬことを君に伝えに来たの――」
塾の帰り道の交差点で出会った、僕にしか見えない彼女は、死を告げに来た死神だった。
頑張ったところで意味なんてない。尊敬する兄の死後、僕は生きる価値を見いだせないでいた。それがあと七日だと聞かされたからって、どうだというのだ。
そんな僕を哀れんだのか、彼女は一緒にとびっきりの七日間を過ごそうと提案してきて――。
生きることに執着しない僕と、生きて欲しいと願う死神が過ごした、切なくも美しい七日間の物語。

Summary - English (DeepL)

I don’t care if I die. That’s what I thought before I met you.

I am the Grim Reaper. I’ve come to tell you that I will die in seven days.
I met her at an intersection on my way home from cram school, and she was a Shinigami who came to tell me that I was going to die.
There was no point in trying. After the death of my respected brother, I had not found anything worth living for. What does it matter if I was told that I had only seven days left to live?
Perhaps out of pity for me, she suggested that we spend an exquisite seven days together.
This is a sad but beautiful story of the seven days spent by me, who is not attached to life, and the god of death, who wishes me to live.

Translated with DeepL Translate: The world's most accurate translator (free version)

Content warnings if known

Why are you nominating this book: Interesting premise, and different from what I’d usually read, and the single review on here sounded very enticing.

6 Likes

There’s a few books I want to nominate but I’m not sure how to use the template :sweat_smile: I know that sounds silly but I’ve never used stuff like this before and even the spoiler tabs etc took me a while to figure out on my own post. Do I put the info in the ** sections or after them?
What do I do if I don’t have all the info it asks for? (I mean if I’m missing info from the sections other than optional)

4 Likes

Awesome!! Here’s an example of how to use the template. You can copy/paste it (if you see ``` at the beginning and end, just remove those). The ** makes things bold. So anything within that will be bold. If you’re still stuck w/ it, PM me & I’ll help you format it.

Example raw template code
**Book**: 
https://learnnatively.com/book/7ade364e54/
**Is there an ebook available?**: yes 
**Is there an audiobook available?**: yes, [Amazon Audible](https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B082H88SZK/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=)
**Is there an all-furigana version available?**: yes or no 
**(Optional) Is this book available in Korean?**: yes, https://learnnatively.com/book/c92c3a13e8/
[details="Summary - Japanese"]
5年片想いした相手にバッサリ振られたサラリーマンの吉田。ヤケ酒の帰り道、路上に蹲る女子高生を見つけて――「ヤらせてあげるから泊めて」「そういうことを冗談でも言うんじゃねえ」「じゃあ、タダで泊めて」なし崩し的に始まった、少女・沙優との同居生活。『おはよう』『味噌汁美味しい?』『遅ぉいぃぃぃぃぃ』『元気出た?』『一緒に寝よ』『……早く帰って来て』家出JKと26歳サラリーマン。微妙な距離の二人が紡ぐ、日常ラブコメディ。【沙優と吉田の朝を描く、限定書き下ろしショートストーリーを収録した電子限定版】
[/details]
[details="Summary - English"]
Office worker Yoshida has been crushing on his coworker, Airi Gotou, for five years. Despite finally scoring a date with her, his confession is promptly rejected. Drunk and disappointed, he stumbles home, only to find a high school girl sitting on the side of the road. The girl, needing a place to stay the night, attempts to seduce Yoshida. Despite rejecting her advances, he nevertheless invites her into his apartment.

The next morning, the girl, introducing herself as Sayu Ogiwara, reveals that she has run away from Hokkaido all the way to Tokyo. During her six-month spree, she continually traded sexual favors for a roof over her head. Yoshida, however, remains unswayed by her seduction. Instead, he has her do a different kind of work—one that entails washing dishes and doing laundry. And so, a touching relationship between a heartbroken adult and a runaway high school girl begins.
[/details]
[details="Content warnings if known"]
Not sure
[/details]
**Why are you nominating this book:** interesting premise, and all the reviews I've read suggest that it's fairly wholesome, so it's been on my wishlist list for a while now.

Note: If a link fails to auto-format, you can always make it manually like: [link title](link_url)

Not sure which sections you have in mind, but you should be able to get the data from the Natively page here.

Guide/Suggestions for how to get data

Book title: just past the Natively link
eBook: check the natively page, and click on Amazon, bookwalker, etc. There’s a 99% chance there’s a digital edition
Furigana: if it exists will probly be on the Natively pg, but you can check by putting book_title 振り仮名 into google, I think
Korean: Check if there’s a wiki page with a Korean listed. Then post the title into yes24 to get the link. Feel free to add to Natively via Login | Natively
Summary (JP): Copy from Amazon, Bookwalker, or other link
Summary (English): Check Anilist and MyAnimeList links, if they exist. Otherwise paste the JP summary into DeepL
Content warnings: I don’t know a good way to grab these, except for already being familiar or reading reviews

If you really can’t find some of the data, just note that in your post I guess.

7 Likes

Just a quick question: Are non 初心者 welcome to join the read or should we 遠慮? :eyes:

7 Likes

My assumption was that it was fine, as long as you accept the pace (and nomination rules).
Having advanced learners around is always good when someone has a question about the Japanese.

13 Likes

Yeah, I would see my role more as a lurker than an active participant… i.e. I wouldn’t vote on pacing or such things, but if the chosen book is interesting, I would read it and be happy to help with questions. :smiling_face:

10 Likes

Please feel free to skip my nomination(s) and give priority to someone else, if there end up being too many nominations. :bear:

Book:

Is there an ebook available?: yes (also free webnovel)
Is there an audiobook available?: no
Is there an all-furigana version available?: no

Summary - Japanese

引きこもりゲーマーのユナが、いつものようにファンタジーRPGゲームにログイン! すると、可愛いクマの装備を身につけて、自分が知らない森の中に!? 装備も変だし、レベルも1に戻ってるし、ゲームがバグった? それとも、まさかの異世界に来ちゃったの!? クマ装備はへんてこだけど、かなり強くて手放せない。冒険者ユナ、最恐クマっ娘として爆誕です!

Summary - English

Fifteen-year-old Yuna prefers staying home and obsessively playing her favorite VRMMO game to doing anything else, including going to school. When a strange new update gives her a one-of-a-kind bear outfit that comes with overpowered abilities, Yuna is torn: the outfit is unbearably cute, but too embarrassing to wear in-game. But then she suddenly finds herself transported into the world of the game, facing down monsters and magic for real, and the bear suit becomes the best weapon she has!

Why are you nominating this book: Should be an easy read. Free version available (i.e. no financial investment/risk for beginners). And I am trying to go through a lot of the series I own and decide whether I will continue or not. :bear:

4 Likes

Book:

Is there an ebook available?: yes (also free webnovel)
Is there an audiobook available?: no
Is there an all-furigana version available?: no
(Optional) Is this book available in Korean?: yes (여성향 게임의 파멸 플래그밖에 없는 악역 영애로 환생해버렸다... 1 | L25??)

Summary - Japanese

頭をぶつけて前世の記憶を取り戻したら、公爵令嬢に生まれ変わっていた私。え、待って!ここって前世でプレイした乙女ゲームの世界じゃない?しかも、私、ヒロインの邪魔をする悪役令嬢カタリナなんですけど!?結末は国外追放か死亡の二択のみ!?破滅エンドを回避しようと、まずは王子様との円満婚約解消をめざすことにしたけれど……。悪役令嬢、美形だらけの逆ハーレムルートに突入する!?恋愛フラグ立てまくりの破滅回避ラブコメディ★

Summary - English

After hitting her head particularly hard one day, Duke Claes’ daughter, Katarina, suddenly recalls all the memories of her past life: that of a teenage Japanese girl. Just before her untimely death, this girl recalls playing an otome game… that is exactly like the world she’s living in now! She is now Katarina Claes, the antagonist of the otome game, who nastily hounded the protagonist until the end. Knowing all the possible outcomes of the game, she realizes that every single possible route ends with Katarina being murdered or exiled! In order to avoid these Catastrophic Bad Ends, she has to use her knowledge of the game and her own wiles, starting with breaking off this engagement with the prince…

Why are you nominating this book:
Free version available (i.e. no financial investment/risk for beginners). It sounds like it could be chaotic fun. And I am trying to go through a lot of the series I own and decide whether I will continue or not. :princess:t2:

Edit:

Can’t write more replies, so…

Added the Korean version to natively.

same for this

5 Likes

May we be so lucky!!

2 Likes

Thx for the Korean links - I’ll update those in a bit. How did you find them btw?

2 Likes

Book:

Is there an ebook available?: yes
Is there an audiobook available?: no
Is there an all-furigana version available?: no
Is this book available in Korean?: I don’t know how to check.

Summary - Japanese

猫になって、異世界。 かわいいだけじゃない冒険が始まる!

異世界に転生した少年は冒険者を志すが、体は最弱種族の猫人で、手にした魔法は”空っぽ”とバカにされる空属性だった。
しかし少年は大きなハンデをものともせず、創意工夫で空魔法を武器や防具を生み出せて、空も歩ける魔法へと変えていく。
周囲の優しさに支えられ成長し、そして空属性の真価に気付いた時、最強の猫人冒険者としての旅が始まる!

(Source: Amazon.co.jp)

Summary - English

Becoming a a cat in a different world - an adventure that is more than just cute begins!

A boy is reborn in another world and aspires to become an adventurer, but his body is that of a cat person, the weakest race in the world, and the magic he has in his hands has the emptiness (空) attribute, which is ridiculed as just that: “empty” (空っぽ).

However, the boy, despite his great disadvantage, uses his ingenuity to transform emptiness attribute magic into magic that can create weapons and armor, and even walk in the sky.

With the support of the kindness of those around him, he grows up, and when he realizes the true value of the emptiness attribute, his journey as the strongest cat adventurer begins!

(Source: DeepL translation from the Amazon.co.jp, edited by me)

Content warnings if known

Bullying. Loss of a body part.

Why are you nominating this book: I read the one volume of manga currently available, and it was really fun and incredibly charming, so I need more. Enter the LN.

What I liked most:

  • It’s an isekai, but it might as well not be, because as far as I can remember it’s just mentioned once in the beginning and then never again (in that manga volume at least). It’s essentially an adventure fantasy!
  • Unlike many isekai, the main character starts pretty weak and has to train hard and actually use their head. And… he actually gets hurt (light spoiler), which is something that I feel like doesn’t happen often in isekai.
  • A cute beastfolk main character who’s kind, clever and hard-working.
  • I really like the LN cover.

Also, 4.8 is a pretty good rating on Amazon.

7 Likes

I checked if the book had a wiki page and then if there was a Korean version. From there it was simply putting the title into yes24 :slight_smile:

1 Like

Do you happen to know if this one is still releasing new volumes? no worries if not, just wondering for the table, and couldn’t find a wiki page

2 Likes

Volume 4 just came out a few days ago, and nothing in the description mentions that it’s the last volume, so I’d assume it’s ongoing.

2 Likes