👨‍❤️‍👨 BL Book Club 🎓 BL University 📚

Japanese Reading Book Clubs
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39

魔獣になった傭兵のおっさんが、憧れの騎士に拾われた話

Summary - Japanese

厳つい見た目の中年傭兵ダーヴィトは、魔術師のトラップにかかり仔狼姿の魔獣に変えられてしまう。元の姿への戻り方が分からず途方にくれる魔獣のダーヴィトを拾ったのは、平民でありながら騎士にのぼりつめたエリア―シュだった。実は、ダーヴィトは身の程知らずにも若く凛々しいエリアーシュに密かに想いを寄せていたのだ。恋しいエリアーシュのそばにいるために、従順な魔獣として仕えるダーヴィトだったが…？

Summary - English

DeepL translator (sorry, don’t have time and power to go through this to translate by myself)
Dervito, a stern-looking middle-aged mercenary, is trapped by a sorcerer and transformed into a hexenbiest in the form of a werewolf. Unable to figure out how to return to his original form, the bewildered Dervito is picked up by Elias, a commoner who has risen to the rank of knight. In fact, Dervito secretly had feelings for the young and gallant Elias. In order to be close to his beloved Elias, Dervito serves him as an obedient hexenbiest, but…?

Content warnings

beastiality

Ebook available? yes

Reason(s) for nominating: It looks funny and I want to try it out

3 Likes
40

殺しのアート

Summary - Japanese

有能だが冷たく、人を寄せつけないFBIの行動分析官・ケネディ。彼のお目付役として殺人事件の捜査に送り込まれた美術犯罪班のジェイソンは事件が起きたキングスフィールドで幼少期を過ごし、連続殺人事件で幼なじみを失っていた。ケネディはその事件を解決に導いた伝説のプロファイラーだった。捜査が進む中、当時の連続殺人事件との共通点が発見される。あの悪夢は本当は終わっていなかったのか――!?

Summary - English

Special Agent Jason West is seconded from the FBI Art Crime Team to temporarily partner with disgraced, legendary “manhunter” Sam Kennedy when it appears Kennedy’s most famous case, the capture and conviction of a serial killer known as the Huntsman, may actually have been a disastrous failure.
The Huntsman is still out there…and the killing has begun again.

Ebook available? yes

Reason(s) for nominating: It looks interesting and I want to try it out

3 Likes
41

Title:

Book type: novel (in translation)
Ebook available?: Yes
Audiobook available?: No
Full-furigana version available?: No

Summary - Japanese

LAでミステリ専門の書店を営みながら小説を書くアドリアン・イングリッシュの元をふたりの刑事が訪れる。
従業員であり友人のロバートが惨殺されたのだ。
前日レストランで口論して別れたアドリアンに、殺人課の刑事・リオーダンは疑いの眼差しを向ける。
調査に乗り出したアドリアンだったが、犯人の深い憎悪と狂気はやがてアドリアンに向かう。
彼の危機に飛び込んで来たのは !?

それぞれの運命と向き合う男たちを描き上げたM/Mロマンスの金字塔、ついに刊行。

Summary - English

Two detectives visit Adrienne English, who runs a mystery bookstore in LA and writes novels.
Adrienne and Riordan, a homicide detective, are visited by two detectives who have discovered that Robert, an employee and friend of hers, has been brutally murdered.
Homicide detective Riordan is suspicious of Adrienne, who had left him after an argument at a restaurant the day before.
Adrienne begins to investigate, but the killer’s deep hatred and madness soon turns on Adrienne.
What jumped in at his peril was !

The gold standard of M/M romance, depicting men facing their own destiny, is finally published.

Reason(s) for nominating: I have been meaning to read this for a while… I have the whole series. :see_no_evil:

OT: The Japanese covers are so much better than the original.

4 Likes
42

@shablul Have you requested these to be added to Natively? If not, I can do it. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
43

I did 2 of them, the third I forgot, thanks for the reminder lmao

2 Likes
44

花馨る雨の名を
Book type: light novel
eBook available? yes
Audiobook available? unknown

Summary - Japanese

あの雨の日を忘れられない。

入谷友紀の自慢の店『水華茶荘』は中国茶専門のカフェだ。
客足は少ないけれど、好きなものばかりを揃えた店は居心地がいい。
ある雨の日、客もいない店でお気に入りの中国茶を淹れたところにひとりの客が訪れた。
精悍な顔立ちのスーツを着た青年、長谷部だ。
どうやら長谷部は入谷のことを知っているようで……
それから、雨の日になると現れる長谷部と親しくなるうちに、入谷は自分の気持ちが友情ではないことに気付きはじめて——
恋に臆病なふたりの不器用な恋の物語。

Summary - English (own translation)

I will never forget that rainy day.

Iriya Yuki’s pride and joy is his shop, Suikachasou, a café that specializes in Chinese teas. It doesn’t get much foot traffic, but the shop is cozy, filled with the things he loves.

One rainy day as he’s about to brew himself a cup of his favorite Chinese tea when the shop is empty, a single customer drops in: a sharp-featured young man in a suit, named Hasebe. Somehow, Hasebe seems to know him…

On every rainy day thereafter, Hasebe appears at the shop, and as they grow closer, Iriya begins to realize that his own feelings toward Hasebe aren’t purely those of friendship…

The clumsy love story of two men who are timid when it comes to love.

Content warnings

There’s some smut. The first chapter could be considered mildly dubious since one of them’s drunk, but I don’t remember anything else needing warning.

While the summary does kinda make it seem stalkery, no worries, it’s not. (from ch 1) Iriya and Hasebe met before in college and (confirmed later) Hasebe did not track him down or anything, just passed by his shop by chance that day and saw him in there and decided to go in since he hadn’t been able to completely forget him.

Reason for nominating:
This is the first BL novel I read, drawn in by Takarai Rihito’s art on the cover, and I quite liked it. It’s also the better of Chishima’s two novels, in my opinion. There’s some repetition to establish atmosphere, but I didn’t find it to be overdone, and in fact, the book was quite comfortable; it made me want to drink tea on a rainy day lol. And the sexytimes-use euphemisms, while probably not anything I’d use in English, didn’t make me want to drop my head in my hands, either, which is definitely a plus.

6 Likes
45

I don’t see why not; that kind of info could be included in the content warnings.

3 Likes
46

Okay, cool. I’ve updated it :+1:

2 Likes
47

flesh&blood

Title: FLESH & BLOOD 1 | L33
Book type: Light novel
Ebook available?: Yes
Audiobook available?: No (There is a 21 CD, fantastically-produced drama CD series for those interested)
Full-furigana version available?: No

Summary - Japanese

2007年バースデーフェア・店頭配布用小冊子「予感」収録。●イギリス海賊の英雄キャプテン・ドレイク――彼に憧れる高校生の海斗(かいと)は、夏休みを利用して、海賊巡りの旅を計画。ところがドレイクゆかりの地プリマスで、海斗はなんと、次元の壁に飲み込まれ、大航海時代へタイムスリップ!! ドレイクの信頼も厚い、海賊船の船長ジェフリーに助けられ…!? エリザベス女王率いる海賊達と、スペイン無敵艦隊がくり広げる海洋ラブ・ロマン!! ※電子版には、紙版に収録されている挿絵は収録されていません。

Summary - English

(deepL, w/ minor clean up by me) Short story “Premonition”, distributed for the 2007 Birthday Fair, included. Kaito, a high school student who idolizes the heroic English pirate, Captain Drake, plans to take advantage of his summer vacation to go on a pirate tour. However, in Plymouth, a place associated with Drake, Kaito is swallowed by a dimensional rift and is transported back in time to the Age of Discovery! He is rescued by Geoffrey, the captain of a pirate ship, who works for Captain Drake. The pirates led by Queen Elizabeth and the invincible Spanish fleet unfold in this maritime love romance! The digital version does not include the illustrations in the paper version.

Content warnings

Minor forced kiss, but nothing other than that.

Reason(s) for nominating: Flesh&Blood is one of my all-time favorite series; I’ve been reading through it slowly with a book group on Wanikani (I’m about halfway through right now), and I want to spread the love to everyone. :heavy_heart_exclamation: This is a fairly long series (24 volumes), so there’ll be absolutely no plot resolution, just setup, in this volume. On the other hand, you’ve got a fantastic series to keep you company if you do enjoy it! (Plus there’s an excellent 21 CD drama CD adaption for those interested in the audio side of things.)

Just ask my homies @nikoru and @pyororon if you need a second/third opinion.

7 Likes
48

With all the extras… 34 CDs! :exploding_head:

2 Likes
49

Indeed! Guess who owns every single one of those I’m told that the seiyuus in the CDs are really well-known, though I’m no expert on the industry.

Partial list here

2 Likes
50

Ooo, having scripts is handy. It’s a definite plus having so much info on the series already available on WK. Tempting, very tempting… :eyes:

2 Likes
51

Lol, you should see our F&B home post there. We’ve put a ton of work into cataloging all the historical stuff, nautical terms, bonus stories (all like 100 of them…) etc.

All that’s to say, though, that there’s plenty of prior material to lean on if need be for a book club in this forum.

2 Likes
52

do you know, does the drama cd series follow the books or is it like extra stories? :thinking:

2 Likes
53

Follows the books. Pretty closely, too from what I’ve listened to (up to partially through CD 4). I haven’t listened to any of the bonus CDs, so I presume but can’t confirm that those are totally new stories not featured in the books. Also there’s a set of original extra stories written by the author for purchasing sets of the CDs, but that’s neither here nor there.

4 Likes
54

Can confirm, it’s such a fun series!

4 Likes
55

Not to forget the Royal Wallpaper™ where I tried to keep track of the connections between the real historical people that get mentioned in the series (starting from Vol. 4, I think) :blush:

4 Likes
56

僕らの食卓
Book type: manga
eBook available? yes

Summary - Japanese

会社員の豊は、誰かと食事をするのが苦手。
しかし、昼食をとろうとしていた公園で出会った兄弟・穣と種になぜか「おにぎりの作り方」を教えることに。
以来、彼らと一緒に食事をすることが増えた豊。
いつしか、みんなでご飯を食べるのが楽しみに思えてーー。

Summary - English (own translation)

Office worker Yutaka isn’t good at eating with other people, but when he meets brothers Minoru and Tane as he’s about to take his lunch at a park, he somehow ends up teaching them how to make onigiri. After that day, he finds himself eating meals with them more and more, and before he realizes it, he begins to look forward to eating together with everyone.

Reason for nominating:
Autumn is approaching in the Northern Hemisphere (or, well, I guess technically it’s already here, though it sure as hey don’t feel like it here in Texas lol), and this manga feels like autumn, which made me think of it. It’s soft and warm and cozy. (It does also take place in autumn and winter.) I remember likening it to a warm bowl of freshly cooked white rice the first time I read it. It’s really lovely and it’s one of my faves. It’s in the same vein as those child-raising BLs, except instead of a single father with his young child, it’s an older brother with his much-younger little brother; Yutaka and Minoru are both 23.

11 Likes
57

My favourite type of BL! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

3 Likes
58

Oh, it’s nice that’s a single volume; makes it easy to decide how much of the manga to read.

2 Likes