Hmm that might be a way to go - tho 180 per day is still a solid amount!
I go through phases with SRS, but mostly I try to leave it for when I’m procrastinating, tempted to scroll social media, or trying to fall asleep
Maybe I’ll try bumping my proper nouns deck to 4 a day 
It’s definitely about as much as I’m happy doing: I spread it out over the day so usually two or three bigger lumps of 50-60 reviews, and then odd lots of 10 or 20 when I get up from my desk and walk over to the kitchen to get coffee. It’s oddly harder at weekends because I don’t have the same set of “this is a 5 to 10 minute block where I’m walking down some corridors in the office building at work and can do reviews on my phone” habits ingrained.
I’ve finished ch 4 now, and what a delight that was!
Ch 3 was rather quirky. A lot of exposition, but an interesting conclusion & useful lesson. Any has become rather interesting at this point
Ch 4 was a real delight! Seeing Jo do well at her writing 
It’s interesting how the anime took an element of this (her writing regularly for the Spread Eagle), and actually showed the whole process of that happening (tho much earlier chronologically). I feel like the pacing in this book has been quicker overall, which is nice in a way
I could simply be reading too much into this, but it feels like there’s some foreshadowing in this chapter, of something I’ve seemingly been spoiled on (but have no idea when it occurs). It’s entirely possible that’s a next book event anyway.
I loved the final paragraph: 「キーツみたいな天才じゃないんだから、死ぬほどのこともないんだわ」彼女はきっぱりと言った。「結局、笑うのはこっちのことだわ。だって、実際の生活からありのままとった部分は、ありうべからざる不合理なことだって非難されるし、私のけちな頭ででっちあげたところは『いみじくも自然、かつやさしく、真実である』なんてほめられるんだもの。いいわ、私はそれで満足しよう。準備ができたら出直して別なものを書くことにしよう」
The next chapter is 2 hrs 15 min, and it says I have 30 hrs left. Which means I’m probably reading a bit ahead of the earlier time estimate. That’s a bit surprising. I’m not focused on it too much, but seeing the number to down as I turn the page, and how much time is left, does help spur me on at times. I’m assuming chapter 5 is a Beth chapter, since she’s the only one who hasn’t had one yet
Edit: and I made some progress on one letter. Hopefully will get both out this week
Haven’t gotten much reading done yet today, b/c I wasted time reorganizing my bookcases for hours earlier (to mostly poor affect, at that) 
… but just finished my first conversation-only lesson, and that was so much fun! This was very definitely the right choice. I was worried we were gonna hit a lull in conversation, but we never did for more than a moment or two… which is a testament to my teacher, cuz I can barely do that irl half the time 
She mentioned a kinda odd book that she’s planning to read 菊と刀 The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (ラダー Level 3) | L30??
Anyway seems like chapter 5 is a Meg chapter - Meg & John adjusting to married life, and I’m curious to see just what the author will make of it!
Finished ch 5 finally - that was stressful! Comprehension did pretty well. 26.5 hrs left, which really makes me question Kindle’s calculation… Cuz I made sure to read Ch 5 at a moderate pace. But I’d rather see the number dive down like that than the other way around 
. Unless I get some really solid reading in the next 4 days straight, I’ll probably finish it next week
I’m glad she wrote this chapter - it’s probably a good illustration, especially with Meg having gotten engaged at 17 (with parental consent), and married at 20! There was soooo much about this chapter that made me really uncomfortable though (my parents had a very unpleasant marriage for much of my life, with financial struggles, a 10 year age gap, and my mom getting married around that age) - but I thought it was about as realistic as this series gets, and it’s nice that she portrayed them working out their issues constructively. Still the power imbalance (housewife vs salaryman) and a lot of Meg’s
mentality really worried me. Thankfully John is far from abusive.
I was really surprised that she had 2 kids at the end, and even more surprised that anybody thought Demi was a good nickname for the boy, but w/e. Also the use of Uncle Rori was amusing. Obviously in JP it’s 伯父ちゃん either way - so I wouldn’t have noticed it there
It looks like the next chapter involves Jo and maybe Amy? So looking forward to that! Any Jo chapter is a good chapter, as far as I’m concerned
Ch 6 turned out to be largely setup… Jo & Amy’s little debate. I can certainly understand both’s perspectives, and agree/relate more with Jo than Amy - but I can’t say I haven’t adapted some of Amy’s as I’ve gotten older. I have some more thoughts on that, and the mix of conservative, but also egalitarian, aspects in this series (some of which are obviously just a product of 19th Century US) - but I’m in too much pain to get them out clearly rn.
While I’m not too fussed about reading time, I am curious to compare how Kindle’s estimates line up, as I get further in the book. So I’ll add to this table as I go. I suppose Ch 6 will throw it off somewhat, until I stop being in pain
| Chapter | to finish chapter | to finish book |
| — | — |
| 5 | | 26.5 |
| 6 | 1.5 | 25.5 |
On a different note, I started playing 魔法使いの夜 - which is really enjoyable, tho slightly harder than I’d like. I’ll probably try to play a little each day. I’d do more, but don’t want to distract from 若草物語
Temporarily dropped 明日の世界で星は煌めく 2 | L28 until I’m done with 若草物語 2 (or possibly the whole series). Feel a little bad about that, but こいものがたり and トーマの心臓 already are enough on my plate, and I just haven’t felt inclined to read 明日の世界で星は煌めく lately. Maybe I’ll randomly feel inclined to catch up, and then update. But I’m trying to keep my Reading list clean, so I marked that + 対ありでした。 ~お嬢さまは格闘ゲームなんてしない~ 1 | L28 as stopped (since I’m only reading that once every 2 weeks, no sense cluttering the list)
I’m 71% through now, which is further than I expected to be. So I’ll probably manage to finish this weekend, despite D&D taking away from my reading time tomorrow. Then I’ll do this week’s クラにか and at some point こいものがたり
On one hand I appreciate the chapters about Meg & John with the difficulty of parenting and relationship issues all, but at the same time they’re really boring to read
Everyone coming to Amy’s rescue with the fair was cool, as was Amy ending it on amicable terms.
I don’t understand why Jo writing thrillers was such a bad thing, or any different than what she was already doing. If anything I see it as a good thing, since she was earning money for herself/her family - which is not easy to do with writing. I gather the author feels a bit jaded about writing, given how all of Jo’s professional opportunities have been “we’ll publish it, if you take out all the parts you like”. I know the author didn’t even want to write these books in the first place… which is amazing, considering how they turned out
But glad she became friends with the professor. Seemed like it was hinting that they’ll become a couple down the road, which if so, this author really has a thing for age gaps Her time in New York was surprisingly boring, which as a current resident, I found a bit baffling
I was glad of the way Jo turned Laurie down. And it was cool to see Jo actually engage with the prospect of romance and marriage so maturely, instead of just shutting the conversation down at once. Like it wasn’t just “love is dumb, I don’t want to be bothered with it”. Also I love how the conversation did start with her going “please don’t say it” - and then Laurie’s (maybe not so) off-base worry that she was gonna say she was in love with the professor.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed Amy’s first Europe chapter. I’m usually pretty iffy on both Amy & travel chapters. I think it was a little messed up of the aunt not to invite Jo - but it’s also understandable
At first I thought Amy x Laurie was going to fast, but the 2nd chapter totally flipped my perception of that. I really enjoyed seeing her tell him about how she’d come to be disgusted with him, and how the rest of the family would too - since it came from a place of love. Amy has certainly grown up quite a bit. Their relationship development still feels a little too narratively convenient though. Seemingly this will be the one non-age gap
And yeah, stuff with Beth was going exactly where I thought it was (well to be fair 青い花 slightly spoiled it for me). I still think the author should have written her another chapter or two that wasn’t just about her being sick. I feel like she got the least screentime of anyone (besides the dad - but that’s fine, cuz he makes me uncomfortable). Otoh, I cried repeatedly through her last two chapters. Also it’s kinda messed up they didn’t write everyone to tell them to come home… Like I imagine the Lawrence fam & Any especially are gonna feel pretty messed up when they get back… Like if be pretty upset if my family didn’t tell me my sister was literally on the brink of death (I know they’d been giving her periodic updates, but still). It’s seems next chapter addresses this, and it’s not quite what I thought
I hope this doesn’t mean Jo is giving up her writing or anything
Looks like next chapter is a Laurie chapter, and I expect it will be rather enjoyable
Anyway this means it takes me about a week per book, and I should manage to finish all 4 by the end of the month. Then catch up with 明日の世界
For a variety of reasons, I got far less reading some today than I was hoping. Kindle says I have 5.5 hrs left now - so Monday will probably be my final day
Ch 18 turned out to be a Laurie x Amy chapter that was sweet, and addressed my issues around them seemingly both being uninformed of Beth"s death. Their reactions felt rather a bit unrealistic, but the main focus (romance) was convincing enough
Jo chapter is a lot of things, and some of them felt rather hard to swallow.
This portion of the story does feel very “let’s just marry everybody off nice and neatly”, and I feel rather conflicted about it. Anyway, it’s increasingly clear that the professor will be Jo’s husband in the end
Otoh Amy was supposed to come back home in the spring, and I feel fairly confident that enough time has passed where that should have happened. I guess everybody just permanently moved overseas?
Yet again for through very little today. It says I have 3.75 hrs left
Amy & Laurie got married without telling anyone?! (From a narrative approach I like this - nice variety)
Jo & Laurie conversation was soooo good
Professor showing up with that timing is just so stupid and unbelievable
