Well I guess I’ll have something more to read then 
Eternally behind life
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Finished 谁动了我的骨灰坛. Spoilers and thoughts below.
谁动了我的骨灰坛
The start was sad with the main character dying because of some twisted person, and the love interest dying a year or so later because of heartbreak.
I thought that because they have their memories it would be easier for them to confess to each other but the love interest is a bit timid in love so it took a bit of time.
I don’t agree with giving your partner your whole life savings (it can give them too much power over you and leave you with no exit) but I understand that the main character didn’t want her stepmother to spend it all should she die unexpectedly again.
There is a sequel I think based on what the author said but I don’t particularly feel like reading it.
Next up is 我男朋友好像有病, a diary-style bl.
In Japanese I’m still reading むらさきのスカートの女 which I might have more thoughts once I finish it. The start I found a bit boring but easy to read.
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Finished むらさきのスカートの女. Spoilers and thoughts below.
むらさきのスカートの女
Found the start a bit boring but easy to read. I was wondering where the book was heading especially since it was tagged “bad people doing bad things” maybe I expected the extreme of that because of it.
It finished quite abruptly and I had to search what the ending meant but it’s one of those literature books where it seems simple but actually represents a lot. The ending really elevated the book for me and how the むらさきのスカートの女 disappears and she just represents the narrator’s inner desires. Does this mean that it was all the narrator’s doing? Some of the scenes don’t make sense if it was just her all along.
I’ve decided to try and stick with a series and read more of 本好き so I’ve started the second book.
3 Likes
Finished multiple short Chinese stories lately.
我男朋友好像有病
At first I had to remember that 男朋友 usually has the connotation of ‘boyfriend’ rather than male friend. Maybe I’m not used to stories where the couple is already together.
There’s a lot of misunderstandings in this story and some of them were funny and some of them I got second-hand embarrassment from.
All the scenes were told from one character’s perspective, and then changing to the other so I had to relive the embarrassment. It was good to get insight into the other character though, even if it got a little repetitive.
我与情敌互换了灵魂
It was a short story so not too much to say about it, but it was comedic having a third character be the third wheel thinking the characters are together but they’re not yet.
I missed how the main character got the password for the other character’s computer, but it was a major plot point as he discovered that they had actually met each other when they were younger. Bit of ‘not asking for permission’ in this novel but it wasn’t too bad and I don’t expect every character to have perfect morals otherwise that would be boring. I’m testing where I sit.
找得着北"
I liked this one and thought it was a unique concept of a blind person and a person they meet on an app made for blind people for volunteers to help them. There’s 13 extra stories that I didn’t read that I may come back to.
舒克和贝塔历险记
The story was pretty simple except for the last chapter which involved a white mouse who had the heart of a human due to an experiment, that flashed and glowed when pressed on. Using the cat kingdom’s people fear of electricity she domineered over them and eating her subjects.
Seemed a bit out of place compared to the other stories of helping and not judging other people, but maybe it was a more extreme version of that. The turning the cats and mice dynamic on its head.
As for JPN I’m still reading 本好き volume 2 and enjoying it. I’m about a third of the way through. I like the slow integration of showing magic like the magical contract Myne made, and some interesting plants.
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Finished two Chinese books recently.
狐狸尾巴露出来了
It was a fun short novel where a fox spirit has the idea that he wants to seduce a young lord. So he choses a human form and ends up in a kitchen where he is then seduced by the cook.
The four extras I read were about his friend an Oriole spirit who loves books and comes to love the shopkeeper.
公主想做龙骑士
The story was cute with love between a female dragon and a princess. It took an unexpected turn but I liked the plot twist most at the end. It gave some context on how they met.
I’ve got the last 20% of 本好き volume 2 to go now. I wonder how this 身食い will be resolved.
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Finished 本好き volume 2!
Some thoughts
This volume was a lot more about business and trading information/materials/products. I liked that Lutz got to know the truth about Myne, and he is still standing by her prefering to give the decision on what to do with her to her family.
We met another character Freida who also used to have 身食い but thanks to having a lot of money she is able to move past it. Something that Myne can’t afford.
The novel ends with Myne unable to restrain 身食い and collapsing setting a tense cliffhanger for the next book.
In the extras Lutz’s mother seems to want a girl, and doesn’t seem to appreciate Lutz which I find sad. At least Myne’s mother tries to praise him. Myne’s mother blames Myne’s eccentricities on her husband which I found interesting.
Probably will start the next book soon.
4 Likes
Finished 影帝的脑子坏了
Some thoughts
It was an interesting read split into three parts; the present day, the past and back to the present day. As such, it took a little bit to settle into and find out what was happening.
There was some entertainment terms such as 影帝，节目，微博 but they were simple to get an understanding of once I saw them a few times. The real difficulty came to the main plot point of the main characters (the 影帝) having DID (now days called Dissociative Disorder but used to be called Multiple/Split personality disorder. I think in Chinese it is 解离型人格疾患 but I didn’t take note of what they used in the novel.)
I don’t claim to be an expert on DID but I’m glad they didn’t go the typical route of making the person with DID the bad guy. In this case, it was caused by multiple psychological shocks caused by car crashes and in one of them the death of his parents. He has an alter (one of the other personalities not the main host) who resembles his 16 year old self when he first had the car crash.
The only complaint I have is that it always happens that the DID is seen as something be fixed with the alter needing to be eliminated. (This happened in one children’s/youth book I read in Japanese too, but another one they didn’t). For those interested it is a major spoiler of [spoiler]https://learnnatively.com/book/5e4c0015fe/[/spoiler], and the other book was ブギーポップは笑わない | L29 which it’s in the tags.
The relationship was interesting because the psychologist (the other main character/male lead) falls in love with the 16 year old alter first. This made for an interesting plot point and a lot of angst for the psychologist, but the two characters made it work in the end when the alter is no more, and they have to navigate a stable relationship.
My only complaint is that it felt a bit short after the DID is resolved. At the end the 影帝 even says that he feels he knows nothing about the psychologist and then it ends there.
Next up is 我的狼妈妈. It’ll be my last short book before tackling a longer one.
I’ve been trying to keep consistent with reading, but I am also trying to relax, and incorporate some listening too. I finished watching one of the highest level Little Fox Chinese stories 爱丽丝梦游仙境 and started 森林王子. I also finished episode 2 of 棋魂.
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