This is such a necessary thread for me. I have so many physical books I’ve yet to read (Korean and English tbh but I can’t think about my English TBR rn hahahaha). It’s a struggle to read physical, but that’s literally how I started reading in Korean so it should be easier by now…!
Physical TBR (the short list) (yes there are more physicals I own but ;;;)
= started and paused…some I may just need to start over tho
The long walk
2029
바보 허스키와 그의 흰 고양이 사존
(manga/manhwa) Death note 4-13
(manga/manhwa) 귀태 1-3
파과
급류
죽고 싶지만 떡볶이는 먹고 싶어 2
불귀도 살인 사건
잔류 인간
안녕, 소중한 사람
번외
홍학의 자리
82년생 김지영
완득이
지구 끝의 온실
I have absolutely no set goals for tackling this TBR short list. Maybe I need to set some schedule of 1 physical book per month with the new year or something.
Yeah that’s fair. I’m in the middle of a bunch of stuff too, and December gets pretty busy
I’ve been thinking of increasing my monthly quota to 10 manga per month. I’ve got a good amount of lower level manga to get through, so that shouldn’t be so hard. Your weekly quota thing sounds like it could be cool.
Same. I finally finished CCS vol 2, and starting vol 3. If I can just finish my novel this weekend, I can get through the rest of the series pretty quickly
I’ve been trying to mostly read my physical TBR this year, but I’ve been reading less Japanese than other years due to picking up French so my numbers are nothing special (compared to past me):
理由
月光ゲーム
傷跡のメッセージ
教団X
マッチング
死神の浮力
わたしのグランパ
黒蜥蜴
怪談刑事
ヨモツイクサ
So 10 physical books in total. I’m planning to start another one soon but it only barely counts being less than 70 pages long (a little illustrated book about folklore).
What are these out of curiosity? Some English classics I adored and can try to hype you up to read them, others not so much…
Haha, thanks I actually used to read a lot of classics in English (voluntary reading out of enjoyment). It’s not that I don’t want to read them, it’s just that it’s been difficult to prioritize reading these over reading in the languages I am actively learning (although I feel not reading fiction has taken its toll on my English skills).
Oh, I feel that. I haven’t read a book in French in… who knows how long, and since I’m also not living in a French speaking country I feel like my French skills are the worst they’ve ever been. I didn’t think you could regress in your native language (does that make me want to read more in French? Nope. Because my Korean is worse, it needs way more attention).
Wow I feel the exact same with my French (also my native language) It was fine as long as I was still living in France, but I really feel the struggle now whenever I have a phone conversation that’s not about the weather. I also think in English 90% or more of the time so there’s really no place for French in my daily life anymore. Reading again in French was among my 2025 new year’s resolutions, but I also was hoping my Korean reading skills would improve faster (i.e I was planning to read way more than I actually did). I think (hope) that when I come to the point where I can read a Korean book in a reasonable amount of time, it will be easier to vary the languages I read in. At least before I get to the point where I start reading books in a new language
I read two volumes of onikakushi which totals to 5 points (one of them was a reread). After the first volume I bought two volumes of csm which is -2 points. I do want to buy more now that i finished onikakushi vol 2 but I want them to arrive first..which won’t happen until mid december…
btw 85 percent of my order was shipping. I wish I could save on money by bulk ordering but no matter what I seem to need to pay for each items shipping seperately even from the same shop.
I counted my english unread books and I got around 50 (I counted twice and got conflicting numbers, hence “around”). Which isn’t too bad I think. for now.
Shortly before this thread was posted, I started reading 満月をさがして 1 | L24. It’s one of two full series I own physical copies of but hadn’t started yet. Unless I get really into it, I won’t finish the series this year, but I can still make good progress. I’ve only read three chapters, but it’s good so far.
Suruga-ya is your friend… Or at least, free shipping partner
Not following this… Are you just ordering a small amount at a time or something? Or just a weird combo of books (or other media) that manages to go over a box size?
I’m ordering directly from amazon and each item ships separately even from the same shop. I don’t want to use a proxy service, because I need to know the total with shipping exactly. My country has a very low limit on customs taxes and I need to know that I don’t go past it with proxy fees and shipping. Theoretically, books should be exempt, but idk if I want to make a bigger order with a proxy to test it.
Yeah proxy services confuse the hell out of me with that stuff. I only use them in specific circumstances, and even then usually Cdjapan’s built-in one. Too much guesswork, and more inconvenience
Yeah I get that I have some excellent books collecting dust because it’s so hard to prioritize them
This one might be the easiest to polish off at least! I read it as a middle schooler and really enjoyed it. It’s kind of goofy and while iirc there’s political satire reasons for it, I certainly didn’t need to understand any of that to like it.
I hereby declare that, as I have this coming week off from work, I will set a goal to read three () of my physical manga, and set a stretch goal of reading five ().
Goal
Manga #1
Manga #2
Manga #3 Bonus
Manga #4
Manga #5
I will update you all as/when/if these goals are achieved.
If I buy a book and immediately start it, does it count?
Not a serious question, I just unexpectedly bought vol 2 of the 弓道 series, and immediately started reading it. It’s digital anyway, so not relevant to my counts
I wish I could do that… I have several manga in progress that haven’t really pulled me in, so they just sit there. I don’t dislike them enough to actually drop them, but I also can’t motivate myself to pick them up.
Every time I’m reading a book, the only thing I want to do more than read my book is read a new book. I’m at least pretty good at dnf things I don’t want to read… at least manga..
Manga #1 finished with 魔法少女ダンデライオン (Magical Girl Dandelion)! I’ve heard a bit about this manga from @shablul, and it always looked pretty interesting, so I’ve been wanting to read it for a while. (Amusingly, I also finished up reading A Magical Girl Retires (마법소녀 은퇴합니다 | L30) in English this morning physically as well.) We follow たんぽぽ/Tanpopo (her name literally means “dandelion”), a young girl who was saved by Shade, one of the bad guys of the world that magical girls fight, when she was a child, and who she’s been friends with ever since. One day Tanpopo finds out she has the potential to become a magical girl, and thus begins her journey to learn about herself and the enemy they fight against.
I thought this was a pretty strong opening, and I think I want to read a couple more volumes before deciding whether it’s a definite keeper for me yet. (Only one more volume has been released as of writing, unfortunately.) Tanpopo’s a good girl, and I really like Shade and the dynamic he brings to things. I’m curious how Tanpopo’s relationship with the magical girl society will shake out given her friendship with Shade.
Reading this makes me want to re-read 東京ミュウミュウ オーレ! | L25, an extremely fun magical boys manga.
That reminds me a bit of かつて魔法少女と悪は敵対していた。 | L25, which I loved the anime for and I bought the manga on sale (there are only 3), but I never can psych myself up for a 4-koma one day!
= started and paused…some I may just need to start over tho
list
I actually used to read a lot of classics in English (voluntary reading out of enjoyment). It’s not that I don’t want to read them, it’s just that it’s been difficult to prioritize reading these over reading in the languages I am actively learning (although I feel not reading fiction has taken its toll on my English skills).
(does that make me want to read more in French? Nope. Because my Korean is worse, it needs way more attention).
It was fine as long as I was still living in France, but I really feel the struggle now whenever I have a phone conversation that’s not about the weather. I also think in English 90% or more of the time so there’s really no place for French in my daily life anymore. Reading again in French was among my 2025 new year’s resolutions, but I also was hoping my Korean reading skills would improve faster (i.e I was planning to read way more than I actually did). I think (hope) that when I come to the point where I can read a Korean book in a reasonable amount of time, it will be easier to vary the languages I read in. At least before I get to the point where I start reading books in a new language 
) of my physical manga, and set a stretch goal of reading five (
).
Goal 
one day!