From what I recall on the topic of domestic violence there was one woman who talked about how she turned to sex work because her boyfriend was beating her and she didn’t make enough to support herself on her day job’s wages? I don’t recall it being more explicit than that, maybe a reference to bruising. Probably the worst of the book (for me) was a woman describing in detail a sexual encounter (with a client) she clearly didn’t want to have, but felt she was obligated to take part in.
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Gotcha, thanks. I think I might have to pass on this one. I think I’d have a hard time reading the part you described, and I think listening to it would potentially be even harder. I appreciate the recommendation, though!
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There is a book on the 聴き放題 plan called 「日本語に主語はいらない」about Japanese linguistics that I found very interesting. It even gave me deep insight into the は・が thing (does anyone ever stop learning about that 
).
It is not necessarily above level 35, but it has a lot of grammar (think stuff like “first person pronoun” “reflexive pronoun”) and linguistics terminology you should be prepared to listen well for and look up in the first hours.
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I enjoyed this. It gives you insight into how Japanese see the outside world and what misconceptions they have. (This book basically tries to educate Japanese about the world.) It’s not perfect, but I found it enjoyable.
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I’d like to read something connected to water.
Funnily enough, I’m already reading 正欲 | L35?? (learnnatively.com) (I’ll just say water plays an important role, let’s leave it at that) and I’ve read 水たまりで息をする | L29 (learnnatively.com) which also focused on water and our relationship with it.
But this time I’m looking more for masses of water, deep sea, dark lake, unknown terrors lurking within, the isolation, the vastness, the quiet, this kind of thing. Probably the one thing I’ve read that comes sort of close was 化身 | L37 (learnnatively.com), where the narrator falls in a tropical lake surrounded by sheer cliff, and, unable to get out, is forced to adapt to a semi-aquatic, semi-wild lifestyle, his body rapidly evolving to fit his new habitat. I liked the loneliness of it, and the ultra closeness to wild and unknown natural elements. So something like that, but darker? Not sure I’m helping. It’s not the survival part I’m interested in, but the danger part.
I saw 鈴木 光司 (of リング fame) has written a collection of stories on water 仄暗い水の底から | L35 (learnnatively.com), and it may be what I’m looking for, but not sure.
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I started 月の裏側 which is starting soon and lemme tell you there was a paragraph on water features that bored me to tears is exactly what you want!
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Looking forward to it!
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Off topic I guess, since this is neither about Japanese nor about reading, but I wanted to thank you again for this recommendation. I started playing it (since apparently I can’t read yet), and it covers my creepy water needs to the fullest! My only problem is that I can’t stop playing 
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I’m glad you like it!
I have a similar problem with a different game.
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I’m in the middle of audio-reading ひげを剃る。そして女子高生を拾う。 (series) | L27 and it occured to me that it’s refreshing to read an LN narrated (primarily) by an adult character. So far I’ve read a mix of fantasy, romance, and slice of life LNs that are mostly narrated by teens.
So I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for ones with full or partial adult narration. Bonus if it has an audiobook.
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- ログ・ホライズン | L33 (although it looks like you’re already reading that)
- 狼と香辛料 (Series) | L35
- とんでもスキルで異世界放浪メシ | L28
There’s a tag for it too: “Primarily Adult Cast”.
Edit: Oh wow, I didn’t realize https://learnnatively.com/book/683f0e0bcd exists - the anime is fantastic, and the LN version is super well rated on Anilist!
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コップクラフト | L34 is both fantasy and police drama, with adult main characters. It has an audiobook too. We read the first volume with the LN book club but people didn’t seem to appreciate it as much as me on average 
穏やか貴族の休暇のすすめ。 | L32 fantasy, with a great audiobook. Nearly all characters are adults. There’s no romance but there’s an insane amount of teasing at BL without fully going there.
I can probably think of more stuff later.
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Awesome! And thx for the recs… I don’t quite know what to make of バッカーノ (though it’s apparently been on my “to watch” list for a while), but the others sound great. I am reading ログ・ホライズン, though I haven’t picked it up since September. Probly I’ll pick it up again, when I finish SAO 2
I read your review of it. It sounds pretty quirky, so I’ll add it to my list, thx 
I couldn’t get past the first chapter of コップクラフト - the audiobook was excellent quality, I just hated everything else about it 
(I knew I probly wouldn’t like it going in, but gave it a try for the sake of the LN club).
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I enjoyed it, but one of the adult main characters is very much characterised as a loli but yeah, wasn’t bad and I do plan on continuing the series… someday ™.
One more possibility: 佐々木とピーちゃん (series) | L36. I’ve just started watching the anime, and it’s such a breath of fresh air to mostly hear the calm and soft voice of an adult instead of super excited teenagers, haha.
(I’m just now seeing that the scores on AniList are a bit mid, and the “love comedy with an age gap (?)” mention in the description there doesn’t fill me with confidence, so it might be that my initial excitement is misplaced.)
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It’s already on my plan to watch list. Idk much else about it tho (just saw the PV), but thx for suggesting!
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Hey everyone!
I’m looking for something that is primarily set in a typical 商店街, preferably the story also being related to the location but not necessarily. It can be manga, novel, anime, anything. The only one I’m familiar with is たまこまーけっと | L24??
(I’ve just realised that this thread is meant for only book related stuff. So I’m not sure whether it’s okay to include non-book stuff as well or not. Sorry if that’s a problem 
)
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It’s fine to ask about other media too.
Not sure I understand exactly what you’re after. Do you want a city environment, a story about shop keepers, or something else entirely?
This might fit:
三ツ星カラーズ (1) | L20 (learnnatively.com)
These girls are constantly running around Ueno.
Maybe this one about a dorayaki stand?
あん | L30 (learnnatively.com)
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Would this fit the bill?
Btw all media is good on this thread, not just books
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I have just started reading books (children’s books, but yah) and I can feel my mind expanding.
With that in mind, for the future, would anyone be able to recommend absolute beginner mystery stories and something for absolute beginner Kansai-ben?
I get the feeling some of the kid 探偵部 stories might come up here for the former, which I am all the way here for. But no idea where to start with the latter (besides some manga).
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