Any spoilers, for the current chapters must be behind spoilers or detail curtains. When we get further in you don’t need to hide details that were revealed in previous chapters.
Always mention where you are in the book when discussing, ideally by chapter so people reading different versions have a clear point of reference.
Feel free to read ahead if it’s exciting! But please refrain from spoiling ahead of the appropriate week
If you have a question about grammar, vocab, cultural things, etc - ask! That can be part of the discussion too and I’m sure some folks would be happy to help.
Even if you don’t read the chapter(s) in time, you are still encouraged to post in the thread for that reading once you have finished it. I advise not reading ahead in the threads as you may see spoilers.
Was waiting for the club to catch up to where I was roughly in the book, and thought I’d re-read these two chapters since conveniently, I had only read up to 生活改善中. Re-reading chapter 5 last night, I was really surprised at how easy it was compared to when I started the book back in June.
It could be my poor memory but for those who have watched the anime: Is Myne given alcohol in the anime as well? it’s been a long time since I’ve seen season one, but it struck me as something that wouldn’t fly on TV and I don’t remember it.
There was some discussion last week about how the Korean translation isn’t great/poorly localized, but it’s great if you fall into the niche subset of people who read Japanese and are now learning Korean like myself! It feels like reading Japanese with Korean words, so there is a lot of new vocabulary exposure but then the phrasing still feels familiar. I am taking everything with a pinch of salt, though, and don’t have the expectation that it’s “natural” Korean or that there are phrases I should commit to my long term memory. This has basically been a fun experiment/experience so far.
About the actual story, we’ve gone from the initial surprise phrase of being in a new world to trying to adapt! I can’t help but think about it I was in the same situation and if I’d be able to do as well as Myne or if I would face some other challenges.
I think I’d also begin improving my living situation as a starting point, but if I set out to create a book completely from scratch like she says she wants to at the beginning of the chapter, I’m not sure I’d have the knowledge of how to do that. How about anyone else?
Whenever people talk about surviving some end-of-the-world catastrophy, I am like: The first thing I’d do, is check if the library is still standing and getting all the books on how you do anything. I can’t build anything. I don’t know my herbs and other plants. I don’t really know how to preserve. Etc. I might survive the inital thing, but I would not be long for this world.
Put pulp + water in a basin, mix, use a mesh screen & wooden frame to scoop pulp up into a thin rectangle.
After rectangle drains, remove frame and transfer pulp to … something it won’t stick to while it dries. Sandwich it with some weight and use bellows to move the air and dry it.
Repeat a bazillion times.
Make ink and write.
Use thread to sew one side together.
できた！
Is how I would do it! I wonder what she’ll do?? わくわく
Edit: just thought I’d add that I wrote this comment thinking “just in case any of us wakes up in Myne/Urano’s situation!!” (I interned at a papermaking and bookbinding studio in high school.)
Edit of the edit: I missed an important step - after draining you want to press the sheets with as much weight/pressure as humanly possible, then after that you do the sandwiching and blow-drying step.
Forget about books, I don’t know how to make shampoo (I mean… being the 3rd time I get through this part, I kinda know how to do it this way, but still forgot about the salt). That’s where I’d start thinking my kid has been possessed by the Demon or something.
I actually have this knowledge and have made both hardback and soft cover books using traditional methods. It’s a really cool art form and you can really personalize a book regardless of the type it is. It is quite time consuming though and you’d need some specialized tools or close alternatives for certain parts, even using the easier methods. Not sure how easy Myne will find it to gather them though.
I kind of have basics for these especially foraging books and books on growing stuff in the area I live in but it was purely curiosity and not possible apocalypse related buying
I also have a little knowledge and some books on how to build basic survival gear/ shelter/ camp fire etc as well as basic weapons and traps from very little as well, again from a curiosity standpoint.
I know how to make paper - theoretically. I have made some before and I was a scout in my youth (but I stopped before you learned the really good stuff). But without some sort of starter (i.e. lighter, flint, …) I would not be able to make a fire. However, that reminded me, that I have some proper scouts - who were also scout leaders - in my family. I now know where I would go in an emergency. (They also have a shit-ton of outdoor gear, which would come in handy… )
We can help carry things.
Should we get back to the book? I can say that the kind of shampoo she makes would not work on my hair. way too much oil. It’s more of a conditioner - so she is basically using the no-poo method. but not rinsing your hair and scrubbing your scalp… I am itching just imagining it…
I can’t build anything. I don’t know my herbs and other plants. I don’t really know how to preserve. Etc. I might survive the inital thing, but I would not be long for this world. 
(I interned at a papermaking and bookbinding studio in high school.)
but not rinsing your hair and scrubbing your scalp… I am itching just imagining it…