not sure about this particular example, but - and I unfortunately don’t remember which book that was - I was reading a story with characters in different age groups… so there was a elementary student and a middle grader and a high schooler - and they used kanji in varying degrees. the elementary student mostly used hiragana when speaking while the middle grader used a lot of kanji but occassionally there were some katakana for words where the kid was supposed to have learned the kanji but couldn’t remember. I found this a really fun detail. I really don’t remember what book that was, though… maybe some short story. 
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I see 貴方 fairly often, but that’s because I read a lot of 本好きの下剋上 and that series uses it a lot!
Speaking of contrasting usage though, 本好き also uses お前 a bunch, but in a few instances it used 御前 instead to differentiate it since in those cases it was used respectfully like the old usage.
I really need to give that series a shot. Seems like it’s generally well liked and at a good difficult for me.
I’ve seen this fairly often in manga at least. Particularly, young kids who haven’t started school yet “speak” entirely in hiragana.
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funnily enough, i saw 貴方 in kanji the very next day in a song lyric* 
just finished the first volume of ユリ熊嵐. it continues to be quite difficult reading, to the point that i have to take regular breaks. i definitely got only rough outlines of the story during my first attempt, and i reckon there’s plenty i’m still missing.
the story is very different from the anime. we have mostly the same characters, humans and bears, etc., and it’s about the relationship between the characters. but beyond that it’s a different story, and i don’t know where it’s going.
i’m also wondering whether i should start something easier to read in parallel, but currently i don’t really have anything on my list. well, 宝石の国, but that doesn’t look easy either.
*edit: the lyrics also use 壱弍参肆, definitely a choice ^^
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Ha, no I wouldn’t expect that to be easy. I only read the first volume (and don’t plan on continuing because the art is so bland), but from what I remember from the anime it gets complicated.
Wow, never seen 肆 before!
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I read the first four volumes and I can also confirm that it’s not easy for a manga.
I remember some discussion about it on the WK forum, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in the wild (although I’m not sure).
I did look up the full list up to 拾 back in the days.
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So, not sure when I last wrote. I finished つれづれノート | L25 and そして、バトンは渡された | L29 (prefer the movie) and started コーヒーが冷めないうちに | L29 as well as tentatively 七回死んだ男 | L30?? (current pick of the natively mystery book club)
My CEO read コーヒーが冷めないうちに in translation recently and was all excited telling me about this cool Japanese book he read and asking if I wanted to borrow it. (Obviously I declined because I want to read the original. 
) So I figured, I might as well bump it up on my TBR. So far, it’s really up my alley and I wonder if there is an overarching story… that ghost is sus 
but even if not, it’s a nice read.
Some overall reading stats
So far, I have read 10 books this year already (in Japanese, English and German), plus 5 Penguin Little Black Classics (which are extremely short and I don’t really count). Leaving those aside, I am at a 50:50 ratio Japanese/Non-Japanese which is what I am aiming for, so I am happy. 
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I’ve just finished reading Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 第三章 Truth of Zero (series) | L25??-28 and wow that was interesting. I will surely start reading the 4th chapter soon.
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Did you tell him that you plan to read it in Japanese or is that some big secret?
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I told him, of course. 
But he is aware that my interest lies with Japan/Japanese, that’s why he talked about it in the first place.
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@cat I started https://learnnatively.com/book/13f4cb524e/ yesterday as an audiobook (since it’s on audible’s 聞き放題) and I was wondering about your review.
This is a book where you’ll want to read between the lines.
I am in story/chapter 3 and so far, I feel the stories are fairly straight-forward. Am I missing something?
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These are not stories, but chapters of the same story. You’ll need to watch out for narrator changes. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t clear from the beginning who was who or even whether they were male or female, but this soon clears up (maybe it’s obvious in the audiobook?). The writing is straightforward, and you don’t need to watch out for hidden meaning or tricks. I think the “read between the lines” comment is about understanding what the story is saying as a whole? Anyway, just enjoy it! I loved this book!
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There’s no change of voice, but the change of pronoun made it obvious to me.
But, yes, the first change in view point took me by surprise.
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Yes, the way people speak and the level of politeness they use, makes it imo fairly clear, who the speaker is. Though different narrators (or at least voices) would have been interesting for the audiobook. 
Thanks for your input. Will do.
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Yep. I read some Japanese reviews after and was like, “wow, they totally missed the point of the book” 
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I have 3 US audible credits I need to use; does anyone have any suggestions for what I should pick up? My current JP audiobooks are:
- Harry Potter 1-3
- 星の王子さま
- 体育館の殺人
- コンビニ人間
I like mystery and fantasy!
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the 本好き audiobooks are extremely good, imo.
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仮面病院 or 硝子塔の殺人 would be my top picks.
殺人ライセンス and 変な家 are both good for listening without text, but the stories aren’t amazing imo. The writing style on the first is particularly meh.
I just downloaded 俺ではない炎上 and I think 真相をお話しします is on audible but I got it through another source.
赤ずきん、旅の途中 something something is on Audible, it was nominated for the mystery club and has a movie adaptation coming out this year I think? Haven’t listened yet.
I really liked 火車 but it’s pretty heavy with finance terms.
64 is amazing and I loved it, but it’s a harder book.
I’m probably missing some but that should be a good jumping off point and they’re all on Audible US!
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Thank you @Biblio and @cat! I’ve got lots of stuff to check out now.
Edit: @cat, should that be 仮面病棟?
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Yep. Typing on mobile 
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Today’s fun coincidence was reading about 横溝正史（よこみぞせいし） in both 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 | L41 and ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖 (4) ~栞子さんと二つの顔~ | L31! And both of them even talked about how he spent some time editing a magazine in addition to being an author.
Between 本好き, ビブリア, this chapter of 夜は短し, and 本を守ろうとする猫の話 | L31 (which I’ve only barely started), I feel like I’m just reading books about books lately! 
Maybe it’s a sign I should pick up 図書館の大魔術師 (series) | L27 again too?
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