What are you reading today?

Japanese Reading
2750

Hmmm I’m just reading it for bingo. Not sure I’ll read anymore from this author if I don’t have to.

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2751

Started this today! It’s the latest in a fav series. I love the relationships and organic feeling in the series, in general. It’s a very rare instance of an LN that feels relaxing to read to me. My comprehension is occasionally iffy, and I have lots of lookups (depending on the page), but it feels similar to reading in my native language. It’s off to a smooth start, and I’m really curious where it’s gonna go (and whether there’s gonna be some drama that was foreshadowed). Update: I finished it and loved it! The foreshadowed drama did sort of appear, but in a very different way than expected. I’ve also discovered the author’s カクヨム page (web novel site)… which has a lot of stuff that didn’t quite make it into the novels!

Also started SAO プフル・チャント | L34??, which I’ve had lying around for a while now. It’s the prelude to the SAO オーディナル・スケール- | L28 movie, and should be a good warmup for SAO 28 coming out next month

Seems like it will be a pretty hilarious yuri… not very far into it, but good light reading

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2752

Now I’m reading (there is a mix between novels and JLPT n4 textbooks):

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2753

That game book sounds pretty interesting… I might have to check that out!!

2754

I loved that novel! It’s so well-observed and beautiful. It was the first thing I read by him so I got really surprised by his reputation when I learnt about it afterwards :sweat_smile:

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2755

Mmm, I started with his non fiction essay collection https://learnnatively.com/book/667b0dc47c/ and then moved onto https://learnnatively.com/book/35509c6776/ and his childhood years autobiography 幼少時代 | L43 , none of which are at all in that kink theme, so my impression of him as an author is a bit askew as a result :slight_smile:

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2756

@Belerith I saw you finished 秘密 by 東野圭吾 - what did you think of it? I kept getting bored and dropping it, curious if it’s worth going back to

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2757

I totally understand the feeling! It had to consciously decide to keep coming back to it. While I wasn’t actively bored reading it, there also wasn’t a hook to pull me in. I had a lot of short reading sessions in the middle, then the last 150 pages went pretty quickly.

In the end it was worth it for me, I enjoyed it. If I could I’d even give it 4,5 stars, but between 4 and 5 it’s still a 4. The tone of the story doesn’t shift though, so if that is what’s boring you, it might not be for you. It’s also not really a mystery, which is what I’d been expecting going in, haha.

How far did you read? I don’t want to accidentally spoil you. ^^

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2758

Looks like I only made it 65 pages before throwing in the towel :sweat_smile:

I know the daughter’s soul is dead and the mom’s soul is living in her body. I think I stopped reading around the scene where her daughter’s friends went to visit her at the hospital and the mom was utterly failing at talking like a little girl

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2759

So right in the setting up. It’s a bit difficult to say then. As I said, the tone of the story stays pretty much the same. Things happen, but aside from that one factor the book is almost slice of life, human/family drama. It is mysterious but very much not a mystery book, haha.

If you’re looking to read a mystery, this is not the book. :slight_smile:

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2760

On ch 271 of 285 for the クラスで2番目可愛い女の子と友だちになった web chapters. Past the novels, and enjoying. Will be interesting to see the differences whenever the next novel comes out.

Reading a few series in 百合姫 magazine

ささ恋 is introducing a storyline that’s seemingly either シスコン or “I have feelings for my sister’s new girlfriend”, and I’m sooooo confused, and hoping it’s neither of those (I’m not inherently opposed to either, but they feel so out of left field here).

今日はカノジョがいないから went exactly where it looked like it was going, and I feel so bad for Nanase. I’m assuming it’s gonna develop into a both people are cheating story soon. I really wish they’d just break up, when Nanase discovers that Yuni totally shattered her promise, but that’s obviously not gonna happen anytime soon. I have such complicated feelings about this story, and it does make me wanna find other NTR yuri (very selectively tho)

彩純ちゃんはレズ風俗に興味があります！ was ok. I liked last chapter a bit better. I mostly understood everything, but there’s one scene at the end, where I’m trying to understand whether she hooked up with her friend or not

If I get through 嫌われ魔女令嬢と男装皇子の婚約 | L25, then that will make 4. In so glad for my wallet that it’s a monthly magazine, but it’s sooooo frustrating waiting for the next chapters. Update: I finished 嫌われ魔女令嬢, except for the most recent chapters. I think it’s pretty meh, but it’s good for language, and I’ll probably keep up with it since I’m buying the magazines anyway.

Sorta started 声優ラジオのウラオモテ #01 夕陽とやすみは隠しきれない? | L28 but might put it off till later. Seems to be same VAs as anime, and the radio scene came off better here (less strained). Might join the 魔女の宅急便 1 | L25 book club, but I should catch up on my other series first

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2761

That tells me everything I need I think! I’ll probably end up rehoming this book since it’s not really my cup of tea

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2762

I just finished up よつばと！vol1!! I was reading it with the Bunpro Beginner Book Club. My vocab and grammar is still around N4-ish level (not even finished with Genki 2), but I decided to tackle it anyway. I am so glad that I just went for it and didn’t wait: I feel so accomplished! Even though I had to look up stuff a lot, I felt like it was just above my level so I never felt frustrated.

I’m not sure what I’ll read next. I have a few more beginner manga on my shelf, but I’m going to Japan next week, so I plan to buy a lot to bring home. (Yes, I am going through Natively to get some purchase ideas.)

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2763

oooh have fun! Going to book stores is one of my favorite parts of visiting Japan when I’m able to go :rofl:

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2764

I want to come! I want to go to Japan and go to all the Book Offs!

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2765

I know you didn’t ask for that, but I made a few recommendations for easier manga over in the Tamamo no Koi book club in the WK forums - maybe they help! (And you could get Tamamo no Koi and join the club while you’re at it :wink:)

Enjoy Japan!

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2766

Thank you! The fox manga and the one with the bear both look cute! I’ll keep an eye out for both when browsing Book Off(s).

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2767

Today I read the 5th volume of 俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない | L31, for tomorrow I’m thinking of reading 2 more volumes but that will depend on the time I have (and the time I don’t spend on reading the ブルーアーカイブ story). Still thinking about what to read after I finish 俺妹, luckily I have yet a lot of volumes to read before that choice.

Talking about objectives, until now I’ve been reading at least a million characters every month and I am 56/100 in my goal to read 100 volumes before 2025 so things are going nice :grin:

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2768

I am 60% into volume 7 of 本好き and I forgot how sad the story gets here…

the 本好き books are kinda odd as the main story only usually takes up like 2/3 of the book and the rest being side stories and epilogue…

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2769

I haven’t updated here on what I’m reading in a while. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump and finding it hard to focus on books I’d normally enjoy quite a bit. The solution to this seems to be to find the pulpiest, easy to read books possible and just brainlessly consume them.

I’m currently 35% done with 禁じられた遊び 本のサナギ賞受賞作 | L28?? and it’s fitting the bill for me. It’s horror, and unlike most Japanese books labeled ‘horror’ that I’ve read thus far, this one really does feel like the Western understanding of the genre. It is however most akin to a cheesy trope-filled horror flick.

I’m enjoying it though. I might put it on my list of entry level adult novels when I’m done, although now that I’m so far from being a beginner I feel a bit hesitant to do so without other gradings :sweat_smile:

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