Mostly that. Volumes 28-30 cover one of my favorite parts in the series. I like the main story in 31-32, but less, and the bonus stories felt extra boring.
Welcome! There are a few active book clubs and a lot of older ones, both formal (with a schedule) and informal (no schedule and people posting commentary marking chapter numbers and using spoiler tags), for books of all different levels.
If there is something you would like to read with others, you can also always feel free to start your own informal book club! This thread is kind of the catch-all space for gauging interest for specific book club ideas.
Depending on what you mean by easier things, the Beginner’s light novel club (currently voting on our next book) or yuri/GL club generally stay under level 30 (the beginner’s club is capped at L29)
Here’s an index of all the book clubs: 🇯🇵 Index List of Book Clubs
I left off with the series a few months ago at volume 24 and I’m about to jump back in. What are some good pause points between books? I don’t have quite as much time at the moment so I probably won’t be able to binge read the last 9 books. Thanks!
I guess the beginner’s light novel club it is, then. I’ve passed the JLPT N1 but have stopped using Japanese I moved to Taiwan six years ago and began studying Mandarin. I’d like to get in the habit of extensive reading again.
I see the beginner’s LN club thread says that nominations are open until November 24th. That means that the voting will be during the last week of November?
Yup. Voting will start on 11/24 and end on 12/1. We probably won’t start whatever we’re reading till the new year tho if I had to guess - since Dec is usually busy for ppl, and if ppl are reading physical books it might take a while to get them shipped.
We just started reading 人狼サバイバル 1 絶体絶命! 伯爵の人狼ゲーム | L25 yesterday over here, although maybe that’s a bit too easy for you?
I decided to stop reading 母影 おもかげ | L28 and return it to the library because I never found myself reaching for it or wanting to read more. Maybe I’ll come across it again one day again and finish it.
In the world of “random non fiction I listen on the audiobook.jp app’s 聴き放題 plan” - I’m still listening to the audiobook for ビジネスの未来――エコノミーにヒューマニティを取り戻す | L42?? and it’s been decent so far. The author has a strong vision of what a post infinite growth model economy and society could look like and makes some interesting arguments. It’s been a “food for thought” type book that’s led to some pondering, but I haven’t really drawn any of my own conclusions yet. I think I will end up ranking this towards the bottom of the list of books I’ve read from this author, though. Some of his others are tighter and more focused, imo. But I will certainly still read more!
In other news, the end of the year is coming and I really really need to finish my bingo card!!! I started reading 夏の終り | L35?? back in August(?!) for the “longest on your TBR” square, put it down at some point due to life stuff, and didn’t pick it back up again until this weekend.
It definitely feels higher than level 35 and is also slightly emotionally exhausting to read because the characters have the messiest relationships ever - a love square where nobody at all is happy …knowing the book is based on the authors life kind of makes it hit harder. I see why she ran away and became a Buddhist nun. Anyways, I’ll keep reading this for 30 minutes a day until I finish it. I’m enjoying it despite the difficulty, so I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes!
I just might tag along
I’m less concerned about the difficulty of the book (or even the book, to an extent) and more about the community surrounding the book. I could read something harder, and there are things I want to read, but the fact of the matter is that I haven’t been choosing to read. Book clubs are something I’ve never tried before, so maybe having deadline and people to discuss with will help.
Until 27, things are somewhat slow going. I feel like nearly any volume can be a break (I don’t remember any strong cliffhanger). Then 28-30 go together, so do 31 and 32.
33 really feels like a victory lap and I loved it for that.
You’d be very welcome to!
Another book club that you might be interested in is the Intermediate Book Club over in the WK forums (useable for free, and nobody cares whether you actually use WK or not). We’ll be starting the next vote any day now.
(They also read あん a year ago, if you’re interested in reading what other people thought about chapters etc.)
Ahem.
runs off to collect the proposed books
I feel so accomplished! I finished かくりよの宿飯 10, and with that, completed my first light novel series in Japanese.
I highly recommend the series to anyone who likes adventure, comedy, found family, and slow-burn romance. Also, cooking. For anyone interested who thinks it’s too high level, there is also a manga adaptation and an anime.
Nice, congrats! Is there another LN series you’re eyeing to start now?
Thank you I do want to finish reading 本好きの下剋上 soon, since I have 9 books left, but I’m also hoping to (belatedly) start 神様たちのお伊勢参り.
It looks fairly easy according to the gradings so far and I do want to join in with the book club since I voted. I waited to start it until now because the premise is similar to かくりよの宿飯 and I didn’t want to read both at the same time.
Added the anime to my list (the LN is already on there)
I didn’t get too far in, but have found it enjoyable enough, and the audiobook is great. The very beginning is very heavy with shrine-related vocab, but once you get past that, it’s much smoother sailing
Errm akshually, there are 2 more volumes in that series (so far).
To be fair, the “main” story does feel like it is over. I did like volume 11. Volume 12 was painfully boring, though.
Other than that, work has been horribly busy over the past week, so I only finished ループ7回目の悪役令嬢は、元敵国で自由気ままな花嫁生活を満喫する 6 エフ | L30. I was hoping to read something else for my Bingo, BUT I didn’t have the brain capacity for anything else than LN.
It was great, too! I would comment further, but it’s the same strong and weak points as previous volumes (action and romance are great, but plot is just an excuse to get to the good scenes).
Looking at your rating of volume 12 it might’ve been better to say nothing, lest this makes @NihongoLearner19 feel like they have read it now for completion’s sake
I wanna hear what’s the story with that rating