goes straight (heh) onto the wishlist.
6 Likes
Sounds/Looks cute. Added to my (very eventually) list
Small update, I finished 本好きの下剋上 第五部「女神の化身XI」 | L32 the other day and I’m on to the final volume!
Additionally I picked up 魔王は扇子で蕎麦を食う ~落語魔王与太噺~ | L36?? when it came out, because I’ll read anything if rakugo is in the title I saw the author promoting it on twitter. I haven’t read far enough to assess anything yet, but reviews online even from people who don’t care about rakugo have been remarkably positive so I’m hopeful there’s something to it. (Oh, also I think I overestimated the level when adding it. It doesn’t feel like L36, more like L30-ish even if you don’t know anything going in)
I also picked up a few new manga on a whim the other day, including メタモルフォーゼの縁側 1 | L21 which appears to be about an old woman who accidentally buys a BL manga at a book store and gets really into it, and I’m so here for it if so.
I haven’t been reading much for awhile now, but I’m trying to start waking up earlier in the morning and maybe use that time to get some reading in!
9 Likes
I also just finished 本好きの下剋上 32 and only have the last one left! I’m sad it’s almost over 
6 Likes
I’ve been reading a mix of things lately. I’m in the middle of Natsume Soseki’s 夢十夜 over at the Soseki Project site, 暁のヨナ volume 22, and Silent Witch volume 1.
While I’ve read 坊ぼっちゃん in English before, it’s my first time reading Soseki in Japanese. To be honest, I’m not really sure his writing is for me. 坊っちゃん’s ending felt rather abrupt, and Ten Nights of Dreams is… weird and the stories feel unconnected so I’m not really invested.
I’ve not read much of Silent Witch yet, but I’m intrigued by the prologue. As for Yona of the Dawn, it’s as amazing as ever. I love how complicated and nuanced all of the characters and their relationships are, in addition to the wide-ranging plot and the beautiful art. It’s a banger.
10 Likes
It’s an interesting premise, but I’m pretty reluctant to read a LN that just had its first volume released. For all I know it’ll be 20 volumes long and finish publishing in 2035, and I kind of like to know what I’m getting myself into. I added it to my wishlist for now.
2 Likes
I know what you mean! This is really it… Book 1 was the third book I ever read in Japanese, and it was the first one that really felt like reading rather than decoding (at least some of the time). I remember thinking back then that there was no way I’d ever read all 20 books that had been published at the time… 
That sounds like a good mix! I enjoyed Silent Witch (I’ve read the first 4 so far) and 坊っちゃん in Japanese is one of my favorite novels. I’ve tried to read 夢十夜 a few times but never gotten very far, maybe someday I’ll get back to it or try an audiobook. It seems like something worth reading once!
Haha, understandable. At the moment it’s still in the “will the publisher greenlight a second volume or not?” phase, so anything could happen. I’ll report back with an actual review once I’ve finished it!
8 Likes
Chapter 35-1 for 光が死んだ夏 is out and the series is getting more of an adventure kick recently. Guess after this full chapter they’ll make it another volume.
I do hope they will animate everything that’s up until then, but I have no idea how this works…
4 Likes
I mean, you also have the spin off series that takes place a few months later. There are no news of when the second volume will come out, though (the web novel update from one week ago just made us reach enough content for that, not sure how long production will take)
3 Likes
Well, they are dreams 
We had a read through thread for this on the WaniKani forums if you want to see what other people felt. I liked them overall.
7 Likes
Another person reading 暁のヨナ 
… I was supposed to read Silent Witch with the WK bookclub, but I got distracted by マリみて… I’ll get around to it eventually.
Finished Sailor Moon 90s anime, so now I’m reading 美少女戦士セーラームーン | L25 from the beginning. It’s quite nostalgic, rereading book 1! Since Crystal is basically a straight adaptation, I’m using the jpdb decks for Crystal to do some study/pre-study
Also have to finish お釈迦様もみてる2 学院のおもちゃ【マリア様がみてるカラー口絵つき】 | L29 (it’s gotten somewhat better), and decide whether or not to continue ソードアート・オンライン6 ファントム・バレット | L34 (lookup frequency may be too high). Need to read the next story in 花物語 上 | L39 as well.
Started Home thread for SeaBed - informal Visual Novel Book Club - not totally hooked yet, but am enjoying, and it’s good vocab acquisition. The characters are all adults - so that’s a nice change from the usual high school age casts.
薬屋のひとりごと 1 | L38 - slowly but surely in lessons. Challenge is in the vocab, comprehension is fine. Having seen the anime definitely helps
I’m starting to feel in more of a manga mood, esp since I’m reading SeaBed… so I might pick up another shoujo series, or one of my recent purchases, once I’m done w/ Sailor Moon
6 Likes
Since I already have multiple books in progress I naturally started another 
I bought Killers 上 | L30?? back in 2021, new, from a Kinokuniya I was visiting. Of course, it then sat on my shelf for 4 years, unread 
I’m so sad I waited so long to read this! Admittedly back in 2021 my vocab would have made reading this in paperback more of a pain, but it would have been doable. It’s probably L34, tops. Right now though reading it is a delight. The tension is delicious and the slow drip of information is nicely paced. The 上・下 set is around 1000 pages in total so I’m curious to see how it shapes up - right now the story doesn’t feel quite complex enough to span that length (I’m a little over 100 pages in).
This author seems to be somewhat of a prolific crime writer (although his Wikipedia page says he also writes a lot about sports) so if I end up liking his style I will have another go-to author.
11 Likes
Made it to 30% in 本好き. We started off fine and now the constant new vocab is starting to really beat me down. I’ve been really going hard on studying this year and I think trying to do 本好き every day is maybe a little too much. I’ve been extremely exhausted when I get home from work. (I read/study almost exclusively during my downtime at work) I think it’s all just mental exhaustion.
I may alternate with a much easier book so I don’t feel like I want to die.
9 Likes
Are you reading book 1 in the series? I started it too a few days ago. It’s hard! But I hope that if I keep reading, it will get easier. It’s a long series, so by the time you’re done with all of it, it should feel easier 
I’m reading the furigana version, which is currently marked as level 30. The version without furigana is marked as level 32 I think. Quite a jump from the low-20s-manga that I otherwise read. It’s fun to challenge myself sometimes though!
7 Likes
Finished アサギをよぶ声 新たな旅立ち | L26 - really liked it. Rare to see this sort of neolithic settling, and it doesn’t feel childish.
Have started 後宮の烏 4 | L36.
6 Likes
Friend, are you okay? Do you need help? With japanese that’s not a “challenge” that’s “hating yourself”. 
4 Likes
I take it you’re enjoying them then? I tried book 1 with the club (a year ago), but stopped it due to vocab level + it just wasn’t fully grabbing me, the way 薬屋のひとりごと 1 | L38 does. I liked the anime well enough tho, and might consider picking up the book again after I’ve finished more of 薬屋, since there’s probably a decent amount of shared vocab
2 Likes
Would anyone be interested in participating in an informal, unscheduled bookclub with me? I’m pretty excited about the Raidou Remaster that was just announced in yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, so I figured it’d be a good excuse to finally check out the manga or novel. The remaster releases June 19, so that would be a good end date for the club. Here’re the books I had in mind; participants could read one or the other or both (or one of the probably many manga anthologies that’ve been released over the years):
8 Likes
I just saw the direct, and I don’t know anything about the game, but it definitely looked like something I wanted to play.
I’m not patient enough to try the manga or novels right now, but thanks for posting about them! Definitely going to add them to a wishlist for for sometime in the future.
2 Likes
I might be interested in the manga (I can’t find a digital of the novel), but depends on how soon you plan to start, some I’m in the middle of a lot of stuff rn
1 Like
