I had almost forgotten about that one 
Very good example, and even by the same author 
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Not sure if I’ve just become extra picky but lately I haven’t been able to finish anything -_-. Here’s a picture of the 5 latest books I’ve tried to read but dropped around halfway because I just didn’t find them engaging:
(I think there’s a few more digital I’ve forgotten: a vol of Konosuba at least)
Maybe I just lost that extra motivation to push through because I finally passed N1, but it’s a bit depressing… I guess it’s good that I’ve learned to not finish a book that’s not working but still. Could be I’m just burnt out. Kafka was also such a great experience it’s hard to top off.
Anyway, just needed to get this off my chest.
Planning to read some Sayaka Murata maybe next.
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It’s totally fine to take breaks. If you’re worried about losing the habit you can join a book club - those tend to spur me on at least. You can also indulge guilty pleasure type reading if you didn’t do any of that leading up to the N1.
But mostly - breaks are fine. Explore some news things, maybe they’ll click, maybe they won’t and the books will be there for you when you come back.
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I’m sooo with you on that one! I have sooo many books that I dropped or deferred at some point because they were not engaging or too difficult - so many that I decided to turn my natively account into a wall of shame of unfinished books 
Like cat said, there’s no reason to force yourself to read if you don’t like the book (either because it doesn’t click right now, or because you just dislike it in general), or if you just need a break. Reading should be fun, I guess, now that your study period is over? And especially after having read a very good book, it might just take some time for you to digest it properly, which doesn’t leave much room for a new book sometimes.
Also, if you’re lucky enough to be able to rent the books from a library (as it seems?) you don’t even pay for them, so you can always get back to them at some later point, or never, and try something else instead. 
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Are you generally a reader or are you reading Japanese just for the learning effect? If you are generally a reader, you might simply be choosing the wrong genre or the wrong book within the genre. If you let people know, what types of books you usually enjoy, they might be able to give you some recs.
I only know そして、バトンは渡された and かがみの孤城 and while I enjoyed both for what they are (though, the baton movie is way better than the book, imo), they are very much on the light/superficial YA side of things. You might need more adult/contemporary/literary stuff that you can really sink your teeth into. You could give 村上春樹 a go or 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 for some surrealism. (Personally, I don’t like surrealism, but a lot of people really, really do.)
I just realized, that by Kafka you might not mean the author, but the book by 村上春樹. 
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Yeah, most of my “studying” was pretty much reading, but I guess I kind of skewed my reading towards something more challenging over what I would actually enjoy reading. But definitely I’m still a bit of hooked to that “learning effect” that drove me forward a lot more before the JLPT.
That’s true. I’m afraid coming back to the middle of a book would not really work, though 
.
Yup! I’m lucky that there is a whole row of Japanese books at the multilingual section in the main library. Problem is finding out what kind of books they are from that sea of books 
I think I used to read a lot more regularly in my teens, but I guess I would classify myself as a reader. Lately, though, I’ve been really feeling like reading over other mediums, even over gaming. January I needed a bit of a break from Japanese and read 7 books in English (however, mostly sci-fi).
That could really be it. At the start of my learning journey I really looked forward to reading LN/lighter stuff, but the more I’ve learned, the less those books seem to interest me 
. Could be my interests really just have changed. I really want to read something that at least tries to convey some message over the story or characters. (Having said that, I read 5 Warhammer 40k books in January )
I’m waiting to get 色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年 | L32 from a friend to try some more Murakami.
Oh yeah!
Thanks for the replies; good to know I’m not the only one with this problem 
.
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Yesterday I started a new book, 夢十夜 | L30?? by 夏目 漱石. It is comprised of (surprise!) 10 dream stories, each of which is ~3 pages long. I will participate in a literature meetup where we will discuss the third dream, but as the whole book is just 30 pages long I figured I could simply read them all. (Also curious to find out why they picked the third one specifically).
So yesterday I read the first story. It is my first time reading 夏目 漱石 and I’m surprised how easy it is to read. At the same time he weaves such a dense story in just three pages - it is so beautiful and sad, it almost made me cry (which is a rare feat for a book!).
I was originally planning to read something else afterwards, but I was so filled with the story that I just couldn’t. I guess going forward I will read one story per day as my bedtime story. This fits well as the meetup is on March 11th, so I can read everything and then the third story once more before the discussion takes place.
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Just finished 竜殺しのブリュンヒルド | L33. It’s one of those LNs that really made me go “yeah, this is what a light novel should be”. It’s light without being vacuous and tropey, it’s short and punchy, and just tells the story it has to tell rather than setting up some long endless series. The prose isn’t anything special, but it’s clear and inoffensive, and I thought telling the story from the perspective of the characters around the protagonist rather than from her own point of view was a clever choice that added a lot of tension. From her perspective, it probably would have just been full-blast non-stop angst…
Overall, cool book - good to see new fantasy that’s not WN isekai trash getting some traction.
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I love Natsume Soseki but I have only read him in translation, I keep chickening out of attempting to read him in Japanese 
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If you read what your profile says you read, then there is absolutely no reason to shy away from his works, is my opinion. I mean, of course some are harder than others, but at least the book I‘m reading now is really accessible (ok minus some antique kanji maybe, but you can circumvent that by reading digitally). And the best is, it’s free (through Aozora or the Souseki project or even BookWalker) so if you find one that’s still too hard, just pick a different one
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Thank you for the encouragement! I may attempt Sanshiro next as I have a copy and I did read it in English which I think will help!
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I didn’t realize 夢十夜 was this short! I thought it was a full-length novel. I might have to pick this up soon too ^^
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I have only read two of the stories but they are great!
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I’ve read Sanshiro, and it seemed fairly straightforward as literature goes. It’s definitely a lot easier language-wise than I Am A Cat…
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If anyone interested, on sale for 100JPY:
(Not on natively yet)
(Not on natively yet)
(Not on natively yet)
(Not on natively yet)
(Not on natively yet)
(Not on natively yet)
(Not on natively yet)
(Not on natively yet)
And a bunch more in sale, I think I’m better of linking the offer page lol:
I bought them all so if any of you has any feedback on those books, let me know.
I’m curious about a couple titles.
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Oh that’s encouraging, thank you!
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The campaign is also on Booklive, which means it must be available on Bookwalker too.
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I finished 本好きの下剋上~司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません~第一部「兵士の娘1」 | L32 audiobook. Took me 8 sessions.
While I did miss some details from reading on my own, I don’t think I’d have lost anything essential plot wise. But it made me realize two things:
- My listening is way out of bounds compared to reading.
- I don’t feel as bad taking 20 hours taking in mind it takes 10 hours for a narrated version.
Now on what next, since the poll I did on what next ended up with a tie, I think I’ll jump to vol. 2 and see if I notice any speed change. Might take a break from the series afterwards.
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Hoping to finish すずめの戸締まり today.
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I am currently reading 泣きたい夜の甘味処 | L30?? (which is wrongly labeled as “novel” it’s actually a manga). It’s so heartwarming and wholesome, makes me tear up quite a bit… but the story with the cat really did me in… 
It’s on Kindle Unlimited… Can recommend. 
I love the derpy fish. 
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