The list of books that I am reading is steadily increasing.
I started with よつばと! 12, planning to continue to read about 1 chapter per day, so as to not waste it by reading too fast. This also leads to one book per week, which proved to be a good rhythm.
Then I had some time left and started きまぐれロボット, with the plan to also read one chapter a day.
Both books are quite easy; 小学生向け, so there is still time left.
Then I got the 数学ガール series as a present and read into it, and now I am hooked there, too. But this is a different beast, 高校生向け, vocab (and kanji) is the problem, not the grammar, not the mathematics, so far.
Maybe I should finish the books that are on hold - though almost done - some time soon, in-between. But new books are always more interesting 
Whoa, I think I read 数学ガール in English when I was in high school! 
I forgot it existed until now. Adding it to the wishlist…
I’ve somehow found myself in the middle of ログ・ホライズン 1、SAO プログレッシブ 1, and re-starting 本好きの下剋上 (cuz book club). I got inspired to rewatch SAO the other day, and was thinking about how frustrated I felt with the Progressive movie, so I jumped back to reading SAOP 1. The story is pleasantly fast paced, and I’m getting through it way quicker than before.
LH is nice, and I find it harder than SAOP bc of the poetic quality. My memory of it (from English version + anime) isn’t as strong either. Otoh, I’m running into more totally unfamiliar vocab in SAOP, and it’s 520 pgs vs LH’s 343 pgs. LH has some funny banter. My favorite line so far:
直継: 僕が思うにこれは神様の世代交代だね。中二的な妄想を持った神が即位したんだ
Naotsugu: “I think what we have here is one god stepping down and another one taking over. The new god has the brain of a delusional thirteen-year-old"
Came back to read ニャイト・オフ・ザ・リビングキャット today
I really missed this manga, should never had stopped 
Today I read かがみの孤城 together with the audio book. Somehow made a huge difference, I was able to follow the story much better 
Maybe because it was more engaging since the audiobook is well produced. Also, you clearly know who is talking since they have different voice actors and the sounds effects are helping as well!
I think I will try to keep it that way, since I really enjoyed reading today. I never really enjoyed audiobooks in english or my native language, but for Japanese it’s perfect currently.
With かがみの孤城 I am trying to read extensively, so with few lookups and just trying to get the gist. I also read some of ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖 (2) ~栞子さんと謎めく日常~ | L31 in an intensive way, so looking everything up I don’t understand. Takes always a lot longer, but it’s still an enjoyable process for me. I like to always have a book I read intensively and one I read extensively.
A couple of days ago, I read about 50 more pages of おやすみ、夢なき子 | L30 before having a look at 黒猫ニャンゴの冒険 レア属性を引き当てたので、気ままな冒険者を目指します ドラゴンノベルス | L30?? and just switched to that instead 
Not that I had a problem with おやすみ (even the part I complained about ended up being “fine” since the woman enthusiastically (?) consents on the next page… that’s really pushing my suspension of disbelief, but whatever), but ニャンゴ is almost exactly what I was looking for! Also, it might be the first time ever I come across where there’s a male main character that isn’t absolutely annoying. In particular, it’s nice that he can use proper keigo when talking to people who are socially higher… it annoys me to no end when a series has a main character that just acts like a brat and everyone just go along with it, and it’s NOT the case here. It shouldn’t be so hard to find a series like that, but here we are and I love the series even more just for that. Plus, the main character is a smol bean. Nothing to hate here (at this point in the story).
Also, I might just be tired, but the end of volume 1 managed to make me cry, so there’s that.
I strongly considered buying the published version, but boyyyy that’s a price tag (also, the cover of volume 2, which features a girl wearing basically nothing, makes me worry about the illustrations, despite the story having virtually zero fan service).
I really need to get back to おやすみ because I have to return it soon… but, y’know, just one more chapter.
Finished the second book of トナリはなにを食う人ぞ 2 | L25 but was really beginning to struggle at the end there. I think I need to dip back into my ‘comfort zone’ of books before I give the third one a go – which is annoying, because now I’m fully invested in the story again and want to get through it! (I actually re-read the first two fan translated versions of the books I had just read to reconfirm my understanding, only to find the fan translations were pretty awful, but alas…)
Anyway, will probably finish off something much easier like 姫乃ちゃんに恋はまだ早い 7 | L17 or something.
Starting 残像に口紅を | L37 today! One of my friends gifted this to me last time I was in Japan so I’m glad to have finally gotten to it in my 積読 list. 
The concept of the story is different kana and words disappearing from the world and from the text of the book itself - pretty intriguing and I’m interested to see how it’s pulled off?! I haven’t looked at the last pages yet but I can’t wait to see how the last chapters look if the author is so limited by what he can write!
I also just noticed that the author is the same one who wrote https://learnnatively.com/book/dc838454ca/ (なるほど noises)
I’ve started reading 本好き with the book club in an attempt to try to get back on the book club wagon. I’ve also restarted コップクラフト | L35 as well; the plan is to listen to both via audiobook in an attempt to keep my weekly investment down. I think what I’m going to do for コップクラフト is essentially follow the original schedule page-wise, so that I don’t feel obligated to focus solely on this book all week.
I’m hoping to follow along with medium 霊媒探偵城塚翡翠 | L33 via audiobook as well; we’ll see if that ends up being too much yet again. It’s a shame I don’t have access to an audiobook for 木洩れ日に泳ぐ魚 | L32; I really want to read it, but it’s tough to fit it in right now.
I haven’t read much since my last update about a month ago:
Finished
- 二重螺旋(3) | L24 - finished the most recent manga volume for this series. I need to swap over to the LN now if I wanna see what happens next…
- Kana de Manga Special Edition: Japanese Sound FX! | L0 - been going through some of my old JP learning materials I have scattered around and adding reviews for them on Natively (and re-reading if necessary); other learning materials include: Japanese the Manga Way: An Illustrated Guide to Grammar and Structure | L0,
Kanji De Manga: YojiJukugo | L15 ,
The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering 2300 Characters | L0 , and
Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You | L0 . These aren’t hugely in-depth reviews or anything; it’s been a long time since I last went through these in detail, so they’re just general thoughts. A couple didn’t have any reviews at all, though, so I figured at least one might help. - 変な音 | L35?? - In pursuit of trying to work more on my listening, I want to slowly go through the works on the Soseki Project website and get a bit of exposure to classic Japanese lit. 変な音 is the shortest story on that site, so here we are.
Currently Reading
Honestly I have more on my plate than I necessarily like; I think my biggest “I would like to finish these sooner than later” are:
- 冥府の王の神隠し | L30?? - still enjoying it. Nothing but a lack of time is the cause of some very slow progress on my part.
- 猫と竜 | L26 - Pretty cute so far; read if you like cats and dragons. (The mangaka draws some very cute cats.)
We’ll have to see how I want to structure the back half of the year; it’s looking…pretty awful, just my luck.
me complaining
I’ve got a big international trip coming up in early November, but found out recently my apartment complex won’t be renewing my lease since they want to do renovations on my unit. :S So I’ll need to move within the next few months around that trip. There’ve been upheavals at my workplace recently too; we just got past what is now their third major round of firing people/letting others go, so there’s some stress there too.
It’s kind of a nasty situation: I want to read in Japanese, and it adds a bit of stress when I can’t read what I want to read in a timely fashion. But if I spend the remaining time in my day doing that, that doesn’t leave time for other leisure activities, which then also stresses me out, haha. (I’ve recently discovered the joy that is co-op Vampire Survivors, and all I want to do is play it. :P) I need someone to send me a winning lottery ticket or something…
Oh no, sending you support that you can get through all of that stress. I totally get wanting to do something else because reading in Japanese is frustrating. Maybe you can revisit some lower level things or do something where there is less pressure to understand every word, like watch something? Taking a break is always ok too! 
P.s. the audiobook version of medium 霊媒探偵城塚翡翠 | L33 is really awesome. Great voice acting and sound effects! Loved listening to it.
Thank you. 
I may start focusing on manga exclusively for the rest of the year (sans any audiobook read-alongs); I’ve got some stuff I’ve wanted to read/re-visit for a while, and manga is generally a good snack size at the level most of my stuff is at.
I wouldn’t be surprised if I get to December and just totally go dark, though; only bad part of that is truly getting out of the habit, and then it’s tough to start again!
So I came across a variety of used books from him and he has written some interesting looking stuff! 時をかける少女 seems most famous (maybe more so with Japanese learners?) but here’s some of the books I picked up that I will read 
someday
First I need to finish my already started books…
I’ll note that 悪魔の辞典 is a translation of The Devil’s Dictionary (1906 - that’s a Project Gutenberg link). I read some but not all of said ‘dictionary’ many years ago so I just couldn’t pass up owning the Japanese translation 
Very impressive that he was such a prolific author and also up to the task of translating the dry yet flowery prose of that era (this is just from the preface!):
“This more reverent title had previously been forced upon him by the religious scruples of the last newspaper in which a part of the work had appeared, with the natural consequence that when it came out in covers the country already had been flooded by its imitators with a score of ‘cynic’ books—The Cynic’s This , The Cynic’s That , and The Cynic’s t’Other . Most of these books were merely stupid, though some of them added the distinction of silliness. Among them, they brought the word ‘cynic’ into disfavor so deep that any book bearing it was discredited in advance of publication.”
edit: I should note that because the Devil’s Dictionary was written in the late 1800s/early 1900s it is offensive in many parts because history is offensive. Read at your own discretion.
Started on 牧場物語 ほのぼの牧場へようこそ! | L22?? yesterday and have completed the first chapter. Interesting non-spoiler difference between this and 牧場物語 3つの里の大好きななかま | L24?? : the latter starts with that book’s protagonist, ナナミ, already with some experience under her belt, while my current read has the protagonist, ミノリ, a total novice who’s being taught the basics before being given her own plot of land to take care of. This feels like it might be a more straightforward novelization of its representative game, but I haven’t played it. (I think both books’ respective games were 3DS titles and I skipped that generation.)
Also read a couple more 気まぐれロボット stories and have been doing 2 pages (1 aphorism) a day in the ねこねこ日本史 ことわざ book. Think both of those go into the “low-energy day” pile again now that things seem to be back on track. Started back up on Savior’s Book Cafe Story again, too, but much slower for now.
I’m about a third of the way through 夜行 | L32 now, and so far I’m really liking it. I think the cover art suits the book, too.
I finished DOUBLES!! -ダブルス- | L30?? uh… some time ago, I forgot, and started on volume 2. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the premise at first (at the beginning of the year, the captain had Kakeru and Takuma form an unwilling doubles pair, and now 5 months later after they’ve finally started to mesh, his successor has his first act as captain be to separate them again?), but I’m enjoying it so far, even if I very much do not like the transfer student. I’m prepared for him to become friends with them by the end in typical shounen fashion, though at the moment I’m not so sure how I feel about that prospect lol. I’m reading this volume much more slowly than the first though mostly because I’ve been playing a lot of Rune Factory 5. I wanna read more, but I am. so bad at prioritizing.
Speaking of being bad at prioritizing, I pulled ペンギン・ハイウェイ | L27 off my shelf today to see if I hate it as much as Tatami Galaxy. It’s nearly as long, but the level on here is much lower, so it should be an easier read, at least.
Two extremes of difficulty today.
On the one hand, I read the second chapter on my train to work of よつばと! 1 | L17 - It’s not quite “as easy as English” now, but it’s getting pretty close.
On the train from work I read the 本好き prologue of the junior version (本好きの下剋上 第一部 兵士の娘1 | L28). That felt several orders of magnitude harder, but I got through it. It’s not just the vocab level (after all I’ve done the first two chapters of the manga which is not rated that differently, though I also sort of suspect the ratings from manga to books don’t line up), but also getting used to novels in Japanese.
I can’t remember precisely but IIRC you dislike sexual humor? There are a lot of boob jokes / adolescent boob focused commentary in that book.
I don’t like it, yeah (or out-of-nowhere sexual situations either, for that matter). Augh. I picked this one up because someone in the Read Every Day challenge thread over on WK was reading it a while back and sharing the cute penguin illustrations (although of course the edition I got doesn’t have them…)
And right off the bat I don’t particularly like the MC either. I dunno if this is a theme with Morimi’s novels or if I’m just unlucky. Well, we’ll see how far I get. It is certainly a much smoother read, though.
Thankfully it doesn’t get explicit (ie, nothing like the out of left field sexual scenes in 海辺のカフカ) but it’s definitely recurring. Why does he like this girl? 80085.
I haven’t read any of his other novels so can’t say, but there are at least other characters to provide some distraction as the book goes on.
Huh, interesting. There was nothing like that in Tatami Galaxy, or きつねのはなし so far. I suppose it’s a different target audience
