かがみの孤城 (Kagami no Kojou) Book Club

Japanese Language Reading
#74

I tried to find a detailed age recommendation but couldn’t find anything. But one reader said they had read it in elementary school and liked it. Another one remarked that the book was pretty thick, plus the fantasy theme made it hard for them to start reading. So maybe check back whether the girl in question likes fantasy and has experience reading longer books? Other than that, so far I don’t see anything that would make it unsuitable for a 10-year-old.

Also, I can definitely recommend Koteki no kanata for a girl around that age - if she likes fantasy. Zenitendo should also be a good match. And once she is a bit older, Kemono no souja should also be a good recommendation. (The world building might need a bit of stamina, that’s why I think that maybe age 12 might be more suitable? But not sure, it’s quite a while since I was 10 :joy_cat: and it depends a lot on the person.)

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#75

Thank you for the recommendations! I figured being unable to find anything about objectionable content was a good sign but I didn’t want to dig too deep into spoiler content. I’ll check out those other picks as well. The girl in question tends to be very quiet in class so I figure some good book recommendations might be a good way for my teacher friend to connect with her. Also I just love being able to recommend good books.

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#76

This week will be the end of the first chapter.
It is a shorter week, so people who are a bit behind or started later can catch up.
I hope you all find the pace reasonable, especially less experienced members. I feel that it really becomes easier once we are done with all the explanations and setting up the scene for the story.
Next week after this one is going to be the longest in the whole book, so if you are not sure you can keep up with that, it may be a good idea to read a couple of pages ahead this week.

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#77

I know many of you are already on-board, but for those who might be on the fence and think they can handle two intermediate books at once, I’ll make a last push for the 地球星人 club starting next week in the IBC. So far this is such a great group discussion-wise that I can’t not ask for some recruits to contribute over there as well.

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#78

good to know, i’m still only around 2/3 through week 2, uni coursework a bit rough this week, hope i can still catch up.

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#79
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#80
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#81

I was wondering: how is everybody doing pace-wise?

I’ve noticed the comment count in the thread has been lower, especially compared to the first week :smiley:

And also: how do various people approach reading?

My current approach

I’m in the phase (I’ve got a feeling there are phases) where I’m doing two read-throughs: one with as few dictionary/grammar lookups as possible (as long as I get the gist of the story) and a second read-through where I try to understand all the words and grammar-points. With my first read-throughs I’m managing to keep up with the schedule but my second read-through is quite a bit behind schedule now (about three weeks behind now).

I don’t mind because reading ahead helps to make the detailed read-through easier with all the vocabulary and story-knowledge that I pick up along the way.

I’m also cheating a little bit because I have the English edition, so each week I read the English version of the previous week so that I am at least up to speed with the story.

And I also try to read along to the audiobook version once a week.

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#82

Would your schedule allow you to join the read aloud sessions? I find the read alouds as a perfect way to do a second read through and allow for asking questions.

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#83

I’m still going heavy on my coursework (and will be until the end of this week, so I’ll likely have a bit of catching up to do) so I haven’t read much at all recently

As for my reading approach: I just take as many lookups as I need - ideally checking a Japanese definition first to see if I can get it. If yes, then that’s great, if no then I’ll see if I might get the Japanese definition if I looked up a word or two in it. If that’s not possible then I’ll move to an English defintion. After looking it up I may or may not add the word to my anki depending on if it seems useful, if it’s marked as a common word, or if I remember seeing it pop up a few times. For understanding grammar I try my best to understand a sentence, if I’m not sure I mark it using the kindle program’s highlight feature to take another look at later and maybe ask about in the discussion threads later

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#84

Thanks for the invitation/reminder! I’ll see if I can join sometime, but weekends are usually filled with family activities (particularly at this time of year).

I’m reading the physical version and liberally sprinkling the margins with notes and marks (including plenty of question marks) :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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#85

A far braver person than I - I hate marking physical books in any way haha

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#86

I went through that exact same phase!!!

Currently, I use post-its, like this:

PXL_20211207_224140872
PXL_20211207_2241408721920×2560 237 KB

I love this system!

  1. It doubles as a bookmark.
  2. When I encounter a word I swear I saw earlier, it’s easy to look for it.
  3. I don’t mark up my books any more!
  4. I’m still practicing writing.
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#87

Yes, I usually keep my books pristine too (although adding my own furigana is always fair game) but this time I decided to go for it.

I like seeing my notes again when I reread parts and having the notes this close to the text means that they even help when I’m reading along to the audio book.

Example of my notes:

image
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That’s indeed useful. I have a separate list for recurring words that I don’t know yet, but I don’t update it enough so too often I keep looking up the same words :sweat_smile:

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#88

That long part in week 4 broke me. I don’t think I’ll be able to catch up, so I’ll read the book later, no longer with the book club. Frustrating, but December is one of the busiest months of the year for me.

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#89

I haven’t read this week’s part yet so I’ve been avoiding the thread. :slight_smile:

In general though I do try to read towards the beginning of the week so I can follow along with the discussion. I don’t know about process, but if I don’t know a word by context I’ll look it up and move on. Sometimes I’ll create flashcards.

I haven’t had to look up a lot of words, of which I have created a total of 2 flashcards over the first 4 weeks. I do make note of character names and their readings and descriptions, though. :grin:

It’s natural that discussions slows down after the first few weeks. But it’s probably especially striking after the really lively first week(s) for this book.

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#90

Yes, I feel you. Same here: there’s the holidays and we also have a couple of birthdays in the family around this time of year, so November/December is a busy time. I can imagine that December is a busy time for many people. January is usually quieter, so maybe people can catch up later! :crossed_fingers:

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#91

@NickNickovich
Could you have the schedules link to the weekly discussion threads so it’s easy to find?

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#92

I’m still working on week 4, but I’m not crazy far behind. I feel like I’ll catch up.

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#93

There is a section in the OP called “Discussion Threads”.

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