かがみの孤城 (Kagami no Kojou) Book Club

Japanese Language Reading
#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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#94
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#95

Hey everyone. Nick messaged me on Discord this morning to let me know that he’s behind on the book and so busy lately that he’s unable to find time to even create the weekly threads. He asked me to take over creating the threads since I’ve done this for plenty of book clubs in the past. However, considering that I have already finished the book, I would rather not take on this responsibility.

Is anyone interested in taking this on? It would require doing the following every week, roughly Saturday morning Japan time (but putting it up a bit earlier is also fine):

  • Create the new weekly thread following the existing thread template.
    • Update information like the start date and end pages which can be found in this Home Thread.
    • Update the read aloud time by shifting the time from the previous week’s thread by a week.
  • Update the previous week’s thread to link to the new thread in the “Next week” section.
  • Add a link for the new thread in the “Discussion Threads” section of the OP of the Home Thread.
  • Post the link for the thread as a new post in the Home Thread so people can easily see it.

In my experience, all of that takes about 5-10 minutes per week. The request is just for creating these weekly threads. I will continue to lead the read aloud sessions on Discord as I have been for the entire book so far. If you’re interested please respond here.

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#96

I don’t know if it will help @NickNickovich, but just to put the option out there: I would also be fine with taking a break over the holidays so that Nick (and others who might be behind) can catch up.

Here’s a poll to make it easy to respond to this suggestion:

Take a break?
  • I prefer to continue with the current schedule.
  • Take a one-week break over Christmas (create the week 7 thread next week like normal, but create the week 8 thread on Jan 1st and shift the rest of the schedule back by one week).
  • Take a two-week break (create the week 7 thread on Jan 1st instead of next week and shift the rest of the schedule back by two weeks).
  • I’d like a break and both options are fine with me.
  • I’m fine with any of the options.

0 voters

If that doesn’t help Nick enough (or if most people want to continue with the current schedule), then I don’t mind creating the threads. I probably won’t be joining the Discord sessions much (if at all), so if anything is discussed there schedule-wise, then I would be out of the loop, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem (but if someone who does participate in the sessions wants to create the threads, then I’m fine with that too).

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#97

got pretty ill last week and now I’m a week and a half behind :disappointed:

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#98

I’d considered if people could use a break of the holidays, so a poll is a good idea. The Discord sessions are really just reading the book and chatting about random stuff. We don’t really talk about the schedule or anything like that there. So there’s no need to participate there in order to create the weekly threads.

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#99

I’d definitely be ok with a break to help myself get caught up after falling behind with my coursework over the past couple of weeks

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#100

I think the poll has pretty much stabilised. Most people seem fine with taking a break and we have two votes for a two-week break. I’m for giving as many people as possible a chance to catch up (not least the original creator of this book club) but if there are any big objections to that, post them now (I realise that we would be prolonging a schedule that is already quite long).

Once we’ve agreed on the length of the break, I can update the schedule in the OP.

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#101

You’ll need to get the mods to make the OP a wiki, unless @NickNickovich does first.

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#102

@Mods please make the OP a wiki.

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#103

The deed is done. It is now a wiki! Enjoy!

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#104

Thank you, @WaniConti!

It is done: the schedule has been updated. We will continue with week 7 on January 1st. I hope that this gives everyone the opportunity to catch up again. In the meantime this club does not have to be on hold: just join the discussions in the week 5 and week 6 threads (where we didn’t have much discussion yet) :smiley:

@NickNickovich, I hope you can catch up again. Just let me know (here in the thread) before Jan 1st whether or not you want me to take over creating the threads (no hurry).

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#105

Could we stick with the schedule you’ve updated but post the week 7 thread early? I’d rather spread the reading out over those few weeks so as not to lose too much momentum.

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#106

Feel free to create new threads, no problem with me :slightly_smiling_face:
Thank you for your help!

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#107

@NickNickovich, no problem!

@jhol, I will be busy over Christmas, but I can probably create the next thread on the 27th or 28th, then it’s a bit more spread out.

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#108

Why not just create it now and let it sit up for three weeks? Or did you want to make it as if week 6 lasted for two weeks and week 7 lasted for two weeks?

(Since week 7 completes a chapter, I feel like putting it up now may be better for people to keep momentum.)

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