I hope you all have a good time reading the next volume together. I’m bowing out for now. I’ll probably read the third volume at some point since I own it, but I have a few other things I’d like to read first and I have quite a few book club commitments already. 
5 Likes
I haven’t committed officially to a bookclub yet but I can already see it, so many clubs to join, so many things to read, so little time 
4 Likes
I’m a little ambivalent about reading the next one - however when it was on sale I bought as far as volume 5, so I probably will! But I’m struggling to keep up with my other book clubs so will see how I go.
5 Likes
This is the last week to finish up volume 2 and then break before starting volume 3. Thank you all for contributing to discussion, updating the vocab sheet, and overall participating. Even if you started losing steam in the end, thanks for being part of the club and reading with us! Now to address the poll results…
Volume 3 Start Date
Unlike volume 1, the events of volume 2 seems to have killed off the hype for the series, unfortunately. So I think starting volume 3 on November 26th would help give us time away and help us catch up on other book clubs and real-life commitments. From the time that the poll was created, that would give us a 3-week break, but from today, it would just be another 2 weeks before we start again.
Discussion Threads
I have no problem with making a new discussion thread per chapter as it might help avoid spoilers, but I think we can also prevent that by using spoiler tags and clearly labeling what we’re addressing.
When I read this, I thought this would be a good idea too, so I think for now, I’ll set up the first thread as a separate chapter discussion thread for chapter 1. If there’s one or no comments, then I’ll just transition it into a volume thread. What do you guys think?
Reading Pace
I think we all agree that keeping to the 1 chapter per week schedule is more than enough. I’ll incorporate a break into the schedule as well down the road. Do you guys want the week of Christmas/New Year’s off or…? Would you rather break halfway into the book?
Extra Pages
Sorry the question got lost in the poll options. XD; I’ll just stick it to the end of the reading assignment for the last chapter and keep the discussion in the same thread like this time around.
Also, am I missing anything else that we should discuss?
Also for those of you who have already finished volume 2, congratulations! This might be the second book you’ve read in Japanese for some of you, and that’s awesome!
6 Likes
Unfortunately that’s the case for most spin-off book clubs it seems, but oh well. As long as those who remain are enjoying the series! As for me, I’m certainly having fun. Though to be honest the bigger reason I’m continuing is that this series, as a light novel, is far more text-heavy than the other (manga) book clubs we’ve had since (シャドーハウス、耳をすませば、and currently, 神さまがまちガえす) so it’s certainly keeping me on my toes in terms of both vocabulary and grammar, and I feel like I’m benefitting more from this series than the others.
Sounds good to me. Gives me enough time to catch up hopefully, and I’m not too far behind at this point (currently chapter 10)
Sure thing, no objections here. We’ll see how it goes
Huh, not sure. I don’t tend to be very busy during that period actually, so I’m fine either way. As for breaking halfway through the book, never a bad idea in my opinion. I may end up needing the time, and others may too. We’ll see though, if nobody says that they need it at the time, we could just continue and have a break later if we think we need it.
Nope, I think everything has been taken into account so far.
The first volume was the first Japanese book I ever read through, and it felt amazing lol. So far I have read several other books through the main book club and another spin-off, and it certainly feels great every time I finish one.
To think that just a couple years ago, I could barely read Kana and I knew of nothing but the most basic of grammar, and now I’m actually reading proper Japanese books (even though I still need a lot of help from dictionaries/grammar guides lol) but yeah, it feels fantastic. This almost never happened, actually. I had wanted to learn a language for some time, and Japanese was on my mind, but it looked so intimidating, so vastly different. After having given French and German a try, and being quite uninterested with both, I tried Japanese after finding myself with a lot of free time at the beginning of summer and I though “eh, what do I have to lose?”. Perhaps one of the best decisions of my life. Certainly showed me the importance of at least taking that first step, even if something seems difficult.
And now, I’m committed to making Japanese my second language, and being able to one day express myself in Japanese just as I am doing now. It’ll be a long journey, but I think I’ll enjoy it quite a lot. I certainly am now!
7 Likes
Hey guys! 
Hope you’ve managed to catch up somewhat! I’m still a couple chapters behind myself but I’ve also been kind of busy especially over the weekend. (Fall colors have reached their peak in Hiroshima so that means a lot of guests staying!)
I haven’t had the chance to make a new vocab list for volume 3. I’m guessing people who use it prefer if the vocab lists were separated by volume, yeah?
Until then, please find the discussion thread for volume 3, chapter 1 up now! If we’re not getting much discussion by the end of the week, I’ll go ahead and convert it to a discussion thread for the whole of volume 3 unless people strongly feel otherwise.
4 Likes
Why don’t we delay starting another week or two since there are at least two people (including yourself) who want to read along but need time to catch up? After all it’s more fun together. 
(I admit that I also have reading that I need to catch up on before starting a new book.)
2 Likes
I don’t mind that suggestion! I’ll keep the new discussion thread up, but how about it guys? Do you want or mind delaying next week’s reading at least?
- I want to keep the schedule as is
- Let’s officially start next week
- Let’s officially start in 2 weeks
- I don’t mind either way
0 voters
2 Likes
While I could start now, and have actually read 1 page, I’m behind in multiple clubs and the JLPT is this weekend. So I wouldn’t mind delaying it by one or 2 weeks.
3 Likes
According to the polls, starting a week later (today) won, but it sounds like everyone who voted also said 2 weeks later is fine also, so I wanted to check in.
Shall we start the official discussion for volume 3, chapter 1 from this week or next week?
- This week
- Next week
0 voters
I don’t feel strongly either way - I only got one page in and am trying to keep up with other clubs. We could always split chapter 1 over 2 weeks but start the discussion now, just to get a bit of momentum going.
1 Like
Thanks for commenting! 
Right now it seems like we’re down to about 3 active readers. And I don’t think we feel strongly about either option. I think this is what we’ll do.
Anyone can post in the discussion thread for volume 3, chapter 1. And then we’ll just extend the read date so next week will just be an additional week to finish chapter 1. That means we’ll officially open up to chapter 2 discussion on December 18.
I just ask that if anyone wants to discuss chapter 1 now to keep their posts under a Hide Details and big spoilers under a spoiler tag. I think we’ll do volume dedicated discussion threads this time around, so labeling would be helpful too. For example,
Chapter 1 Thoughts
I really love this chapter because spoiler.
4 Likes
Sounds great! And makes me officially behind in only one club.
4 Likes
Just a reminder that we’ll continue with volume 3, chapter 1 discussion this week and start chapter 2 discussion next week.
*I made a mistake on the date. Since December 18 is a Sunday, the start date is actually the 17th to be consistent with our current reading schedule.
3 Likes
The volume 3, chapter 1 discussion thread is now officially a discussion thread for the whole of volume 3. We’ll start discussing chapter 2 from this week!
3 Likes
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you all find some time to relax during the holiday season!
Discussion for volume 3, chapter 3 continues from here!
3 Likes
Happy New Year! Hope this year brings much needed kindness to us all!
Sorry for the lateness, but feel free to continue discussion up to chapter 4 from here!
4 Likes
How are you all doing? We’re starting chapter 5 (volume 3) from today. After this week’s reading, we’ll be halfway done with this volume!
3 Likes
We have another 16-page reading for chapter 6 this week. Feel free to start discussing!
4 Likes
This week’s reading is a little longer at 22 pages but I know you can do it. 
Chapter 7 discussion starts from here!
4 Likes