[2022] 多読/extensive reading challenge

Japanese Language Reading
#681

I just finished reading ここにないもの.
It’s a philosophy book written as a discussion between two characters, Epsilon and Mu.
Interestingly, it’s aimed at maybe middle schoolers. It has no furigana, but doesn’t use complicated words nor kanji beyond the ones learned in primary education. If you are level 30+ on WK, you can read everything but one single word in this book. (At least I couldn’t read it; I should have looked it up)

The illustrations are extremely cute as well.
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Don’t let that fool you, though, that book will make you think hard. Or maybe I’m just to dumb to handle philosophy.
In any case, despite being simple (in terms of writing) and very short, it took me 10 days to read through it. It’s not really a book you can rush through.

With all that being said, I would definitely recommend that book at the beginner book club level. If you care about this kind of topics. No matter how cute, it’s fairly dry otherwise. (So, not for the actual book club)

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#682

Finished one book this past month and dropped the other. I really need to get back on track if I want to make my year goal.

Also, since it’s going to be the start of October tomorrow, does anyone have any recommendations for scary books? I plan on reading Kiki’s Delivery Service #2 because y’know the whole witch thing and all, though I doubt it will be a scary book. OR will it?

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#683

Don’t know if that qualifies as “scary” in the way that you have in mind, but from some website I got a recommendation for Kirino Natsuo (桐野 夏生) who writes mystery detective stories. Her book OUT won Japan’s Grand Prix for Crime Fiction (be warned that it contains 800 pages in total, though):


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#684

Well, it’s the end of the month, and I’m really happy with how this month turned out to be in terms of reading.

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Well, when it comes to raw numbers at least. It was more light novel than literature. But hey, I had a good time at least :sweat_smile:

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#685

I picked up my game for the first time in…months…

Only to start a neverending cooking scene about thwarting the well-meaning mother who CAN’T COOK. :weary: Whyyyyyyyyyyyy

I need to start reading 12 Kingdoms again. Surely the record here lies. (It would be funny if I caught up on my reading again while standing in line at Disneyland.)

Btw, after a long and tense interim period, my family and I have moved into a new house in SoCal. So…unpacking. Yeesh. :grimacing:

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#686

Yay! I hope someone gave you your complimentary sunglasses and flip flops which are to be used 24/7, any season, rain or shine. Also, have fun in traffic!

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#687

#SigAlert :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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#688

Reader’s conundrum: Do you read a series you really like all at once, and then get sad when it’s over? Or do you take breaks reading other things to savor it?

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#689

Yes.

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#690

So what you’re saying is, just re-read the series over and over again? Got it. :+1:

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#691

Haha, yep. It is the classic, read, reread, and rereread. Each time, feel the same heartbreak and happiness when you reach the end. Sometimes, spread it out slowly over a few months, sometimes read it all in a few days. Each time, cry a bit but don’t tell anyone.

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#692

My approach is to spend way too much time worrying about this exact problem, then read all at once. So, same total amount of time as if I took my time, without the savoring. :ok_hand:

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#693

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

So like what you’re doing with 放浪息子? :stuck_out_tongue:

How far are you into 聲の形 by the way? I’m a few chapters into volume 5, but I’ve slowed down recently.

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#694

Yes, that’s exactly what I had in mind when writing that. 放浪息子 is pretty much exhibit A.

About 聲の形, I read the first 5 volumes yesterday. I agree with you that reading just the first volume with the beginner book club would be a terrible idea. I can’t imagine making those feelings drag on for weeks, only to stop at pretty much the worst possible time.

I’m now half way through volume 6, and I’m crying profusely. I love this manga so much.

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#695

Work has started slowing down a bit now (and is bound to even more once the culture festival passes), and now that I’ve confirmed that book clubs aren’t my thing (apologies to Intermediate which I joined for コンビニ人間 then quit like halfway through. It’s not y’all, it’s me!:sweat:) I’m gonna throw my hat in the ring here, mostly for accountability.

Since I’m gearing up to study for N1 next July, I want to get my reading comprehension/speed up significantly before then. I used to read for fun all the time until about my Senior year in High School (averaging a book a week or so), and essentially haven’t at all since then. I’ve fallen into messing around and wasting time on my phone, or binging entire series on Netflix in the span of weeks/days when I’m not at one of my various community hobbies. Obviously, reading would be time better spent (in terms of my studying goals), so here I am. Gonna aim for a book a month or so, alternating between more challenging books and more relaxed books. Also gonna try to diversify my spread of books by using a combo of past book-club reads and recommendations from my students/colleagues/friends. So, here I am, and here I go!

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#696

Definitely in the latter camp. No matter how much I like a series, I usually have to take breaks every 2 books. I’m doing it right now with the Moribito and the Ascendance of a Bookworm series but antsy to get back to it. I want to finish off Moribito by the end of the year.

Same. I still recommend them to any Japanese learners I meet but they just don’t mesh with how I like to read. Even though they’d probably be good for me with all the in-depth grammar questions. I’m just too lazy. Power through is my motto.

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#697

This is exactly it! I would usually read too far ahead, then not be “allowed” to read for over a week, and it was really hard to make it a habit. Hoping taking things at my own pace will make that a bit easier.

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#698

Oh thanks for reminding me! I was actually wondering, since this thread started very early in 2019, and everybody made plans for a year and recorded what they achieved in this year; whether it would be worthwhile to actually turn this thread into the “extensive reading challenge 2019” and have a new thread for 2020, so we can kind of preserve this year’s achievements and start afresh in the new year. What do you all think (and especially @Naphthalene)?

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#699

I definitely +1 to starting over, that way more people are encouraged to join. But I would like a slight change in table formatting. Maybe doing some small…err…“housecleaning” every month or so? It’s kind of sad to look at the big list of participants and see a bunch that haven’t updated in months.

(Also I’m selfish and hate trying to find my name in the middle of the haystack every time I want to update. Would be nice to trim it down a bit.)

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#700

I was also thinking about some cleanup every once in a while, but on the other hand I would not want to put too much pressure onto those that can’t get around to reading for a while.

I was thinking, maybe we can sort the table by activity every now and then (i.e. those that have been active most recently go to the top)? This way everybody can stay in the table, but the very active ones need not scroll through the long list every day because they are near the top anyways.

Also, with a new thread, everybody should sign up themselves anew (i.e. no initial carrying over of participants), which I expect to be a big cleanup already…

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