The poll has spoken, and we will run a new poll for the book after our next pick!
The poll will go live on February 10th, so if you have new nominations please submit them until then 
We have the record number of 12 free spots, so fire away!
Heya all, quick question,
I haven’t participated or nominated in the advanced book club before, but I’ve got a (I think) suitable book I’d like to nominate 六人の嘘つきな大学生 | L36 - For making a nomination, do I just use the template in the intro post and post it here? Anything else I need to do or should know?
Welcome! It’s always nice to see new members 
Yes, that’s exactly the process.
No, I will take it from there. Looking forward to your nomination!
六人の嘘つきな大学生
Author: 浅倉 秋成
Summary
Japanese
成長著しいIT企業「スピラリンクス」が初めて行う新卒採用。最終選考に残った六人の就活生に与えられた課題は、一カ月後までにチームを作り上げ、ディスカッションをするというものだった。全員で内定を得るため、波多野祥吾は五人の学生と交流を深めていくが、本番直前に課題の変更が通達される。それは、「六人の中から一人の内定者を決める」こと。仲間だったはずの六人は、ひとつの席を奪い合うライバルになった。内定を賭けた議論が進む中、六通の封筒が発見される。個人名が書かれた封筒を空けると「●●は人殺し」だという告発文が入っていた。彼ら六人の嘘と罪とは。そして「犯人」の目的とは――。
English
SpiraLinks, a fast-growing IT company, was hiring new graduates for the first time. The six finalists were given the task of building a team and holding a discussion by the end of the month. Shogo Hatano deepens his relationship with the five students in order for all of them to receive a job offer, but just before the actual competition, he is notified that the assignment has been changed. “Only one of the six students will be chosen to receive a job offer". The six students, who were supposed to be friends, become rivals competing for a single seat. As the debate over the job offer progresses, six envelopes are discovered. When they opened the envelopes, they found a letter of accusation that “●● is a murderer". What are the lies and crimes of these six people? And what is the purpose of the “murderer”?
Translated with DeepL.com (slight edits)
Length: 304 pages (Tankobon), 368 pages (Bunkobon)
Category: Fast 
Natively link: https://learnnatively.com/book/748b87fad7/
Availability
Amazon.co.jp link
For other availability, see https://learnnatively.com/book/748b87fad7/.
Ebook is available via Kindle JP, Bookwalker etc.
Personal Opinion
I’ve seen this book around a lot in bookshops in Japan recently, and when I took a closer look, it seemed like an interesting premise, and good mystery books are always a fun read. To me, it sounds like a good opportunity to learn more about the new-grad 就職活動 process, and get exposure to business-related vocab, while being tricked into enjoying it through the mystery elements.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- Pretty popular in Japan right now, and the film adaptation came out late last year.
- 本屋大賞 winner 2022.
- Mystery set in a more formal work-environment, with exposure to the vocabulary that that entails.
Cons
- Probably less interesting if you have no interest in Japanese business settings.
- A book of two halves - a more exciting first half, and a slower (some have suggested worse) second half talking more about the culprit.
Sample Pages
Here is the link to the Bookwalker preview - you can see the first 55-odd pages.
I’d like to nominate a book for the Advanced Book Club :
コインロッカーベイビーズ
Author:村上龍
Summary
Japanese
1972年夏、キクとハシはコインロッカーで生まれた。母親を探して九州の孤島から消えたハシを追い、東京へとやって来たキクは、鰐のガリバーと暮らすアネモネに出会う。キクは小笠原の深海に眠るダチュラの力で街を破壊し、絶対の解放を希求する。毒薬のようで清々(すがすが)しい衝撃の現代文学の傑作が新装版に!
English
Two babies are left in a Tokyo station coin locker and survive against the odds, but their lives are forever tainted by this inauspicious start. Raised amidst the outcasts and misfits of Toxitown, they carve out vastly different paths: one as a bisexual rock star on a desperate search for his mother, the other as an athlete consumed by revenge against the woman who left him behind.
When their twisted journeys start to intertwine, this savage and stunning story plunges headlong into a surrealistic whirl of violence.
Length: 576 pages. this is for the new edition, in one volume, I have an old one in two volumes, with 上 volume being 258 pages, and 下 volume being 248 pages, so we could split, and, if people are interested, finish the 下 volume as an informal club
Category: Not sure … It’s modern japanese, and long, so it should go into Category 1, easy and fast, but Natively has it at L43… So probably we could do one volume as a Category 2, slow and difficult
Natively link: コインロッカー・ベイビーズ | L43
Availability
Amazon JP - ebook
Amazon US - ebook
Open Library - 上 - Free !
Amazon JP - Paperback
Unfortunately, not available on Bookwalker, and no audio book
Personal Opinion
This book has been on my reading list forever, even before I started learning japanese, as it is quite famous here in France in translation. It was awarded the 野間文芸新人賞受賞 prize in 1981. The author also received the Akutagawa Prize for their first novel, 限りなく透明に近いブルー, and reviews say コインロッカーベイビーズ is more polished.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- While being modern, it’s a more literary work than mysteries and thrillers. Like 蛇にピアス, the novel deals with aspects of japanese society which are not often put forward
Cons
- The novel is VERY graphic, for both sex and violence. I haven’t read it, but I read the first pages, which are gross enough… and I read イン・ザ・ミソスープ from the same author, which is on par with Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho . It’s probably not for everyone… There’s a sample on the Kindle edition page so you can see what you are getting into…
We are almost February 10th ( 
), have you already built the poll @NicoleIsEnough ? Otherwise I was thinking to have a look at the Award winners threads and try to nominate something!
Ahem hehe! Thanks for the ping 
I was suddenly flooded with an incredible amount of work, and I will still be busy tomorrow, so if you manage to nominate something real quick, there might be a real chance that it still gets in 
I think I can manage to build the poll tomorrow evening 
I had a look at the winners of the The Honya Taishou 本屋大賞 Reading Challenge 2022-2023 while keeping this in mind:
Winner of 2022 is 同志少女よ、敵を撃て | L39, seems interesting, unfortunately it is both more than 300 pages (496) and difficult language (Natively level 39)
Three books that have picked my interest:
- 六人の嘘つきな大学生 | L35 (already nominated above by @Malinkal )
- 硝子の塔の殺人 | L33 (it’s been already read by many around here and has great ratings)
- 方舟 | L32 (also good ratings but barely makes the cut, 304 pages)
So I think I’m going to nominate 硝子の塔の殺人
硝子の塔の殺人
Author: 知念 実希人
Summary
Japanese
雪深き森で、燦然と輝く、硝子の塔。 地上11階、地下1階、唯一無二の美しく巨大な尖塔だ。 ミステリを愛する大富豪の呼びかけで、 刑事、霊能力者、小説家、料理人など、 一癖も二癖もあるゲストたちが招かれた。 この館で次々と惨劇が起こる。 館の主人が毒殺され、 ダイニングでは火事が起き血塗れの遺体が。 さらに、血文字で記された十三年前の事件……。 謎を追うのは名探偵・碧月夜と医師・一条遊馬。 散りばめられた伏線、読者への挑戦状、 圧倒的リーダビリティ、そして、驚愕のラスト。 著者初の本格ミステリ長編、大本命!
English
A glass tower of glass shining brilliantly in the snow-covered forest. With eleven floors above ground and one below, it is a unique, beautiful gigantic spire. At the behest of a wealthy mystery afficionado, a group of eccentric guests, among them a detective, a psychic, a novelist and a cook, are invited to the tower. One after another, tragedies occur at the mansion. The owner is poisoned, a fire breaks out in the dining room, and a body is found covered in blood. In addition, bloody writing indicates a case from thirteen years ago… The famous detective, Aoi Tsukiyo, and the doctor, Ichijou Yuuma, pursue the mystery. Scattered foreshadowing, a challenge to the reader, overwhelming readability and an astonishing ending. The author’s first authentic mystery novel, and a big winner!
Length: 504
Category: easier reading, faster pace
Natively link: 硝子の塔の殺人 | L35
Availability
Bookwalker
Rakuten
CD Japan:
Amazon JP
Amazon Audible JP
Full cast audiobook on Audiobook.jp
Personal Opinion
I found this book by looking at the winners of the The Honya Taishou 本屋大賞 Reading Challenge, this book is #8 of the year 2022. It has been read by several people around here and has great ratings. And that’s it from me, that’s all reason enough, I like to go in books blind so I haven’t read more about it!
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- Seems to have a good availability on many different platforms
- The price of the audiobook is sometimes half off (¥990)
Cons
- Some of our usual readers might not participate if they have already read the book
- The price of the book right now is on the higher end (¥1980)
Pictures
Thanks to Akashelia for the reminder and the last-minute nomination!
Here is our next Poll 
Have a look at the List of Proposed Books section in the first post for details on each book. If you are interested, you can have a look at the books’ Natively levels through this list. The Natively level is also annotated in the poll in square brackets after each book’s name.
Do not rely solely on the levels when making a choice. Please have a look at the nomination posts and text samples if you haven’t already.
Expected reading pace: The proposals fall into two categories, Fast and Hard. We aim to read fast books at 30-50 pages per week and hard books at ~15 pages per week (that number might vary a bit throughout, depending on the book’s breaks and chapters). For manga, depending on difficulty and chapter length, we will probably read one to several chapters per week. The pick’s exact reading schedule will be negotiated before the book club kicks off.
Start of Book Club: We will start the next book on March 29th (after a one-week break).
Poll duration: The poll will be closed on 2025-02-19T11:00:00Z. You can choose up to 5 options.
Oh, and if somebody could update the thread title to “Now voting!” that would be great. Thanks!
- クォンタムデビルサーガ アバタールチューナーⅠ 五代ゆう [Fast / 372p. / L30 / Novel]
- 村上海賊の娘 和田 竜 [Fast / 343p. / L41 / Novel]
- さわらびの譜 葉室 麟 [Fast / 326p. / L35?? / Novel]
- 風が強く吹いている 三浦 しをん [Fast / 672p. / L30 / Novel]
- BUTTER 柚木 麻子 [Fast / 592p. / L36 / Novel]
- 香君 上 西から来た少女 上橋 菜穂子 [Fast / 435p. / L36 / Novel]
- 占星術殺人事件 島田 荘司 [Fast / 544p. / L30?? / Novel]
- 少年H 上巻 妹尾 河童 [Fast / 355p. / L38?? / Novel]
- 六人の嘘つきな大学生 浅倉 秋成 [Fast / 304p. / L35 / Novel]
- 硝子の塔の殺人 知念 実希人 [Fast / 504p. / L33 / Novel]
- コインロッカーベイビーズ 村上 龍 [Hard / 576p. / L43 / Novel]
0
voters
It also has a full cast audiobook on audiobook.jp, which I think is different from the one on Audible.
There are some exceptionally interesting nominees in this round. I think I might have to consider joining.
The audiobook is half off currently btw! (¥990)
Thanks, I’ll buy it tonight!
Am I the only person shocked enough at the price of this one to think that it might be better to list it as a con 
?
The audio part is included in 聴き放題 for both Audible and audiobook.jp.
But the text is indeed relatively pricey.
True, I remember when I bought アンダーグラウンド it was 1,320円 and I had found that expensive. I’ll add it to the nomination post that the price is 1,980円.
(PS: the other nomination that’s winning right now, 六人の嘘つきな大学生, has a similar price: 1,760円 found at 814円 thanks everyone! The currently third nomination though, 占星術殺人事件, is 990円)
Curious where did you see it that it costs 1760 yen? I think I bought the physical book (bunkobon) for 815 yen new, and that’s what it costs on bookwalker as well, maybe the tankobon is that much though
I buy novels as ebooks on Rakuten: https://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/16596537/?scid=af_sp_etc&sc2id=af_101_0_0
Idk if this version works with your method, but if it does it’s a lot cheaper!
https://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/17468145/?l-id=item-c-relation-02