I even complained about that in my level 60 post 
A thread is a good idea!
Based on my singular experience with a beginner book club pre-pandemic, there was some push back on line by line translations and explanations. At the same time, it felt like the blind leading the blind situation and we hit a wall when no one knew how to properly translate the text. The club actually disbanded before finishing the book.
The higher level book clubs seem to be more social/chatty than educational.
This kind of interaction seems more appropriate for Discord rather than a forum which is probably why some people don’t participate. Last year, I tried to use an old club thread to help with コンビニ人間 and noticed that it had a Discord group attached… not sure if it is active. At least the vocabulary list was potentially helpful except for having to make an account to access it…which I was not keen to do.
Also, I find that natively has become popular enough that people may be doing their thing over there. I don’t find the site particularly useful but it gets link to a lot.
Going to agree with the forums not being promoted by WK and AI eating people’s brains, but also add on that six years ago was the pandemic which saw a huge surge in people online a lot and also people picking up or investing in language learning as a hobby.
Also I’m currently in 3 clubs which is just a bit much to juggle as I’m now focusing a lot of effort on learning a different language than Japanese (which happens to lots of people but also adds to the “no new blood is bad for community” aspect)
I thought another factor might be people spending time on the Natively forums instead, but apparently usage over there is really low, so it’s not that.
Personally, I’m just very picky about what I spend my time reading, so I don’t join most book clubs. Also, BBC is simply too slow, so unless it’s a slice of life manga that I want to read really slowly, I won’t join.
I’m probably right at the level to start (struggle) reading with the ABC, but I’m also in the middle of 4 books right now, plus manga, and a few other clubs, so I’m kinda full up on social reading.
If I was the kind of person who could stick to one book of my own and one book club book I’d probably have joined in for a few of the recent picks, but I’m not that strong, so I’ve had to be picky. There’s quite a few clubs both here and on Natively, and I’m trying to only join 1-2 depending on book difficulty.
But also the flow through the pipeline to advanced reader is very slow, and it’s possible that post covid there just haven’t been enough people to replace the people pandemic reading in the book clubs.
Echoing what many have said (and probably sounding repetitive), I do think it boils down to mainly 2 issues:
-
not enough flow of new members. It’s natural that people will leave with time (change of interest, life happening, etc), but if new people aren’t joining, then we will see a natural decline in numbers of active members.
-
too many club options. I remember when I started we used to have the BBC, IBC and ABC (and ABBC maybe). Then people started making offshoots, IMC, informal clubs, mystery clubs.. I started on natively a couple years back to, and there you have light novel club, beginner light novel club, mystery club, yuri/GL, yaoi/BL… it’s just too much. Don’t get me wrong - I really like how we have so many diverse choices - but it’s harder and harder to keep up with so many clubs
I agree that less traffic to the forums, more AI usage and the “return to normal” post pandemic also had significant influence, though.
I wonder how much growth there has been in the new Wanikani users base the last 4 years. There was a huge increase from the Duolingo message board ages ago… But once that board closed; I have idea about how effective their other advertising channels/word of mouth/new user recruitment techniques have been…
I, for one, have joined and then not managed to read so many book club picks in the last 3 years, that I recently quit voting …
I’m ashamed, but (shrugs) Life™…(plus growing tsundoku stacks)
I would be surprised to hear that AI affected our core readers… I suspected it was more that it’s the same people gaining expertise and comfort levels with reading and fuzzy interpretation knowledge
Nb. No data whatsoever for these rambling opinions↑↑
Personally, I’d still rather go with forum clubs here than independently selecting my own reading material…
Well, I ran the Natively MBC and shut it down last year due to dwindling membership I was thinking of bringing it over here but then the Mystery Series Club started and I figured it’d be too much for one userbase
That’s only because I didn’t notice the time-before-last poll before it closed
I set up the home thread for our next pick. Feel free to drop by and give input about the schedule
It won’t be long until our current book club is over, and I’m calling for nominations for our next poll. Please submit your proposals until June 19, as I will start the next poll shortly thereafter.
Looking forward to your new reading ideas!
ファイア・ドーム (FIRE DOME) 上
Author: 辻村深月
Summary
Japanese
人はなぜ大きな事件に魅了されてしまうのか。
噂は、軽薄な娯楽だ。
25年前、平穏だったはずの地方都市は、百貨店受付嬢誘拐殺人事件の発生、その報道により揺り動かされ、「噂」という大量の炎が、加害者のみならず被害者にも降り注ぎ、燃えさかった。ようやく静けさを取り戻したかに見える町に燻り続ける因縁が、いま新たな事件を呼び起こす――。
「もう言われてるよ！ どうせ、親が殺したんだろうって！」――本文より
English
Why are people so fascinated by major incidents?
Rumors are a frivolous form of entertainment.
Twenty-five years ago, a provincial town that should have been peaceful was shaken by the kidnapping and murder of a department store receptionist and the ensuing media coverage. A torrent of “rumors”—like a raging fire—rained down not only on the perpetrator but also on the victim, consuming them both. Now, the lingering resentment that continues to smolder in a town that seemed to have finally regained its calm is about to spark a new incident—
“People are already saying it! They’re saying the parents must have killed her!” —From the text
Translator: DeepL
Length: 464 pages (and there’s a 下 volume as well)
Category: Fast
Natively link: ファイア・ドーム 上 | L32??
Availability
Personal Opinion
A new book by the same author as かがみの孤城 / Lonely Castle in the Mirror. I don’t know, I saw that the title was 
FIRE DOME and was intrigued.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- FIRE DOME
Cons
- There’s a 下 volume too
Pictures
The bookwalker preview doesn’t include any pages of the book so I can’t actually estimate the difficulty 
光の帝国 常野物語
Author: 恩田陸
Summary
Japanese
第1巻の内容紹介: 膨大な書物を暗記するちから、遠くの出来事を知るちから、近い将来を見通すちから――「常野」から来たといわれる彼らには、みなそれぞれ不思議な能力があった。穏やかで知的で、権力への志向を持たず、ふつうの人々の中に埋もれてひっそりと暮らす人々。彼らは何のために存在し、どこへ帰っていこうとしているのか？ 不思議な優しさと淡い哀しみに満ちた、常野一族をめぐる連作短編集。優しさに満ちた壮大なファンタジーの序章。
English
DeepL, taken from Natively:
The ability to memorize vast volumes of books, to understand distant events, and to foresee the near future - these people, who are said to have come from “Jono,” all had their own mysterious abilities. They are gentle, intelligent, and not oriented toward power, living quietly among ordinary people. What is the purpose of their existence, and where are they going back to? A series of short stories about the Tsuneno clan, filled with a mysterious tenderness and faint sadness. An introduction to an epic fantasy filled with tenderness.
Length: 288
Category: Fast
Natively link: 光の帝国 常野物語 | L30??
Availability
Personal Opinion
I generally enjoy books by this author and want to read more fantasy in Japanese that isn’t Light Novel-y (not knocking it if you enjoy that, just want something different). Also I enjoy connected short stories.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- Relatively short
- Author known for having decent books
Cons
- Not everyone likes short stories
- No audiobook
Pictures
I just thought the other day that it could be about time to read another one of her books! 
Ah thanks for mentioning this! The title on its own sounds very trashy to me 
but that puts it into perspective.
Thanks for the fresh nominations everybody! 
Also please note that I shifted 村上海賊の娘 from “Fast” to “Hard” after all that I heard about it, plus its Natively level…
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 August 8th (after a one-week break).
Poll duration: The poll will be closed on 2026-06-26T12:00:00Z. You can choose up to 5 options.
- 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. / L33 / Novel]
- 占星術殺人事件 島田 荘司 [Fast / 544p. / L39?? / Novel]
- まちカドまぞく 1 伊藤 いづも [Fast / 120p. / L35 / Manga]
- 魔性の子 十二国記 0 小野 不由美 [Fast / 491p. / L34 / Novel /
] - 天空への回廊 笹本 稜平 [Fast / 662p. / L30?? / Novel]
- ファイア・ドーム (FIRE DOME) 上 辻村深月 [Fast / 464p. / L32?? / Novel]
- 光の帝国 常野物語 恩田陸 [Fast / 288p. / L30?? / Novel]
- 村上海賊の娘 和田 竜 [Hard / 343p. / L41 / Novel]
- コインロッカーベイビーズ 村上 龍 [Hard / 576p. / L42 / Novel]
- 女坂 円地文子 [Hard / 226p. / L50?? / Novel / ]
0
voters
Supposedly this one, but as a separate entry.
starting to see it recommended. Maybe I need to switch my vote 
.
Though it’s apparently mystery adjacent, and I’m not sure if I’m up for another mystery just now.
It also looks to me as if the book is a package deal for sure. I’m not sure only the 上 volume would be satisfactory.
Yes, if you read Fire Dome , you’ll be cool like all the cool kids. Trust me.
We can read the other volume in an offshoot 
Hmm, we’re down four votes since the previous poll. I wonder if people have missed it, or maybe it’s just too hot right now to think about reading 
I can read in every weather 
. It’s great to sit outside in a park or garden and read a book while drinking something cold. Isn’t that a perfect summer activity?