Beginner book club?

[Seironsou]

Hello! Here I am checking the forums for a beginner book club/circle for the ones interested in doing a weekly or monthly book review/wrap up. Does clubs like these already exists on here, if so does anyone take on new memebers? Really exited in joining on!

[Omun]

@Seironsou

Does clubs like these already exists on here

Big yep. ^^

Master List of Book Clubs

Introduction There are several book clubs here on the forums. Reading along with a book club can provide a great source of motivation, and there are a lot of people to help you out with questions, enabling you to tackle harder content. Many of the book clubs have community vocabulary lists, so they can be a great resource even if you’re reading after the book club has moved on. Additionally, you’re always welcome to ask questions even after a book has been finished by a book club. People are al…

Just join on in with any of them, or wait for a new one to start so you’re there from the start.

[Seironsou]

@Omun Thank you so much for the links, it is much apprecited!

[konekush]

Do keep in mind though that the bookclubs are ordered by level of reading experience rather than your total experience in Japanese. If you’re a begginer in Japanese, you might want to hold off on them for a while (unless you like feeling extremely challenged).

[ChristopherFritz]

The book clubs here are mostly oriented around being able to read the material, so you’ll get a lot of questions on “what does this mean?” or “what’s going on with this sentence?” and answers ranging from a quick response to a long, thorough grammar lesson.

From the book club link Omun provided, you can check out older book club threads to see the kind of discussions that’ve taken place. If any of the books there interest you, you can still ask questions on the material and get answers. (This misses out on the experience of reading along as a group, but all the historic conversation is there.)

As konekush mentioned, the clubs are about reading ability/experience. You’ll want to have a fair grasp of basic grammar and know a lot of common vocabulary to feel like you’re at least somewhat understanding the material. Or, you can use it as an opportunity to study everything you encounter in the material and learn that way. That’s what I did last year, and I learned a lot of grammar that way. It’s kind of like learning to swim by jumping into the deep end of the pool.

Here’s my own chart of the current timeline of the book club items being read:

Absolute Beginner Book club’s in the middle of a few items right now, including two children’s books and a simple manga. Aside from a small band of Chi’s Sweet Home faithfuls continuing that series, I’d say expect to see interest in the club finding a new book or manga to read in December or January.

Beginner book club’s down to our last two weeks in our current manga. After that, we will be starting a simple children’s novel soon which should last a few months.

[Naphthalene]

Nice chart! Haruhi is over though
Also, Individual Reading is only listing those extra book club(s) you are personally interested in? (If not, you are missing 2, as far as I know )

[ChristopherFritz]

@Naphthalene

Haruhi is over though

I kept it on in case book two is picked up, but it looks like there’s no interest.

@Naphthalene

you are missing 2,

Which two? I definitely want to include them all, so I have an eye on the amount of reading going on and being discussed, even if centered around around reader, and even if I’m not personally interested in the material. There’s always room for me to add more to my spreadsheet!

Edit: But this only includes books being read on a schedule, not unscheduled threads.

[Naphthalene]

There’s Re-Zero, we are currently on the second week of book three, but the 3rd week starts tomorrow.
There’s also 獣の奏者, starting next January.

[ChristopherFritz]

I have no idea how I missed Re-Zero. I occasionally peruse one of the threads although I don’t know the series. (My English Kobo account has been recommending volume 1 of Re-Zero in English for me for over two years now.)

[_Marcus]

@ChristopherFritz

Here’s my own chart of the current timeline of the book club items being read:

This chart is brilliant! If it isn’t already in the OP of the Master List of Bookclubs thread, it ought to be!

[ChristopherFritz]

If anyone’s interested in keeping an eye on my chart, or linking to it from anywhere, feel free to. It’s a Google Sheets document.

[icefang97]

That chart is super nice. But since I don’t see the best book club in it(The Re Zero book club) I can only give it a D-
Would have been an A+ with Re Zero though

[ChristopherFritz]

@icefang97

Would have been an A+ with Re Zero though

This is why outdated still images will never rule the world. The Google Sheets document lists it now

[icefang97]

Good. I’m glad the sin have been corrected. Now I have to create Re Zero week 3 before I forget it again ha ha.

[Talos]

@konekush

Do keep in mind though that the bookclubs are ordered by level of reading experience rather than your total experience in Japanese. If you’re a begginer in Japanese, you might want to hold off on them for a while (unless you like feeling extremely challenged).

Thank you for pointing this out @konekush , I was going to say something similar! I definitely found myself very frustrated attempting to dive in to the Absolute Beginner Book Club’s last book, only to realize that it contained plenty of grammar points and slang well beyond my Genki I level skills.

@Seironsou, if you’re at a similarly low level, I highly recommend started with some graded readers instead if you can afford them, they’ve been a huge help and confidence boost while I’m still so early on in my reading career! (And I believe there might even be a graded reader specific book club / thread somewhere as well?)

Here’s the series I’ve personally been using, but there are a ton of them out there. They aren’t exactly cheap, but don’t let that link’s price tag shock you either – this is the complete package of 15 individual boxed sets of books - the individual sets are more reasonable(ish).