Starting 20th February: 不可解なぼくのすべてを・FukaBoku
More details in the FukaBoku Nomination Post
You can read the first chapter for free on comic.pixiv
CDJapan | Amazon JP
BookWalker | Kobo | Kindle
Starting 17th April: 日常・Nichijou
More details in the Nichijou Nomination Post
You can read the first few pages for free on BookWalker
CDJapan | Amazon JP
BookWalker | Kobo | Kindle
Currently reading: ハイキュー!! 
Haikyuu!!
Sample pages available in the Haikyuu!! Nomination Post
CDJapan | Amazon JP
BookWalker | Kobo | Kindle
Welcome to our Book Club!
In this club we choose a Japanese book together and read it following a weekly schedule. We help each other with grammar, compile a vocabulary sheet together and discuss the story.
We hope that eventually you’ll be able to take the jump to the Intermediate Book Club 
If you’re interested, just grab a copy of the upcoming book (we vote ~6 weeks before finishing the current pick) and join in! You are always welcome to ask new questions in the threads of any of our previous picks as well 
Which Book Club?
This club is for those beginning to read native books and manga, not beginners to Japanese. We suggest a solid understanding of N5 grammar and at least some of N4.
Our picks vary in difficulty, roughly from relatively easy manga for teens to children’s books. The best way to judge is to look at the sample pages for a particular pick. Remember that it will be easier with everyone’s help though!
The Absolute Beginners’ Club usually tackles material aimed at younger children.
The Intermediate Book Club usually tackles books and reads faster.
Previous Picks
For a subjective comparison of these picks and pointers on where you might want to start, please see the Comparison Thread.
Manga unless stated otherwise.
Book 01 | よつばと!・ Yotsuba&! ***
Book 02 | 魔女の宅急便 ・ Kiki’s Delivery Service / novel
| 2020 Repeat Club for Kiki’s Delivery Service
Book 03 | Aria; Masterpiece Edition ooo
Book 04 | のんのんびより・ Non Non Biyori
Book 05 | 夏目友人帳 ・ Natsume’s Book of Friends
Book 06 | 時をかける少女 ・ The Girl Who Leapt Through Time / novel
Book 07 | 少女終末旅行 ・ Girls’ Last Tour ooo
Book 08 | 銭天堂 ・ The Mysterious Sweet Shop / novel
Book 09 | 一週間フレンズ ・ One Week Friends
Book 10 | ふらいんぐうぃっち ・ Flying Witch ***
Book 11 | 霧のむこうのふしぎな町 ・ Mysterious Town Beyond the Mist / novel
Book 12 | ゆるキャン△・Laid-Back Camp ***
Book 13 | フルーツバスケット・Fruits Basket ***
Book 14 | シメジシミュレーション・Shimeji Simulation
*** currently continuing as an offshoot club
ooo entire series completed as an offshoot club
We always read just the first volume of a series (sometimes we read a ‘Master’ edition which incorporates the first two volumes of an original run). Sometimes, if a particular pick was enjoyed by many people who want to continue reading it together, that pick will continue to run as a parallel offshoot, reading the subsequent volumes.
Proposed Books
Feel free to nominate something you’d like to read using the template below! Suggestions must be appropriate though; please read the guidelines.
Guidelines for Proposing Books
-
Nominate something you are ready to read
We want to maintain lively discussion throughout the club, so don’t nominate something you yourself will struggle to participate in. You also can’t rely on there being more advanced learners available to help with all questions. -
Books must be under 200 pages
This is the most we could tackle within a reasonable timeframe (ideally no more than 16 weeks), but if the book is dense even 200 pages may be too much. -
Do not nominate anything clearly NSFW
We try to maintain a wide appeal, so don’t knowingly nominate anything associated with fanservice or gore. -
Do not nominate anything difficult to procure
Picks must be readily available at online stores. If no eBook version is available please consider whether it’s still worth nominating and list this clearly as a “con”. -
Well-known works are more desirable
Guidance only: the reader pool will be much larger for well-known works, and background knowledge of the premise will make it easier for people to understand the content and help each other out. -
Fantasy and Sci-Fi are less desirable
Guidance only: fantasy and sci-fi works often use niche and esoteric vocabulary (on top of intimidating info-dumps). Series which focus on human interaction in a real-life setting tend to provide a lower barrier to entry and higher returns on time invested.
Proposal Template
Copy this template into a new post when making a nomination.
For page samples, you can either take photos of your own copy (try to make the three additional pages ‘representative’ if possible), grab photos from the internet, or use eBook previews from e.g. Amazon, Kobo, BookWalker. Make sure the text is legible!
# Insert Title Here
## Summary
Insert summary here, taken from wherever - Wikipedia, Amazon, etc. Improve the description if you would like / feel it necessary.## Availability
Insert purchase links for physical: preferably Amazon JP and CD Japan.
Insert purchase links for digital: preferably Kobo and BookWalker. Mention if an eBook is not available at all and list this in the cons.## Personal Opinion
Insert why you think this book would be good to read, personally and for the book club.### Pros and Cons
**Pros**
* Insert pros here.**Cons**
* Insert cons here.## Pictures
[details=“First Three Pages of Chapter One”]
Insert images here (can be photos from you or from eBook previews).
[/details]
[details=“Additional Pages”]
Insert a few more representative images here.
[/details]
## Difficulty Poll
How much effort would you need to read this book?[poll type=regular public=true]
* 1 - No effort at all
* 2 - Minimal effort
* 3 - Moderate effort
* 4 - Substantial effort
* 5 - So much effort my head might explode
* I don’t know
[/poll]
List of Removed Nominations
| Book | Reason |
|---|---|
| おおかみこどもの雨と雪 | Too long (270 pages) Moved to the intermediate book club |
| キノの旅 | Too hard / long (213 pages) Moved to the intermediate book club |
| トラちゃん | Too hard |
| ご注文はうさぎですか | Too hard Misc discussion available |
| 放浪息子 | Misc discussion available |
| 日本昔ばなしアニメ絵本 18冊全巻セット | Moved to the absolute beginners’ club |
| あたしンち | Moved to the absolute beginners’ club |
| しろくまカフェ | Read by the absolute beginners’ club |
| チーズスイートホーム | Read by the absolute beginners’ club |
| ナルト | Polling results |
| ドラゴンボール | Polling results |
| 聲の形 | First volume too depressing on its own! |
| 進撃の巨人 | Polling results |
| ポレポレ日記いざ流星学園へ！ | Polling results |
| ご近所物語 | Polling results |
| スキップ・ビート！ | Polling results |
| こぐまのクーク物語 | Moved to the absolute beginners’ club |
| 北欧女子オーサが見つけた日本の不思議 | Polling results |
Current Proposals
See the linked nomination posts for more information, including sample pages.
Follow the comic.pixiv links to read the first chapter or so for free; click the white 試し読み button.
The difficulty scores come from club members voting in the nomination post; you should vote too!
Last updated: 2021-01-06
Manga - Rainbow-Coloured Photograph
にじいろフォトグラフ
Rainbow-Coloured Photograph Nomination Post
Rainbow-Coloured Photograph on comic.pixiv
Aoi Yamabuki is a shy high school student who’s incredibly self-conscious about her blue eyes. Living with her older sister, a popular novelist, the girls’ lives change when a young foreign girl comes to live with them.
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 2.59 [17 votes]
Manga - Koizumi-san Loves Ramen
ラーメン大好き小泉さん
Koizumi-san Loves Ramen Nomination Post
Koizumi-san Loves Ramen on comic.pixiv
Cool, quiet and mysterious, Koizumi-san is a transfer student who doesn’t get along with others. She is a ramen professional who searches for the best ramen every day!
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 2.56 [9 votes]
Manga - This Art Club has a Problem!
この美術部には問題がある！
This Art Club Nomination Post
This Art Club on comic.pixiv
A girl with violently too much common sense, a boy whose sole ambition is to draw the perfect 2D bride, an addlebrained ghost member, and an always sleeping president - what is wrong with this art club?!
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 2.68 [22 votes]
Manga - Plastic Elder Sister
プラスチック姉さん (+ちっく姉さん)
Plastic Elder Sister Nomination Post
Plastic Elder Sister on comic.pixiv
Iroe Genma is a third-year high school student often referred to as “Elder Sister” despite her short height. This troublemaking teenager is the president of her school’s Model Club, which is dedicated to building plastic models of various objects and structures, such as cars, boats, and even robots.
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | Book walker
Difficulty: 2.57 [7 votes]
Manga - Ao's Island and a Cat
青の島とねこ一匹
Ao’s Island Nomination Post
Ao’s Island on comic.pixiv
The freshly graduated teacher Souta escapes the capital’s buzz and moves to a small island in the inland sea where he wants to start his first job. He is planning to live at his senpai’s place whom he knew from long ago, but when he gets there he discovers that senpai is not there; only his daughter and a cat. So he moves in with the two…
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 3.12 [25 votes]
Manga - City
CITY
City Nomination Post
City on comic.pixiv
From the creator of Nichijou, this surreal-slapstick series revolves around a penniless college student, Midori Nagumo, who lives in an ordinary city filled with not-quite-ordinary people. Midori is in a bit of a bind - in debt, with her landlady hounding her for rent. Getting a job would mean less time for fun adventures in the big city though…
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: tbd
Manga - Mingo, don't think all Italians are popular
ミンゴ イタリア人がみんなモテると思うなよ
Mingo Nomination Post
Mingo on comic.pixiv
Peppe, popular resident of the TV series Terrace House, started authoring this manga in 2019. It follows Mingo, an Italian otaku who moves to Tokyo, as he tries to find love.
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: tbd
Manga - Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
地縛少年 花子くん
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Nomination Post
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun on comic.pixiv
At Kamone Academy, rumours claim that if one successfully summons Hanako-san, the ghost of a girl said to haunt the school’s bathrooms, she will grant you any wish. Many people have tried, but all have failed. However, when Nene Yashiro dares to summon Hanako-san, hoping for romantic fortune, she becomes embroiled in the world of the supernatural…
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 2.64 [14 votes]
Manga - Magi
マギ
Magi Nomination Post
Magi on comic.pixiv
Deep within the deserts lie the mysterious Dungeons; vast stores of riches there for the taking by anyone lucky enough to find them, and brave enough to venture into the depths from which few have ever returned. Plucky young adventurer Aladdin means to do so, but he may be just as mysterious as the treasure he seeks…
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 2.54 [11 votes]
Manga - My Hero Academia
僕のヒーローアカデミア
My Hero Academia Nomination Post
My Hero Academia on comic.pixiv
In a world filled with superpowers, middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but he doesn’t have an ounce of power. With no chance of getting into the prestigious high school for budding heroes of his dreams, his dream looks like a dead end. That is, until a chance encounter with All Might, the greatest hero of them all…
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 2.84 [19 votes]
Manga - Death Note
デスノート
Death Note Nomination Post
Death Note on comic.pixiv
When Light Yagami, an ace student with great prospects who is bored out of his mind, finds a notebook giving him power over death, will he use it for good - or for evil?
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 2.71 [17 votes]
Manga - Great Detective Conan
名探偵コナン
Detective Conan Nomination Post
Detective Conan on comic.pixiv
Shinichi Kudou, a great mystery expert at only seventeen, gets into trouble after witnessing some disturbing illegal activity. Dosed with an experimental drug and left to die, he is astonished to live and wake up in the body of a seven-year-old. Hiding his identity, he takes on the alias of Conan Edogawa…
CDJapan | Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 3.43 [21 votes]
Book - Ogawa Mimei's Collection of Children's Stories
小川未明童話集
Ogawa Mimei’s Collection of Children’s Stories Nomination Post
A collection of children’s stories and fairy tales from Ogawa Mimei, know in Japan as the founder of modern children’s literature. Often incorporating everyday scenarios, this collection of 17 stories includes his most famous, “The Ox Woman” and “The Red Candle and the Mermaid”.
Amazon JP | Kobo | BookWalker
Difficulty: 2.50 [12 votes]
Book - Scary Lessons
絶叫学級
A girl, Yomi - a creature without legs - leads us through a world of horror, which slumbers in the midst of everyday life and lies in wait to pounce on the unsuspecting. Terrible things will happen to anyone foolish enough to tangle with it!
Difficulty: 3.13 [30 votes]
Where to Purchase Books
This section explains where to buy Japanese books in general; see the nominations above for links to purchase specific books.
Purchasing Japanese Books
Physical books:
Note that you need a separate account for each ‘instance’ of Amazon, so you won’t be able to use Amazon JP with e.g. your French Amazon account. Amazon adds an estimated customs charge to your bill which will be refunded if you don’t have to pay customs (or pay less).
CDJapan has economy shipping options which take longer to arrive but cost less.
If you can’t find an online store that will ship to you, you can use a forwarding service like Tenso or White Rabbit Express. If you live in the right place, you may also be able to find the book at a local Japanese book store such as Kinokuniya; just Google your area.
eBooks:
Sirvorn has a wonderful guide to purchasing eBooks from Amazon JP.
Historic Polls
"Next Book" Polls
Winner links go to the original nominations.
- Book Poll 11 - Winner: 不可解なぼくのすべてを and 日常
- Book Poll 10 - Winner: シメジシミュレーション and ハイキュー！！
- Book Poll 09 - Winner: ゆるキャン and フルーツバスケット
-
Book Poll 08 - Winner: ふらいんぐうぃっち
Runoff Poll - Winner: 霧のむこうのふしぎな町 - Book Poll 07 - Winner: 一週間フレンズ
- Book Poll 06 - Winner: 少女終末旅行 and ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂
- Book Poll 05 - Winner: 時をかける少女
- Book Poll 04 - Winner: のんのんびより and 夏目友人帳
- Book Poll 03 - Winner: Aria the Masterpiece
- Book Poll 02 - Winner: 魔女の宅急便
-
Book Poll 01 - Winner: よつばと！
Other Polls
-
Poll to decide what to do when the winner is a short manga (~4-6 weeks of reading)
- Result: read first volume of winner, followed by first volume of runner-up
-
Poll to decide whether book club topics should be moved to the
Readingforum subsection- Result: move everything
-
Poll to decide how long “next book” polls should stay open
- Result: 1 week
-
Poll to decide how many votes “next book” polls should allow per user
- Result: no limit
-
Poll to decide whether to create a 2nd Book Club for beginners
- Result: yes!
