When the chapters are as short as this, we can just read 2 chapters a week. If my math is correct, a chapter is about 8 pages and reading 16 pages per week is fine especially since it seems to be one of the easier manga. With Death Note (maybe not the best example since it was arguably to hard/much for this club) we read ~25 pages a week. Night Cafe is reading about ~10 pages per week and a book is obviously a lot more dense.
I guess Night cafe is a bit of an outlier since it is really long compared to the things we usually read. In this specific case it might be a good idea to start the next book right after Night Cafe ends without a week break, since the last week seems to only be 3 pages, which includes the afterword.
For the shorter clubs I have simillar worries as Nicole.
Normally, I would try to finish a whole book. Even if I came across something else interesting, I would just defer it to the reading queue. But, if the book club picked a new interesting one, I would have to read it concurrently - increasing my workload, wanted or not, but can’t just give up either.
Nonetheless, it is of course possible to read a few books at the same time, but doesn’t that make it easier to give up on the more difficult-to-chew stuff?
JoJo also has partial Furigana.
Also, I saw quite a few interesting books, just a few posts up here
That’s an option as well. I just didn’t want to impose that because 4-koma tend to be denser than regular manga (even if ひとりぼっち is lighter than most 4-koma).
@ChristopherFritz Since you already read ひとりぼっち, do you think 16 pages per week would be okay for beginner book club or would it likely be too much? (Let’s say the first two weeks were just one chapter each and then after that was two chapters per week.)
I had originally nominated this in the ABBC, but it was suggested - and in retrospect I absolutely agree- that it would be a better fit here, so as promised I’m bringing it over here:
ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 (GeGeGe no Kitarō)
,
Summary
GeGeGe no Kitarō focuses on the young Kitarō—the last survivor of the Ghost Tribe—and his adventures with other ghouls and strange creatures of Japanese mythology. Along with: the remains of his father, Medama-Oyaji (a mummified Ghost tribesman reincarnated to inhabit his old eyeball); Nezumi-Otoko (the rat-man); Neko-Musume (the cat-girl) and a host of other folkloric creatures, Kitarō strives to unite the worlds of humans and Yōkai.
Some storylines make overt reference to traditional Japanese tales, and others involve Kitarō facing off with myriad monsters from other countries.
The series was created in 1960 by Shigeru Mizuki. It is best known for its popularization of the folklore creatures known as yōkai.
(adapted from Wikipedia)
Availability
There seem to be two editions of the manga. They both feature the same first story, but the rest of the stories seem to be entirely different. The Kodansha edition is smaller (7 stories/ 195 pages) and the stories seem to be in better chronological order, so I think this is a better fit for the club. But, it doesn’t seem to be available in paperback as far as I can see. The alternative is the Chūōkōron edition with 13 stories at 380 pages. We could maybe select some of the stories if we were to read from this one.
I think this is a fun way to learn about Yokai. This manga is a classic, and there have been lots of adaptations and other stories based on it. It’s targeted to children and it’s classified as comedy horror, so I assume it doesn’t get too scary or gory, in case anyone worries about that. I really love the background art too.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
It’s full of fun Yokai!
Furigana throughout and language seems straightforward
Fantastic art
Plenty more to read if you like it
Cons
It is an old manga so may feel old-fashioned?
The subject matter may not appeal to everyone
Possible confusion with different story collections on the market
I did consider that (which is why I never brought it up before).
Most people who make it to the end are probably more seasoned readers who can handle it.
And some people who make it to the end won’t even be interested in the next pick.
But for people who are reading their very first (or second or third) beginner-level-paced native material, and are interested in the next pick, it can be difficult for them. (I certainly don’t mean to suggest we make the reading experience more difficult or stressful!)
It would require a little extra leg work when deciding the start date by checking if anyone in the current club is interested in the next club etc., which just complicates things further.
It’s hard for me to say because when I read it (just the first volume so far), I was initially transcribing everything and translating everything to a text document. Then I dropped the translations maybe a quarter of the way in, and I don’t recall if I finished transcribing or not. These actions slowed me down considerably.
For manga reading ability, I’m probably at the midway point between beginner and intermediate, which also makes it difficult to judge.
All that said, I think if the series had furigana, two chapters per week would be doable for Beginner Book Club, based on prior manga we’ve read. We had a similar pace for One Week Friends, and we only lost about half the readers from start to finish (which is actually a pretty good attrition rate!)
Without furigana, it’s hard for me to say because I typically avoid the clubs for non-furigana materials, or I join and only make it through one chapter. (This changes for me with Mokuro, though!)
Another-yokai related nomination. I don’t know if there’s a limit to how many nominations can be available at the same time, so please disregard if it exceeds the limit.
妖怪ギガ
Summary
from Wikipedia:
Written and illustrated by Satsuki Satō, Yōkai Giga was serialized in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shōnen Sunday from April 26, 2017 to November 24, 2021. Shogakukan collected its chapters in eleven tankōbon volumes, released from September 15, 2017 to March 17, 2022.
The series was recommended by manga author Inio Asano. Gō Sasakibara of The Asahi Shimbun commended the depiction of the yōkai creatures presented in the series and compared Satō’s detailed art with humorous touch to Shigeru Mizuki’s work, the late manga artist and yōkai specialist known for GeGeGe no Kitarō.
It mainly caught my attention because of the art, I really like the depiction of the various yokai. It’s a collection of stand-alone yokai stories, interspersed with chapters from a longer story of a (probably made-up) yokai named クロ and its relationship to the man it attached itself to. The few stories I read so far are subtly humorous and クロ is rather sweet. Not sure if all stories follow this pattern.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
It’s full of fun Yokai!
Furigana throughout
Beautiful traditional-looking yokai depictions
A mix of short stories and a longer story arc
Cons
A mix of short stories and a longer story arc
The subject matter may not appeal to everyone
Some characters in the digital version may be somewhat hard to make out clearly
It will reset the votes, so tag the people who already voted if you reset it so they know to vote again. It’s not the end of the world, but the choices were changed a while back to be focused on “effort” so the options were more consistent. I’m actually surprised the ABBC is still using the old options.
I get a message that I can’t change a poll after the first 5 minutes…
Never mind, did it.
I’m so sorry everyone who already voted, but I had to reset the poll. Could @MrGeneric , @VikingSchism , @polv , @_Mae and @Wildjinjer please vote again? (and sorry if I’m forgetting someone).
For the record, you can also add a second poll in the post and then delete the first one. Polls are numbered so when you add the second one it will get a new number which will then allow the post to be saved immediately. (It’s not recognized as the same poll being edited.)
Kon lives in a world that bugs out regularly—every morning may bring a new surprise. But with Kasane, a researcher who studies this phenomena, he knows that each day will at least be interesting! Read the first chapter of God Bless the Mistaken the same day as Japan!
This is the new Manga from the Mangaka of Boom into you. It plays in a world that regularly bugs out and weird things happen. The atmosphere is very relaxed and at least the first 2 chapters remind me of Flying witch a lot, at least in the way it makes me feel.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Furigana (yeah)
Some great art
Relaxed atmosphere
Super new the tankoubon came out today (might also be a negative)
I didn’t realize this was coming out today! I literally have a package of manga that shipped today… I would have preordered this one too if I knew it was being released. I honestly know nothing about it though, just that it’s by the same mangaka who wrote Yagate Kimi ni Naru. But that’s enough for me to give it a try at least.
If you are interested in joining the next book club we run, you can - and should - vote!
Please look under “Current Proposals” in the first post for more details on each option, including links to sample pages which will help you gauge the difficulty.
Please take difficulty into account
Some people do find that reading a work they love or know already is inherently motivating, but please be realistic. Look at the samples and compare to others. Remember that both language and density contribute to difficulty.
Difficulty Scores
For most items we list two different difficulty scores. They are displayed in [] in front of the name of the book/manga. The first score is determined by the polls within the nomination posts. These polls only take previews into account and are very tightly bound to the people that give feedback in the polls and are therefore not objective measures of difficulty. The second score is the Natively level (if available), because of the rating system the ratings without ?? should be more accurate, but the levels with ?? are just an initial guess that must be taken with a pinch of salt.
When will we start and how many will we pick?
We will likely begin reading on the 16th of July, right after we finish reading 夜カフェ. If a short manga (expected less than 8 weeks) wins we will also read the second place option following that without holding another vote. (The short manga determination is not final since it is based on limited information and might change)
How does the vote work?
The poll will be closed on Sunday, June 5 at the latest.
You can vote for up to 5 options.
You can change your vote at any time by clicking ‘Show vote’ at the bottom.
[2.20/L25] God Bless the Mistaken [short Manga]
[2.90] 妖怪ギガ [Manga]
[3.13/L20??] ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 [Manga]
[2.50/L23] Shadows House [short Manga]
[2.25/L19] Whisper of the Heart [short Manga]
[2.85/L23??] Deep Sea Aquarium MagMell [short Manga]
[2.86/L25??] 5分後に笑えるどんでん返し [Book]
[2.08/L25??] Unexpected Endings After 5 Seconds [Book]
Hmm, seems like none of my top picks are particularly popular haha - looks like people really want a short manga. Moved one of my picks to Shadows House since that seems like the best of the current frontrunners. Can’t say the current frontrunner Nozaki-kun partiuclarly appeals to me though