Beginner Japanese Book Club // Now Reading: 気になってる人が男じゃなかった // Next 葬送のフリーレン, then ウスズミの果て

Old book clubs never die, they just fade away…

Wait, that’s not any better.

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When we propose new books, there’s always a poll to measure the difficulty. I wanted to get feedback about its usefulness.

  • Overall, I think the polls are valuable
  • Overall, I think the polls are not valuable
  • I vote in most/all of the polls
  • I only vote in the polls for books that interest me
  • I would probably read the sample pages even if there wasn’t a poll
  • I’d probably rarely/never read the sample pages if there wasn’t a poll
  • I read the results from the polls
  • I seriously consider the results from the polls when voting on a book

0 voters

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Harsh.

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image

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It’s what I expected though. I barely think about the poll results when voting.

The question is, what does “seriously” mean… So, I do check the results and who voted what in order to figure out how hard the book might be overall. But how much do I take this into account? I don’t really know. :thinking:

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Exactly. For me, it’s just fun trivia.
That being said, that’s due to the fact that I can handle anything the club would pick. I thought others may have a different experience.

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I only pay attention to results that are abnormally high. But I’m still going to vote for what interests me (and based on how difficult it felt to me personally when reading the sample pages), regardless of whether it got a 2.1 or a 3.5.

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I do pay attention to the difficulty, but like NicoleRauch I’m not sure how much I take this into account beyond avoiding clearly very difficult material (and how much I judge the difficulty of something based on the polls vs my own impression).

It’s kind of like a safety net to flag up unusually difficult materials though.

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Yes, this is true.

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I have that one as well. 時をかける少女, 悪夢の真相, and 果てしなき多元宇宙. I didn’t expect this when I bought the book, it was a pleasant surprise. The better one I think is 時をかける少女, but the others I found entertaining too.

I don’t even know my sleeping schedule anymore, it’s a mess :laughing:

Today I woke up at 1 PM (about half an hour ago where I live) so there’s that.

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About the format, I enjoy answering questions, but I notice in 時をかける少女 there’s not a lot of discussion about the actual book I think because there’s just not that much to talk about. It it was it is, and is pretty fluffy. If we were going to read 放浪息子 on the other hand, for example, I think there would be a lot more to say.

I agree. The problem is that the book is simultaneously fast (all those cliffhangers) and slow (not much happens in each chapter).

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:ballot_box_with_check: Honestly don’t feel qualified to vote in the difficulty polls. I haven’t got the foggiest idea how to judge difficulty.

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Fushigi dagashiya Zenitendou - ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂

Summary

Zenitendou is a mysterious candy shop that can be seen only by people hoping for better luck. The shop is full of fascinating sweets that make wishes come true. All the sweets presented by the owner, Ms. Beniko, are just perfect for the customer and work wonderfully. However, one should follow the instructions very carefully… You never know what can happen if someone doesn’t eat them correctly, or worse, gets carried away.

Availability

Amazon jp: https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07M9MCWFG?pf_rd_p=7b903293-68b0-4a33-9b7c-65c76866a371&pf_rd_r=FQY6EC7MCHWTY3AEXQ98
Ebook: ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 - 廣嶋玲子/jyajya - 漫画・無料試し読みなら、電子書籍ストア ブックライブ

Personal Opinion

I spent the winter holidays in Japan, and as I was sitting on a train I saw a girl reading this book and enjoying it so much, that I couldn’t resist dropping something on purpose just to have a peek on the cover. And yes, I was able to read (most of) the title! When I googled it I was very surprised to find out that the series has its own website 【無料ためし読み公開中!】ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂 公式サイト - 偕成社 and a youtube video with a brief introduction of the candy shop: 【公式】「ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂」とは?|TVアニメも放送中! - YouTube

I watched the video, and it looks really intriguing to me!

Pros and Cons for the Book Club

Pros

  • The book is aimed at elementary school children, but according to various reviews it is also enjoyable for adults. It also has 4.8 stars out of 5 on amazon japan! (31 reviews)
  • Every Kanji has Furigana
  • Every chapter of the book is about a new adventure caused by a particular sweet. So even if life gets in the way and people stay behind, they should always be able to skip chapters without missing out too much (disclaimer: I haven’t read the book though, so I can’t tell for sure)
  • It’s fairly short: It has 150 pages so it won’t take forever to read (for a comparison, Toki wo kakeru shojo has 160 pages). And for those who like it there is also the rest of the serie to read :slight_smile:
  • It seems to be a manageable choice to read an actual book and not just manga (nothing against them - I enjoy them too!)
  • Great video: Why settle for solely reading? With Zenitendou you can also train your listening comprehension! :laughing: 【公式】「ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂」とは?|TVアニメも放送中! - YouTube
  • Exclusive for Japanese learners/ speakers/ readers! (as far as I know). Have your family & friends ever asked you the purpose of studying Japanese if pretty much everything that’s interesting or popular enough gets translated? Well, prove them wrong! You and only you will be able to tell what consequences people have to face when they eat too many sweets. (Other than cavities and diabetes.). And your fellow book club members, of course :slight_smile:

Cons

  • Not on floflo
  • It doesn’t really help you practice Kanji beacause of the Furigana
  • As far as I know there’s neither an English version, nor an anime that could be used for reference. The video doesn’t have English subtitles eather ;(

Pictures

First Three Pages of Chapter One




Additional Pages



Difficulty Poll

How much effort would you need to read this book?

  • No effort at all
  • Minimal effort
  • Just right
  • Challenging
  • Impossible, even with everyone’s help
  • I don’t know (please click this if you’re not voting seriously)

0 voters

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It’s actually about half that length. :slight_smile:

Oh really? I just looked at the number given on amazon :sweat_smile:

It has some short stories included too, so the actual main story is not all that long.

Oh I see :slight_smile: I just have the kindle version, so if anyone tells me the right number, I’ll update it :slight_smile: