In my never-ending quest to find ways to procrastinate from reading, I’m looking at what my goals are for September reading. (I recommend developing systems rather than setting goals, but this post is just for fun.)
Book Clubs Reading
I am of course continuing with all the book clubs I’m in. No goals to set here, as these are for the most part simply “continue reading”.
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わんわん探偵団 1: I think the fact that I’m reading this one as a physical book rather than digital is having a big impact on my slacking off. (I fall behind, then read a few weeks worth in one go, then fall behind.) When it comes to the next book, I’m definitely going digital again.
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レンタルおにいちゃん: Since I’ve read it before, I’m indirectly reading along, as I’m answering questions (quick re-read of a page for context), and writing up dialogue changes from the original release to the commercial release.
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よつばと！: We’re at the end. I actually failed to read last week’s chapter, so I’ll be finishing that up, and then reading this week’s chapter, hopefully this upcoming week.
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ふらいんぐうぃっち: We’ll be finishing up volume 6 and starting volume 7 in September. Back at the end of volume 5, I’d forgotten I already bought volume 6, so I went and bout the “next” volume, volume 7. I’m more than ready.
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魔女の宅急便: I’m officially behind (again). If I could implement my system of reading at least one sentence per day (under the expectation I’ll read more than one sentence), I might actually be able to not be far behind all the time. (I’m halfway through last week’s reading.)
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おじさまと猫: I need to work this one into my page count tracking, and then “formally” start reading it. (I’ve skimmed the first few chapters.) Being about four pages per week, it’ll be an easy ready to keep up with in September.
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美少女戦士セーラームーン: Nothing’s going to slow me down from reading one chapter per week of Sailormoon! It’s exciting to consider I’ll reach the end of the third story arc by the end of September, as I’ve never gone through this story arc before (manga or anime).
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アオハライド: I’m liking the increase one-month-per-volume pace. Now that we’re way out of anime-adaptation material, my interest level in the series has greatly increased. I’m glad I watched through the anime earlier this year and joined in with reading the manga.
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3月のライオン: My prediction: I’ll start reading this with the club mid-September. I’ll struggle to keep up (especially if the first chapter isn’t split across two weeks). I’ll be OCR’ing like crazy. I’ll fall behind. And I’ll shelve the series for now after I finish volume one.
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スキップ・ビート！: I think I’m going to skip this one, but I’ll keep it in mind for when my reading stamina is up higher. It looks the series has a fair number of pages dense with dialogue, which is the main thing slowing me down reading 「GALS!」 and 「ハヤテのごとく！」.
Non-Book Club Reading
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GALS!: I’ve been reading the first volume off and on for some time now. I plan to read through volume one in English, then finish up reading the volume in Japanese (with the super-power feeling of always knowing what everyone’s saying immediately as I read it). I’m 59% of the way through, and would really like to push to finish by the end of September. (Pace: 3 pages per day, unless I fall behind or read extra.)
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GOSICK―ゴシック―: I want to like this series, but it’s been such a struggle. I feel like I’ve barely started the third/final chapter of the first volume. That said, I’m 81% of the way through the volume. (Pace: 1 page per day, and I finish right at the end of September!)
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ハヤテのごとく！: With the density of dialogue, I don’t feel I can finish this volume up in September, although it would be nice if I could. I feel like I must be near the end of the volume, yet I’m only 52% of the way there! (Pace: If I can manage 3 pages per day, it’s doable…)
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三ツ星カラーズ: Volume 8 just came out! I’ll probably be buying it soon, but I’ll have to force myself to not read more than one chapter per week. (The short chapters are the worst for this!)
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異国迷路のクロワーゼ: My physical manga fall by the wayside because they’re so inconvenient (for me). Looking up a word means having to place a bookmark and close the book, and I need to be near my desktop computer, or have my smartphone handy. And the text is always so small. That’s the primary reason why it’s been just over two weeks since I last read this series! (Pace: All I need to do is read 1 page per day to finish by the end in a month.)
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アリア: Likewise on the paperback. I haven’t even started the first volume! (Third if you count the two アクア volumes, which I’ve finished.) I’d like to get back to one chapter per week in September, as I’m one volume behind on my 2020 reading schedule for this series.
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魔女の宅急便: (シネマコミック) The only reason I haven’t finished this one yet is because the lack of furigana keeps me from wanting to start reading, even though I know when I do start reading, I’ll make a lot of progress. I’m 71% of the way through. (Pace: 4 pages per day. Actually lower when considering many pages will have little to no dialogue.)
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どんなときも名探偵: Have I even started this one yet? I was supposed to finish it by the end of August (oops). I think my reading time for this has been overtaken by Kiki (the novel). I don’t know if I’ll start this one up yet, or wait until わんわん book 1 is finished
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ご注文はうさぎですか？: I feel like this is an honorable mention, with as much as I don’t read it. (I want to read more, but no furigana…) I’m actually 75% of the way through, but I don’t expect to schedule it for any reading in September.
September Planning
My daily reading schedule has been:
- Start reading something.
- Read until I feel I’ve read enough of it. (Maybe I reached the end of a chapter, or maybe I read a few exhausting pages.)
- Pick something else to read.
Pros:
- I can get a lot of reading in on one series.
- Finishing a week’s reading early (such as a whole chapter of Flying Witch over the weekend) provides a sense of relief for book club reads. “This one’s completed on schedule. No worries of falling behind, and I’m able to answer questions (plus no worries about spoilers).”
Cons:
- Prioritizes reading book club items over non-book club items. I haven’t done any stats on how much book club vs non-book club reading I’ve done, but I expect it’s a rate of about two to one.
My planned system to achieve my September reading goals is to read a set number of pages from everything I’m reading. After I reach the goal for everything, I can go back and read more of something.
Pros:
- Ensures I do go long periods without reading a series.
- The desire to read more than my daily minimum for a series may push me to hurry and complete my quota.
Cons:
- It’s going to feel like a drag if I have to read multiple dialogue-heavy pages one after another:
- If I can’t keep up the pace, I may fall behind on book club reading. (This can be offset by doing book club reading first.)
My list of active reads currently has 13 items on it. Hopefully by the end of September, that will lower to 10.
(My apologies for anyone who read all that. You could have been reading something in Japanese. And I didn’t really include pictures.)