Intermediate Japanese Book Club // Now Reading: セーラー服と機関銃

I can see three Book Offs in Paris (Quatre-Septembre, Châtelet and Bastille). Are you saying that only two of them sell Japanese books? Would you know which of them?

2 Likes

i have been to the quatre-septembre and that one definitely sells Japanese books and manga. The website said the chatelet one also sells Japanese books. The other one only mentiones French and English so i am assuming they don’t sell Japanese books.

3 Likes

Would be weird if it didn’t, given its location, I think :smiley:

Thanks very much for the info! I’ll be in Paris next month, so I’ll make sure to go there :+1:

4 Likes

I mostly went to the that one because that’s were the big Japanese book off used to be and because it’s close to rue Saint-Anne which is full off Japanese restaurants, being surrounded by Japanese store signs is so cool, it’s like i can suddendly speak the language (because my French is reall bad:( ). And it’s also within easy walking distance off Junkudo.

6 Likes

If you want more to read, the manga Orange have just become a book club. We’re voting on when to start and all the good things currently. Please join if interested:

5 Likes

The Spy x Family book is starting today!

@NicoleIsEnough I updated the main post (I hope I did not mess up your formatting), but the title still needs to be changed!

5 Likes

If you think you are ready to read a bit faster than this club’s usual speed, maybe it might be worthwhile to peek into the Advanced Book Club? Incidentally, the club is voting for their next pick right now :grin:

6 Likes

As usual I recommended Spy x Family and then randomly disappeared due to an overflow of commitments :man_facepalming: .

How advanced is the Advanced Book Club? Would a level 1 :horse: like me manage with some effort?

5 Likes

That depends on the pick, I’d say. We sometimes read hard books (old literary stuff) at ~15 pages per week, or modern books at 30-50 pages per week. Next up is Spice & Wolf, a pretty popular light novel, and we read it at 30-35 pages per week, so that might be a good starting point for you? If you’re interested in the book, that is.

6 Likes

New standard of measuring proficiency? :eyes: ? How many horsepower per JLPT? xp

6 Likes

Not so much interested in Spice & Wolf and that’s definitely a speed I would need to ramp up to. As in, 30-35 pages per week is not a lot, but my reading speed is not there yet, I feel.

2/3 JLPT level per level per horse. You can do the rest of the math :wink: :stuck_out_tongue: .

4 Likes

Then you’re probably better off with the Intermediate Club for the time being, as that’s sort of the lower end of the speed range (we’re currently reading Murakami’s Kafka at about 45 pages per week). But of course you’re welcome to keep an eye on our picks and to try them out whenever you feel like!

6 Likes

There’s a brand new Mystery Novel Book Club over at the Natively Forums, and it’s now voting for its first pick! If the WK book clubs are not enough reading for you, or you’re looking for something specifically in the mystery genre, why not come take a look?

I hope it’s okay to post a link to a non-WK book club here. If not, let me know and I’ll delete it.

13 Likes

I updated the OP + title now that the TUGUMI book club has started, as well as the intermediate section of the Master List of book clubs thread. I hope I didn’t mess up.

4 Likes

Thank you sooo much! There’s always something I forget when a new book comes around, and the Master List tends to be neglected more often than not :sweat_smile: as was clearly visible :dizzy_face:

3 Likes

I almost forgot to add Spy x Family to previous books, but now that has been taken care of! :+1:

4 Likes

Just a quick heads up that we will run our next poll from Sept 12th, so if you’d like to submit a proposal, now is the time! :pray:

8 Likes

砂漠 (さばく a campus life) // WITHDRAWN

Author: 伊坂 幸太郎 | Kōtarō Isaka
Page count: 512
Natively: His other books are L30-L37

Summary

Japanese

この一冊で世界が変わる、かもしれない。仙台市の大学に進学した春、なにごとにもさめた青年の北村は四人の学生と知り合った。少し軽薄な鳥井、不思議な力が使える南、とびきり美人の東堂、極端に熱くまっすぐな西嶋。麻雀に勤(いそ)しみ合コンに励み、犯罪者だって追いかける。一瞬で過ぎる日常は、光と痛みと、小さな奇跡で出来ていた――。明日の自分が愛おしくなる、一生モノの物語。限定の書き下ろしあとがき収録。 (Source: BookWalker)

English

Google Translate:
This book might change the world. In the spring when he entered a university in Sendai City, Kitamura, a young man who had calmed down, met four students. Torii who is a little frivolous, Minami who can use mysterious powers, Toudou who is extremely beautiful, and Nishijima who is extremely hot and straightforward. He devotes himself to mahjong, works hard at joint parties, and chases even criminals. Everyday life that passed by in an instant was made up of light, pain, and small miracles. A lifelong story that will make you love yourself tomorrow. Includes a limited edition postscript.

Availability

Amazon including Kindle and Audible versions | Audiobooks | BookWalker

Personal Opinion

Looks interesting! I am not a very opinionated person (:

Pros and Cons for the Book Club

Pros

  • Audiobooks available
  • Relatively easy to read among this author’s work

Cons

  • Probably a bit long
  • Not as much a social commentary as his other work?

Pictures

Pages 1-49 on BookWalker 試し読み

Difficulty Poll

How much effort would you need to read this book?

  • No effort at all
  • Minimal effort
  • Moderate effort
  • Significant effort
  • So much effort my head might explode
  • I don’t know

0 voters

5 Likes

Thanks for your proposal! Unfortunately 512 pages is way too long for this book club, though :sweat_smile:
The Intermediate club usually reads at ~15 pages per week which would mean for this book to last about 8 months or so, and that’s just a very long time because those who are not interested or drop out need to wait the whole time.
If you like, you could submit it to the Advanced Book Club though! There we read at a higher pace and can tackle longer books. Just copy your post to the other thread and modify this posting to make clear you withdrew it. Thanks!

4 Likes

Not a problem. I did think it might be a bit too long (:

2 Likes