Thanks for that. I’m still curious how you’d classify 魔法少女育成計画. 
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That’s speed dependent. I feel like it’s the same as Re:Zero and harder than DanMachi, so probably “advanced” if 20+ pages a week?
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For me personally, I’d say difficulty is based on how uncommon the words are (lots of niche words make a book harder), how long and complex the sentences are and how much non-standard Japanese is used.
Having to look up a lot of vocabulary is a pain, but so long as it can be found (i.e. is standard Japanese) I think it shouldn’t impact the difficulty level too much. So long as the grammar was easy, a beginner could read a more niche themed book, it they were really motivated.
Difficulty of grammar and non-standard language are bigger factors I think, because those are bigger hurdles to overcome. Being confused about why you can’t find a bit of vocab, only to discover it’s a grammar point or dialect, that’s a real time suck!
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No one is reading 本好きの下剋上 yet, right?
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Not as part of a book club at least afaik. 
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Sad times
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I have the book, and I’d read it with a club. Feel free to nominate it in the intermediate book club or to make your own reading thread
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I would… But both of those require effort! I had hoped I could just… Slip into an existing club
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Same here 
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Apparently the first volume is available for free? That’s cool.
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To better lure readers.
But yeah, I’d join a club if someone were to create one.
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I got it for free on bookwalker some months ago Also, I don’t have kindle… xP
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nan, I kinda want to read it but I’m scared I won’t be able to follow. I also watched the anime so I already know the story but if you make a book club I would like to participate if possible. I can’t guarantee anything though.
これはこれは「怠惰」デスね(If you know the reference)
I don’t have both.Neither Kindle or the free book 
I only got on bookwalker recently. Really good site I like it.
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Hey guys, I want to start a new book club for Murakami’s 1Q84. Is this still Intermediate Book Club material?
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I’ve skimmed a few pages here and there, but I could not find any grammar that doesn’t occur in e.g. Kemono no Souja. (Which means N3 grammar with maybe a few sprinkles of higher-level grammar, but only really really rarely.)
Of course kanji and vocab are a different thing, but I guess this cannot be taken into account too much as vocab is always a very book-specific thing, and kanji is naturally attached to it. As can be expected from an adults’ book, there is basically no furigana.
So I’d still vote for Intermediate level but I am open to hear others’ opinions of course.
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I read the whole thing when I was N2, and I was perfectly fine with the grammar. His writing style is very clear, so I think a solid N3 is enough (assuming vocab lookups obviously).
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I feel the same. I just have no idea what the level of the current intermediate books is. Thanks to you and @NicoleIsEnough for chiming in.
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On a side note this feels like one of the easiest books I’ve read, even easier than Kino. Granted, there is no furigana but all the vocab and grammar is very common (of course with some curveballs). Great tadoku material and kanji reinforcement! Lack of furigana probably stops it from being a beginner book club pick, though.
EDIT: Woah, and it’s 351 pages.
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If no one else has started a club by then I might make one once I catch up with some of the other clubs I’ve decided to join this summer
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