Even more Tadoku books. This time it was じゃんけん, which was about how to play Schere-Stein-Papier in Japanese. I wonder why the three forms are called what they’re called, because obviously paper is かみ and not パー. Maybe something to look up this weekend.
And then I read 彼氏がほしい！ which was hilarious. It was about a girl that draws herself a boyfriend who becomes real, but oh no, she spilled water all over him! Kinda sad they didn’t have audio with this one, I wanted to hear the voiceactor go all out.
Read the other half of this coming week’s reading (aka the one that starts tomorrow). I’m really enjoying this manga. I didn’t know what to expect, only what the first few pages implied. A guy have borrowed all the same books the protagonist does, and she becomes intrigued by him. And so I got intrigued by the story.
I like the whimsy in it. The feel of the seasons and its sound effects (it really sells me on the soundscape). I also like that there is real emotions and dramas going on with them. I feel like most of the people have their own lives going on all around, not just the protagonist.
I finished my first book of the challenge, 西の魔女が死んだ! It was a short read (~160 pages) and very poignant and bittersweet. I’d recommend it for N3-N2 learners with a bit of reading experience.
I’m trying to do the Natively Level+1 challenge, so I’ll probably tackle かがみの孤城 or 麗子の風儀 next. かがみ is a level 28, whereas 麗子 is unranked, but I’ve read half of it already and it’s not too difficult. I guess I’ll see what mood I’m in tomorrow!
Not directed to me, but yeah, it’s the original manga of the Ghibli movie. The Beginner Book Club is currently reading it.
A live action has also been made and will be coming to theaters in Japan on October 14th. (The making of the movie was just being showed on TV so I thought it was a timely coincidence.)
Day 7: October 7th
What did I read?: 夜の名前を呼んで
How much did I read?: 30 pages
How long did it take me?: 41 min
Well this took a sinister turn Rei is just proving himself worthy of my adoration though tbh, he is pure good and I love him <3 His old “buddy” from magical med school, on the other hand They are not buddies, that’s some big air quotes on that
This guy randomly shows up out of nowhere. He apparently went into research after graduation. He’s fascinated by rare things - so much so that he has no qualms about hurting them, even destroying them, to fulfill his curiosity. And what is he fascinated with now? The girl with the rare disease that causes her to turn things to night, of course. The sinister vibes on this man are just…ugh, amazingly done imo. He’s smiling, polite, friendly, but you know and Rei knows that there’s absolutely nothing in his soul. And he’s clearly brilliant, which makes him all the more frightening.
Side note, I love that there is a magic med school that Rei apparently attended - and he was apparently a great student, because of course he was. Two brilliant minds, with opposite morals and philosophies. Both with magic at their disposal. Help me, but I love this set-up >< I hope Mira comes out of this ok But I have great faith in Rei, I feel like he will always save her <3
Due to (redacted), my reading in any language has dropped off dramatically. I’m joining this challenge again in order to get back in the habit of reading Japanese. (After that I’ll try to get back to Mandarin reading, too.)
Personal guidelines:
Don’t read the thread while I have it open to post in that day.
So as not to feel pressured to read all the posts since my last update. I can read the thread at another time if I have the energy (and if not, take my figurative hearts in bulk, because you’re doing great).
Minimal posts for minimal energy required.
Read novels in two separate 10+min sessions each day.
Ten minutes: a priority read. Preferably the same one every day.
Ten minutes: free read. Can be the priority, can be any other novel.
Reading novels beyond that is optional and can be reported here or not. Any manga read can be reported here or not. Read-alouds can be reported here or not.
Stretch goal for a good week: finish a volume of manga.
I read something or other in days 1-3, but don’t remember what. I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do by day 4, but I read 10 minutes each of 狼と香辛料 1 and 硝子の塔の殺人. On days 5 and 6 I read 10 minutes each of ミニスカ宇宙海賊 1 and 硝子の塔の殺人.
I believe I’m close to the end of volume 10 of 魔王城でおやすみ, so I’ll make finishing that my stretch goal for the week.
I’m in a very bumpy minibus in the Philippines so going to copy and paste my notes from yesterday.
7/10 12 pages Spy family (finished mission), 16 pages Orange, 5 pages 夜カフェ, went over rest of 耳をすませば
This was my reading on the plane so went well overall. I’ve read a bit today already on a short plane ride but will post more later, provided good internet.
Just read a fic today in Japanese. According to pixiv, it’s 4,666 characters long with an estimated reading time of 9 minutes and uh, it definitely took me way longer than that lmao. I forgot to look at the time though so I don’t know how long it took me
Some vocab of note:
実りの秋 (みのりのあき) [expression, noun] autumn; the harvest season
終止符を打つ (しゅうしふをうつ) [expression, タ五] to put an end (to); to close the books (on)
Just a few pages of ブルーロック for the sake of it, nothing major. After this weekend my schedule should chill out a bit though so here’s hoping I can get more reading in!
For myself I read a bit more of 三体 but my focus is just gone right now (traveling just breaks my routines so thoroughly!) so then I switched to reading a couple pages of 異世界の名探偵 which continues to be… Fine. It’s a light novel, which isn’t really my jam but it doesn’t have any of the tropes which irritate me at least. I suspect I’d enjoy it more as an audiobook so I could mindlessly consume it (which I plan to do with the remainder of 変な家 on my trip home )
Tiny read today. シーヴァ says that せんせ must be a doctor because he both helped her apply medicine to her wound and bandage her up and he is called せんせ. Which…I guess I thought he was a scholarly type, since we’ve only seen him writing at his desk so far in the volume. He can be both, but clearly she knows why she calls him せんせ better than I do.
Read Chapters 30 and 31 of よつばと！today and hoo boy Chapter 30 was fairly harmless and I was still feeling pretty good after that so I decided to do another, but 31 ended up being another ジャンボさん teaching chapter. Lots of new terms, some which I was familiar with from other stuff involving stars and constellations. I still made a mistake the first time 星座 came up and thought they were talking about 正座 for a minute (よつば also made the same mistake later in the chapter ). Lots of good words and very cute, but it was still very dense with a lot of terminology. とにかく星が大好きです
Good Words
うんこ ー poop
にどとーnever again
星の観察「ほしのかんさつ」ー star observation, star watching
星座「せいざ」ー constellation
天体「てんたい」ー heavenly bodies
天の川「あまのがわ」ー the milky way
望遠鏡「ぼうえんきょう」ー telescope
Since they mentioned 白鳥座...
Here’s a photo I took last month of 白鳥座 (and most of the 夏の大三角, Altair is just out of frame). Since finishing the 化物語 anime over the summer I’ve been going out to do more stargazing, and I learned a bit of stargazing terminology from looking at the lyrics for 君の知らない物語.
Kinda sad they didn’t have audio with this one, I wanted to hear the voiceactor go all out.
October 7 
Oct 7 
Rei is just proving himself worthy of my adoration though tbh, he is pure good and I love him <3 His old “buddy” from magical med school, on the other hand 
They are not buddies, that’s some big air quotes on that 
But I have great faith in Rei, I feel like he will always save her <3
)
君の名は
死神の浮力
三毛猫ホームズの推理
ハリー・ポッターと不死鳥の騎士団
小川未明童話集
青桐
本陣殺人事件
聖女の魔力は万能です
魔王城でおやすみ 10 (
ダンジョン飯 4
鋼の錬金術師 5
デスノート 1
のだめカンタービレ 6
遊☆戯☆王 1
ヤマトナデシコ七変化 1
ハイキュー 5
ノラガミ 2
伯爵と妖精 (小説) 1
)
とつくにの少女１(81% → 85%)
). Lots of good words and very cute, but it was still very dense with a lot of terminology. とにかく星が大好きです
