Day 15 - 23, 15th to 23rd of October 
First I git sick, and then I went on vacation with no internet access. Still managed to do some textbook work, which I declare as counting for this challenge.
I’m excited to get back to more interesting stories! I want to get to the Tile Chronicles soon, so I think I’ll up my speed. Maybe I’ll get there before next month? We’ll see.
October 24th (Home Post Link)
Got to do something today that I’d been feeling like I could do for a bit, but just needed a good chance to try. Read a whole volume of manga from start to finish in one sitting! Read all of よつばと！volume 11, so chapters 70-76. Took a little under 2 hours, counting taking some short breaks to find some music, grab a drink, and to copy over my word list so I had more room for more jisho tabs. I think chapter 74, where よつば gets her own little camera and goes running around taking pictures, is one of my favorite chapters in the whole series.
That’s probably objectively more than enough reading for today, but I still feel really good and might do some more textbook work later.
ご迷惑「ごめいわく」ー trouble, bother (i feel like i’ve seen at least 10 different ways to say this)
チラシ ー leaflet
天丼「てんどん」ー tempura donburi
会計「かいけい」ー bill (restaurant)
吐く「はく」ー to throw up
寝袋「ねぶくろ」ー sleeping bag
泊「はく」ー counter for nights of a stay
ラッパ ー trumpet
順番「じゅんばん」ー turn (in line)
イガイガ ー burr (on a chestnut)
凹む「へこむ」ー to be disheartened, to feel down (neat kanji)
壊す「こわす」ー to break, to destroy
勝手に「かってに」ー without asking
贅沢「ぜいたく」ー luxury
臭い「くさい」ー stinky
水防「すいぼう」ー flood prevention (here something like waterproofing?)
乾く「かわく」ー to get dry
お見舞い「おみまい」ー visiting someone who is ill
くっつき虫 ー burr
October 24
Home Post
耳をすませば 
Posting super early today. I’m about to go make me some lunch. But because a certain kitten decided to sleep on me for a couple of hours (or however long it was), I didn’t have much choice in what I was gonna do, so I read early today. Read this week’s portion of 耳をすませば that ended on a cliffhanger, so I went on and read next week’s part, because that was also the end of the story.
Woohoo! Another thing finished this challenge. Well, mostly finished, in my edition there is an extra short story for 耳をすませば, not entirely sure if it is a short story sequel or what, but I’ll read it soon. Maybe even tomorrow.
I’m so less excited about reading 夜カフェ these days. I’m not entirely sure why. In fact, I’m technically a chapter behind. But maybe I’ll remedy that after I finish off the whole volume for 耳をすませば (short story, essay, interview and atogaki left). I’ll see what I feel like reading tomorrow, but I wouldn’t be surprised if 夜カフェ got to wait a little longer.
October 24 
准教授・高槻彰良の推察. page 65 - end
Now why would the volume end on a cliffhanger? Not fair at all! I’m considering getting the next volume, because I did enjoy it a lot, and it’s sort of exactly what I’m looking for right now, creepy, (supposedly?) supernatural phenomena that are handled in a lighthearted and ultimately rational way. And the two main characters are very interesting. The student has this dark mysterious moment in his past, but the professor, enthusiastic in a puppy-like way most of the time, has hidden depths too, and possibly an equally mysterious (even traumatic?) past experience.
Apparently the same exact story comes out in novel form too, and it’s not clear to me whether the manga is an adaptation of the novel or the other way round.
And now I present the weird word of the day:
丑の刻参り (うしのこくまいり）- cursing ritual where one visits a shrine at 2am and nails a doll representing a person to a tree, praying for said person’s death 
丑の刻 is the hour of the Ox (around 2am, 1-3am, or 2-4am), which is an entirely different kanji from ox/cow 牛, presumably because it’s the Chinese Zodiac Ox rather than the animal.
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20221024 - 吾輩は狸である progress: 61.14% 
After about a five layered tangent upon a tangent, Wagahai-cat has finally gotten to the point of what he was saying …I think
So now he is dreaming of being a tiger.
Japanese found under the leaves
雁「がん」ー Wild goose
四つ目垣「よつめがき」ー Square-patterned bamboo fence
Yeah, the paragraph after was full of 逆上 , pretty sure I won’t be forgetting that one anytime soon now 
!!
Happy belated birthday! 
I forgot yesterday because I was writing one handed with a kitten in the way, but for earlier today I have no excuse.
While I quite enjoyed some of the slower stuff I would agree with you that the pacing of the second half of this book is pretty weird. I will say that the plot really picks up again, I think from about chapter 41/42? So a little bit further for you to get through but there is more plot happenings on the horizon!
Up to now I also rather enjoyed the slow stuff as well, but maybe right now it’s not only slow but also … repetitive, maybe? 
Thanks for the heads up! I already finished chapter 37 today, and I’m hoping I can do 1 chapter per day or somesuch? That will not be sufficient to catch up on time, but we’ll see how it goes.
Yee, we have quite the bunch of loose ends to tie up! 
Thanks, and see you on the other side 
Another quick update, I’'m over halfway through the girl who leapt through time. It seems to be accelerating now. I had noticed on the backflap it does state this edition suitable for upper elementary students, probably part of why it has been going relatively smoothly.
I think on the current pace I would be able to finish it this week then.
Day 24, 24th of October
Read this story from DrDru’s site about things that move and driving to another country. I also definitely underestimated the number of stories still left. Maybe a more realistic goal is to finish them all till the end of this challenge
Home post 
Oct 24
・本好きの下剋上 11 (87% → 91%)
Finished another side story, nearing the end of book now 
And today I found a kanji whose stroke order I thought was funky. It’s the けん in 牽制.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the poop radical [1] drawn just half and then another radical, and then the rest of the poop radical.
Don’t let your dreams be dreams! 
October 24 home post link🏡
I read another page of ごんぎつね. On this page, ごん finds out that because of the sardines he threw into 兵十’s house, 兵十 was accused of stealing the fish. Oh dear.
Anyway, look at this cutie!
Day 23:
Priority: 
青桐. Between dialect and vagueness I’m definitely missing some nuance.
Free choice: 
硝子の塔の殺人. 月夜 harassing 遊馬 at 6am.
Extra: 
デスノート 1.
Snatches of: 
ハリー・ポッターと不死鳥の騎士団. Umbridge trying to catch them at Hagrid’s. This book is very long.
October 24th!
Today I read the first half of Chapter 4 of 耳をすませば. It was quite tempting to read the 2nd half as well to finish the book, but also I’ve had a long day and was tired so I thought it better to save it and finish next week with the rest of the club as planned.
When I tried to look it up in Bookwalker, I actually found the novel version, not the manga. Then I saw you were referring to a manga, but I was too tired to go back and look again…
Belatedly posting for yesterday again.
24/10 8 pages 夜カフェ (to end chapter 9), then 3 pages chapter 10, 16 pages Orange (to end letter), 6 pages シャドーハウス ( to end of week’s reading), 2 pages Tugumi.
So now I’m up to date with everything but 夜カフェ, where I am at least reading this week’s chapter, and Tugumi, which I need to finish in the next week before the next IBC book starts. In 6 clubs which is beginning to get a bit much!
I actually was listening to the audiobook for that and I ended up tapping out from being tired of it going on and on I just checked and it’s just shy of 44 hours long
Finished Chainsaw Man Vol. 12 over the weekend. Played a shit ton of 3DS and a decent amount of Persona 5. Started playing on my commute, I am getting worse at maintaining a routine of one game or one book at the moment, but I am at least consistently consuming, which is a plus.
Home
October 24
I hate this website so much. Since when does the enter button have no purpose?
Basic functionality should not require extra steps.
If I can stop being pissed off for a moment, I’m not understanding the start of this volume well, but it’s bothering me how “other” coded the other gang is in this part. Before when it was just the twins against the protagonists, Ryusei and Tiger, I thought, ok the twins have dreads, maybe they’re meant to look like more modern delinquents? Especially given that Tiger has a very classic look and Ryusei also seems to have a more timeless, but less popular look. But now the boss of the twins has been shown in human form. If I understand it right, she’s a female calico (standard) and one of the plot points is that Ryusei is looking for a male calico cat. However, the boss has been drawn as this common stereotype of how muscular crossdressing men look in anime. So far in this volume, one of her good deeds is talked about, but I’m not a fan of villains being coded as “other” particularly in contrast to the protagonists who are often coded as normal or in-group. I’ll have to read further and I hope this manga doesn’t disappoint me, but it’s not like I planned to buy the 3rd vol. Whether I like it or not just influences whether I’m keeping or reselling it.
