woohoo! 
It’s really exciting moving into reading things because you want to read them rather than based on learning goals/difficulty - have fun!
9 Likes
:: TANUKIDATE 20211012 :: Day XLII: この音とまれ！ pg. 35-45 & 群馬県 
45 pages in and these guys are still shouting at each other, but it’s okay now, they’ve shared a lasting touch of each other’s arms and now they are friends.
Also decided to get around to reading about Gunma prefecture, and there was a load of new words on that page!
~ New Words! ~
内陸県 (ないりくけん) - Inland prefecture / Landlocked prefecture. 内陸~ can be used before other words and on its own.
多数 (たすう) - Large number of [something] / many
養蚕 (ようさん) - Sericulture, didn’t even know what this was in English, it’s Silkworm cultivation / farming.
コンニャク (蒟蒻) - Konjac, didn’t know what this was either, at first I thought it meant Cognac 
クロマツ(黒松) - Black Pine
語源 (ごげん) - Etymology, origin of a word
レンゲツツジ (蓮華躑躅) Japanese Azalea
ヤマドリ (山鳥) - Copper Pheasant
固有種 (こゆうしゅ) - Endemic Species
褐色 (かっしょく) - Dark Brown
抱卵 (ほうらん) - Incubation
雛 (ひな) - Young bird, chick, fledgling
アユ(鮎) - Ayu, sweetfish
15 Likes
October 9 → 11
39 → 41
total: 105/108 → 108/108 + 
- カラフル
text: 81 → 85 → 91 → 98 → 100%
audiobook: 73% → 81% and dropped
Was nearly on time, I had to finish the last 1% of 解説 today, because the sentences stopped making sense yesterday evening. But I refused to add another day to my count, and used instead 
All in all, it was a nice book, and somehow it managed to be both surprisingly dark and overly sweet. 
But it tried to balance things, its solutions to problems just didn’t click with me in particular. 
I think it’s also very refreshing to read something with just one volume, and not a part of a series with 30 volumes.
And I’m so proud of myself for being right about the ending from the beginning 
but it also took away some enjoyment I think, to guess the conclusion so early.
And, I only read smart 解説 so far about the deep meaning/symbolism, so this one was a surprise 
The seiyuu who did the mother’s voice just babbled about her experiences with the book (like, when she first heard about it when she got the job offer and such).
And that concludes this challenge for me!
Thank you all for your ongoing support 
All those likes were always making me so happy.
And special thanks to @windupbird for setting up this thread 
and to @Redglare for the original idea. Your tiny updates are always so adorable 
I’m still planning to read a few times a week, but I’ll be concentrating more on the other things now. And somehow I want to rest from the feeling of being hold accountable 
Generally, I think I’m feeling too overstimulated by forums now, and I need a rest, so I’m planning to be less active for some time.
But I’m probably still gonna skim through this thread!
and fingers crossed that you won’t 
13 Likes
Congrats on reaching your goal, 108 days is amazing, you’ve now reached reading Nirvana!
I don’t know how I missed this earlier, but I very much approve of this 
11 Likes
Day 41:
日本語: I read a lot of 伯爵と妖精 20 and a bit of 魔王城でおやすみ.
Read-aloud: We read a chapter of ハイキュー.
中国語
中国語: I read 我是谁. I added 记住, 长大, 感动, and 宁愿.
12 Likes
I’m actually super-happy to be responsible for that 
w00t! 
So now I’m curious: Compared to your latest Graded Reader, how was the difficulty of these three pages? (I guess I need not ask about the entertainment level comparison 
)
Of course. I still remember very well when I struggled through my first books in English
You can solve that problem once if you get there
Also if you have questions, feel free to ask! But maybe not here There is the Short Grammar Questions thread or even the 鬼滅の刃ーDemon Slayer Book Club (but it seems they kind of stopped before they even started…) - and if you are looking for a reading buddy, just shout (it’s not my genre at all, but the first few pages look nicer than I had expected 
)
10 Likes
yeah - second that offer! I am currently reading the series (I’m on vol. 7 but still have all the earlier vols) so if there’s anything you could do with discussing feel free to tag me in the 鬼滅の刃 thread that @NicoleRauch mentioned 
Also if you just want to talk about what a lil sweetheart Tanjiro is I’m also up for that haha. No.1 good boy.
10 Likes
Soooooo…today I finished reading それいけズッコケ三人組! I’m so happy that this group and the challenge has given me the motivation to make reading part of my every day study practices. I definitely noticed my reading speed increase as I went through the volume, down to about 20 minutes for 4 pages now. That’s also making it easier for me to follow Japanese subtitles on Netflix/YouTube too, which I’ve struggled with in the post.
I bought this book on eBay on a bit of a whim last year but it’s proved to be exactly right for where I am now. It came as a job lot with two other volumes from the series so I’m going to move onto them next. One of the volumes is ghost-themed so I think I shall start that in time for Halloween! 
14 Likes
Day 42: Only read 2 pages of よつば＆！today because I am kind of sleep deprived and exhausted
15 Likes
October 12th
Final Fantasy XIV
Random words
- 壺 = つぼ pot, jar.
- 中断 = ちゅうだん interruption, suspension, break.
13 Likes
Day 42: October 12
What did I read?: 夜は猫といっしょ Vol 2
How much did I read?: 28 pages
How long did it take me?: 23 min
So tired for some reason today 
Probably because the days have been short and overcast tbh, I hate darkness. I’m like a plant, I need the sun to function. BUT that means it’s kitty times :3 (this emoji is going to remind me of キュルガ forever now)
Today's accidental theme is "no-ears キュルガ"
キュルガ looks like a seal to me for some reason in this panel 
Good words
目線に立つ (めせんにたつ) - to consider another’s point of view; to put oneself in someone’s shoes
ちょっかいを出す (ちょっかいをだす) - to meddle; to poke one’s nose into; to interfere
While looking this up, I accidentally learned that ちょっかい can also mean extending a paw to drag something closer, which I thought was cute xD
図太い (ずぶとい) - bold; shameless; cheeky; brash; impudent
頭突き (ずつき) - head-butting; head-butt
Congrats on finishing your challenge! 
Totally understand this Enjoy a well-earned rest 
16 Likes
It’s tanuki time! Actually my first read without furigana, but that just means checking up some more to confirm if I read it right afterwards. The chapters are pretty short and even funnier now that I know the context where these signs are used. I’m gonna take my time with reading this series. It is a nice read with a blanket and a cup of tea. I knew tanuki was cute and a beautiful dog already, but the characters also look so good in this art.
For tanuki owners, also take a look at the book cover (carefully remove the slipcover) for more cute tanuki.
15 Likes
:: TANUKIDATE 20211013 :: Day XLIII: この音とまれ！ pg. 45-51 & 空き寺の大入道 
6 pages today!
And read today’s 百物語, about a monk and an Onyudo.
Today is also サツマイモの日 ! Sweet potato day!
I sure hope I have some sweet potatoes in for dinner.
There’s also a story here about sweet potatoes but I don’t have enough reading energy left for today.
~ New Words! ~
ほこり (埃) - Dust
鉄鍋 (てつなべ) - Iron pan / Iron pot
大入道 (おおにゅうどう) - Onyudo, giant yokai. Large bald monster (this specific one has three eyes and two teeth). Heard of this yokai before (thanks Nioh, you’ve taught me so much about Japanese monsters, folklore and history) but didn’t know the kanji behind it.
お経 (おきょう) - Sutra, Buddhist chant
14 Likes
Started ズッコケ山賊修業中 today. It’s volume 10 in the series (I have volumes 1, 10 and 14 from eBay) but research suggested that once you’d read the first one where the characters were introduced, you could read the rest out of order.
Flushed with the success of finishing the first volume, I sat down to read a chapter, and this discovered that the first chapter was 13 pages long, where they’d previously been 4, or 6 with illustrations. So I stopped after 4 pages.
13 Likes
Hi everyone, I’m back! I went to Texas, which involved 32 hours of travel (16 hours on the way out and 16 on the way back). Texas is mind-blowingly weird and beautiful, I learned!
So all I’ve done for studying Japanese is keeping up with my Wanikani reviews. This is probably the longest I’ve gone without serious Japanese study in at least a year! Maybe I’ll find that my Japanese knowledge has inexplicably improved, even though I did nothing. Sometimes brains just need a little time to integrate information, right? haha
14 Likes
I was super busy the last few days, so I just read まがつき volume 3 a little bit every day. I finally finished it today. By the way all vocabulary is from that manga.
抜け駆け ぬけがけ getting a head start; secretly acting before others
お詫び おわび apology
敬う おやまう to show respect for, to honor; to worship N2
狡い ずるい sly; cunning; sneaky N2
水族館 すいぞくかん aquarium
とっぽい cocky; affected; pretentious
目一杯 めいっぱい as much as possible; with all one’s might
13 Likes