I’m thinking of joining, starting this weekend so I can wrap a few things up (like my queue of WK items after not reviewing for over a year…). I still need to finish 銭天堂２ so I’ll start there
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June 3 Update
Today I read through 不可解なぼくのすべてを. I originally intended to read this with the beginner book club back when it first started, but I was drowning under school pressure a week in, so I couldn’t keep up. I finally picked it up again in May and got through chapter 3. I’ve been meaning to read chapter 4 for a couple of weeks at this point, but was procrastinating for reasons unknown to me.
Today, I sat down for two hours and finished the rest of the book. That’s about 90 pages of manga. Unlike with 進撃の巨人, I didn’t keep track of the words (though there were several I didn’t know) because looking up kanji without furigana and keeping track of the words themselves was too much effort. Reading through a manga with no furigana is both fun and frustrating. It’s always great to find words I can actually read, and words whose kanji I don’t actually know but have seen enough times to guess them correctly; on the flip side, when I can’t recognize something at all, looking it up is a pain. All this really means is that I need to learn more vocabulary.
Loved the manga so much. I often struggle to read LGBT literature because they tend to bring up the darker parts of my own experiences, and I think that’s the main reason it took me so long to read chapter 4. Once I got through the conflict however, I can’t help but adore all the characters. I’ll probably pick the remaining four books in this short series later in the year, but at the moment, I have too many other manga to read.
I think I’ll wait to finish another manga before I add another one to my list. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with too many things I want to read on my to-do list.
I love the boxes too, so I’m gonna steal this from you and modify it a bit. Thanks for the format!
I’ll just keep track of this post for future reference (I started a day earlier).
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Days completed: (30/30)
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Days completed (31/31)
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Days completed (31/31)
よつばと！6
よつばと！7
よつばと！8
よつばと！9
よつばと！10
よつばと！11
よつばと！12
よつばと！13
よつばと！14
よつばと！15
しろくまカフェ bis 1
しろくまカフェ bis 2
しろくまカフェ bis 3
しろくまカフェ bis 4
Aug 31 - Read Yotsuba ch99
Aug 30 - Read Yotsuba ch98 (started volume 15)
Aug 29 - Read Yotsuba ch97 (finished volume 14)
Aug 28 - Read Yotsuba ch96
Aug 27 - Read Yotsuba ch95
Aug 26 - Read Yotsuba ch94
Aug 25 - Read Yotsuba ch93
Aug 24 - Read Yotsuba ch92
Aug 23 - Read Yotsuba ch91 (started volume 14)
Aug 22 - Read Yotsuba ch90 (finished volume 13)
Aug 21 - Read Yotsuba ch89
Aug 20 - Read Yotsuba ch88
Aug 19 - Read Yotsuba ch87
Aug 18 - Read Yotsuba ch86
Aug 17 - Read Yotsuba ch85
Aug 16 - Read Yotsuba ch84
Aug 15 - Read Yotsuba ch83 (started volume 13)
Aug 14 - Read Yotsuba ch82 (finished volume 12)
Aug 13 - Read Yotsuba ch81
Aug 12 - Read Yotsuba ch80
Aug 11 - Read Yotsuba ch79
Aug 10 - Read Yotsuba ch78
Aug 9 - Read Yotsuba ch77 (started volume 12)
Aug 8 - Read Yotsuba ch76 (finished volume 11)
Aug 7 - Read Yotsuba ch75
Aug 6 - Read Yotsuba ch74
Aug 5 - Read Yotsuba ch73
Aug 4 - Read Yotsuba ch72
Aug 3 - Read Yotsuba ch71
Aug 2 - Read Yotsuba ch70 (started volume 11)
Aug 1 - Read Polar Bear Café #97-100 (finished volume 4)
July 31 - Read Polar Bear Café #93-96
July 30 - Read Polar Bear Café #89-92
July 29 - Read Polar Bear Café #85-88
July 28 - Read Polar Bear Café #81-84
July 27 - Read Polar Bear Café #78-80
July 26 - Read Polar Bear Café #76-77 (started volume 4)
July 25 - Read Polar Bear Café #73-75 (finished volume 3)
July 24 - Read Polar Bear Café #70-72
July 23 - Read Polar Bear Café #67-69
July 22 - Read Polar Bear Café #64-66
July 21 - Read Polar Bear Café #61-63
July 20 - Read Polar Bear Café #58-60
July 19 - Read Polar Bear Café #55-57 (started volume 3)
July 18 - Read Polar Bear Café #51-54 ( finished volume 2)
July 17 - Read Polar Bear Café #47-50
July 16 - Read Polar Bear Café #43-46
July 15 - Read Polar Bear Café #39-42
July 14 - Read Polar Bear Café #35-38
July 13 - Read Polar Bear Café #32-34
July 12 - Read Polar Bear Café #29-31 (started volume 2)
July 11 - Read Polar Bear Café #24-28 (finished volume 1)
July 10 - Read Polar Bear Café #21-24
July 9 - Read Polar Bear Café #17-20
July 8 - Read Polar Bear Café #13-16
July 7 - Read Polar Bear Café #9-12
July 6 - Read Polar Bear Café #5-8
July 5 - Read Polar Bear Café #1-4 (started volume 1)
July 4 - Read Yotsuba ch69 (finished volume 10)
July 3 - Read Yotsuba ch68
July 2 - Read Yotsuba ch67
July 1 - Read Yotsuba ch66
June 30 - Read Yotsuba ch65
June 29 - Read Yotsuba ch64
June 28 - Read Yotsuba ch63 (started volume 10)
June 27 - Read Yotsuba ch62 (finished volume 9)
June 26 - Read Yotsuba ch61
June 25 - Read Yotsuba ch60
June 24 - Read Yotsuba ch59
June 23 - Read Yotsuba ch58
June 22 - Read Yotsuba ch57
June 21 - Read Yotsuba ch56 (started volume 9)
June 20 - Read Yotsuba ch55 (finished volume 8)
June 19 - Read Yotsuba ch54
June 18 - Read Yotsuba ch53
June 17 - Read Yotsuba ch52
June 16 - Read Yotsuba ch51
June 15 - Read Yotsuba ch50
June 14 - Read Yotsuba ch49 (started volume 8)
June 13 - Read Yotsuba ch48 (finished volume 7)
June 12 - Read Yotsuba ch47
June 11 - Read Yotsuba ch46
June 10 - Read Yotsuba ch45
June 9 - Read Yotsuba ch44
June 8 - Read Yotsuba ch43
June 7 - Read Yotsuba ch42 (started volume 7)
June 6 - Read Yotsuba ch41 (finished volume 6)
June 5 - Read Yotsuba ch40
June 4 - Read Yotsuba ch39
June 3 - Read Yotsuba ch38
June 2 - Read Yotsuba ch37
June 1 - Read Yotsuba ch36
Oooh, this has been hovering at the edges of my to-read list for a while but I wasn’t 100% on it, (tbh mainly because the cover put me off) but this has certainly bumped it up the list for me! I’ve had the similar trepidation (it’s what’s stopped me from getting further with series like Wandering Son) that things will be focused on the worst possible outcomes and/or they will be written by straight & cis for straight & cis people and so just kind of be…not great. But good to hear that you really liked it!
Also - you mentioned that reading with no furigana makes looking things up harder - do you still tend to look up every unknown word or do you find that it encourages you to get by on context as much as possible?
2021-06-03 (day 3)
Continuing 氷菓, read 11 pages (p.131-141) in 1 hour 15 min.
Honestly, the book isn’t that exciting but I’m going to finish it anyway. I certainly expected more from a mystery novel. The stakes are so low in this story that it’s just laughable.
June 3
・Read 2% of Subete ga F ni naru. (73% → 75%) Have finished this week’s 分 of book club !
・Read 2% of Honzuki 4 as well. (68% → 70%) Reading out loud is fun, have gotten a bit better at doing that. Encountered one notable new kanji from the word 賜物 (たまもの), thought it was interesting that it’s a jouyou kanji, one of the less frequent ones 
Can’t say I’ve seen it before, at least.
Unrelated, but today was the day I finished my bachelor paper. I hope whomever has the duty of grading it won’t think there’s too much BS in there 
I feel like it’s either good or bad, I just don’t know which of them it is. But either is fine with me as long as I pass.
Same for me! I’m glad I read it anyway, since that fear was unfounded. It’s funny to see from the afterword that the author originally planned to keep that pattern with other covers but was convinced by the editor to go for something else.
I think it is? I have no idea about the situation of the author; it might have been mentioned somewhere but I can’t remember. And I think it assumes that the readership will be cis-straight, since it takes time introducing concepts like voice training and so on (so that people who don’t know about it would not be confused). It still turned out great!
What, you don’t want to know why she cried that one time when she was a kid? It must be special.
(more seriously, that’s exactly what I felt about the book, and the main reason why I didn’t even try to read the rest of the series)
Yay!
I hope you have included some subtle Crabigator references. Congrats anyway!
I know what you mean, and in my experience at least (having finished the last volume yesterday), 不可解なぼくのすべてを is remarkably good on that front.
It doesn’t shy away from darker stuff in later volumes, but it’s always super unambiguously positive in the parts that matter (e.g., that the queer character’s experiences are valid and everyone should support them), which gives it an authentic vibe to me. Like if the author isn’t writing from the heart, they’re doing a very good job supporting from the heart, if that makes sense. It does have a “here’s a primer introducing you to transgender concepts” vibe somtimes, but it doesn’t do a bad job at that.
In contrast, Wandering Son is more like, “literary,” and definitely more complex and interesting from that perspective (less of a primer), but it definitely does feel like a traumatic gender feelings parade sometimes… and I do get more “cis writer writing about non-cis people” vibes from it (whether that’s actually true or not, I don’t really know). So it’s good too, but more stressful… like there’s no safety net since it’s nonstop adolescent uncertainty. 不可解なぼくのすべてを’s core simple positivity makes the intense parts feel a lot less harsh to me in comparison (even though if I just described the events it would sound way more stressful in parts).
So anyway, I second (third?) the notion that Fukaboku is surprisingly cool!
Gah! I knew I had forgotten something 
Wiii! Thanks!
Day 3 down - only 10 pages of book today, but Thursdays have other commitments that aren’t spend a long time reading. Finished one chapter and started another in マジックツリーハウス. Will probably read a bit of Chi before bed, but unlikely to keep track then - I usually read until my eyes get sleepy, then pass out.
Ah, yeah! I mean you definitely get non-LGBT folks writing about LGBT characters that do the work and write them well. I guess I just always feel that my risks of encountering bad stereotypes etc are a bit higher than if it’s written by someone that identifies the same way as the characters they are writing about. So reccomendations help 
I think this is actually a pretty good description of what is “good enough” for me to be honest! If it seems like it’s coming from a good place and the writer isn’t just dealing in stereotypes then it generally gets the benefit of the doubt from me. Anyway! Thanks both for the second and third reccomendations…I guess I will move the series higher up my towering ‘to read’ pile hahha. I do like that it’s only 5 volumes though, not too much of an undertaking!
June 3nd. Time: 30+ min. Manga Pages: 4
What: Manga からかい上手の高木さん (Volume 1), current pick of ABBC. Chapter 5, Pages 5-8.
Again, lots of pictures, and they are funny, highly recommend.
Day 3 brings my novel reading from the 9% mark up to the 11% mark, for an increase of
2%. I’m actually still on track!
Although it may be premature to say, I’m feeling this will for sure be the first novel I actually finish. The reading experience is quite different from my three prior attempts with other novels.
Today’s learning intersection:
1. I’ve been struggling a bit with 促す as a recent WaniKani lesson, and it came up in today’s reading:
子どもたちはコナンに 促されて 香春電話ボックスを見た。
I’ll still have trouble remembering the reading, though.
Today’s manga reading:
Sometimes I think it’s much easier to include the furigana in the reading mnemonic. Like, “When the leader urges an unagi with his feet, una-gas comes out.” Or something?
I’ve had about a 5% success rate using mnemonics.
Thankfully for now everything I read has furigana. But I’ll be seeing the word in WaniKani for a long time to come.
Day 3: June 3rd
What did I read?: 不可解なぼくのすべてを Vol. 1
How much did I read?: 1 chapter (28 pages)
How long did it take me?: 45 min…ish (man am I bad at time)
I caught up with the Yotsuba book club yesterday, so I thought I would revisit this book club pick today. (And it looks like I’m not the only one 
) I started it with the book club, read exactly one chapter, and then just never…really…read the rest of it for some reason xD …Looks like the book club started mid-February, so I’m guessing the reason was work stress running me into the ground. I have a few of these unfinished book club books/series hanging around in my book piles. I think I will make it my mission to whittle that list down during this challenge.
Also added some fancy calendars to my first post 
Started reading 1Q84, a book by Haruki Murakami. A friend of mine started reading it and recommended it to me so I gave it a shot. I quite enjoy it but it’s a bit out of my reach kanji-wise so I can’t read a lot of pages everyday. I manage maybe 10-15 pages before I take a break, so around an hour per day of reading.
I read another 70 pages yesterday, making me reach 300 pages, with 150 left (so 2-3 more days I guess).
Continuing my rant, we now figure out where the deadly virus comes from.
… of course. Well, after that AI thing, you know, whatever I guess?
Gotta love how they sent it to Earth: in a bioengineered mammal that came out of an egg made of carbon fibers (to resist both the heat of atmospheric entry and the impact; thermal isolation is provided by fur, and the heat+impact is just right to crack the egg open, allowing the creature outside). Boy, that’s such an elaborate technical feat for, basically, no purpose? Couldn’t you just use your crazy tech to simply spread the virus everywhere at once? Or a single place, anyway, if you want to give humanity enough time to adapt to the virus and live in symbiosis with it instead, as seems to be the case.