📚📚 Read every day challenge - Summer 2022 🏖 ☀

Home

A/C broke yesterday evening, so we stayed at a hotel last night. Hopefully it’ll get fixed today and we won’t have to extend our stay, though I did bring a few books (plus my laptop), so I’ll be set for another day at least. I ended up staying up too late reading last night and was too tired to update. I read ch 21-24 of ハイキュー!! and had wanted to read 25 and finish the volume, but, well.

Update: We are staying another night :/
Update the second: Maybe not? (fingers crossed, although I think I’d mind staying another night a lot less than my mother would. I’m a simple man lol, if I’ve got my books and my music, I’m good.)

I found out that while not all the the t-shirts Noya made for the team (on the cover of ch 24) have 四字熟語 on them, they are all 4-character words/phrases… except for Kageyama’s, which is 単細胞 lmao. (And he seems so proud of it too? Or maybe just happy to be included.)

Some vocab of note:

山なり (やまなり) [の-adj.] curved; forming the shape of an arch. In full kanji, it’s 山形.
一枚上手 (いちまいうわて) [四字熟語, noun, な-adj.] one step higher; one better; a cut above; one up
対決 (たいけつ) [noun, する verb (自)] confrontation; showdown
馬が合う (うまがあう) [expression, ア五] to get on well (with a person)
非情 (ひじょう) [noun, な-adj., の-adj.] cold-hearted; callous; unfeeling; cruel
ご無沙汰 (ごぶさた) [noun, する verb (自)] not writing or contacting for a while; neglecting/failing to (write, call, visit, etc.); long silence

22 Likes

Still playing through Persona 3 Portable. Honestly the amount of reading I’m doing is a lot. Finished the first big boss (May). Almost caught up with where I was on the PS2 version (I really had no idea how to play Persona games at the time).

21 Likes
You asked for it, you got it :-)

I’m sharing the bookmeter links for convenience :wink: (The title is the very first part of the link that’s included in double quotes, in case it looks too confusing…)

I’ll keep my comments short in order to not spoiler you. If you want to know more, just ask!

https://bookmeter.com/books/13029012 - Story about a woman who works at a konbini. The story goes way deeper than it might sound at a glance. We have a book club for it.

https://bookmeter.com/books/579144 - We also read it in a book club. It’s two separate stories about love and loss and life in general. The author has a unique way of writing, which sometimes makes it hard to understand whether she is describing the real world or whether her mind is just wandering. I liked it a lot, but you may want to have two or three other books under your belt before tackling this one.

https://bookmeter.com/books/4955272 - I love this book! About a young mother who raises her two very special children. It’s about the challenges of them finding their own place in life. As a bonus, there is a super adorable anime as well. The writing is very straightforward. Helped me a lot with vocabulary building, but grammar-wise I found it on the rather easier side.

https://bookmeter.com/books/579475 - Another book from a book club. It’s a fantasy novel about a young girl growing up under the specific circumstances of the world she lives in. The writing is pretty clear and straightforward, but there are a few chapters that are very heavy on the (political) world-building. Those can be quite the challenge. Also, the book is part of a 5-book series of which the first two pretty much belong together.
If you like fantasy in general but are not up to such heavy world building or such a big commitment, I can recommend
https://bookmeter.com/books/574891 - by the same author, also a fantasy novel of a young girl growing up under special circumstances, also a book club, but just one book, i.e. there is also some (political) world building, but it’s not that deep. I didn’t like it as much as the story is aimed at younger children and is thus a bit simplistic for my taste, but it might be a good door-opener for the genre.

https://bookmeter.com/books/576898 - again a book club pick. It’s labeled fantasy-horror but I did not particularly think of it as “horror”. I mean, it’s a bit creepy at times but it’s not my-heart-is-racing-i-will-never-again-be-able-to-sleep horror. Two separate stories, I found both interesting but liked the second one way more. Not gonna lie, there were other people in the club who did not like the stories too much. (A long time ago we also had another book club pick by the same author, called Autumn Prison, but I haven’t read that one yet.)

https://bookmeter.com/books/573780 - very wholesome story about a professor who has a very special condition and how he lives with it. Loved it a lot. The writing is also very straightforward, but among the suggested books here I feel that the book is not among the easiest. So maybe don’t pick it as the first one, but make sure to pick it at some point! Oh yeah and of course there is a book club for it.

14 Likes

Aug 15, Mon of Week 8 of Summer :beach_umbrella: 2022

Summary of last weeks’ reading, as well as today.

  • Finished ブラックジャックによろしく (Give my Regards to Black Jack) Vol.1
    • I generally like this one. No one is too stupid, and it feels surreal. Personally I don’t feel sympathy that much. I might have been years ago, but that would simply cause meaningless mis-understood pain…
    • Then, for some reasons, the rest of the series was 30 yen per volume, so I paid 360 yen for the rest for the series. Only checked out early Vol.2 so far, though.
  • Finished Hunter x Hunter Vol.1
    • Original intention was to help with 1999 anime, but it is fun on its own. Also, differences here and there from the anime. (Probably coincide with the remake anime.)
    • Today, I watched anime to EP.8 as well, so I guess it caught up with the manga (with some differences :smile:) but anime is still my half-despair.
  • Finished それでも歩は寄せてくる (Even so Ayumu got closer) Vol.1
    • I started from Ch.5, where I read a while ago.
    • Gotta admit, Ayumu looks かっこいい.
    • Perhaps I should checkout more on Shogi later. I can only guess…
    • I still can’t get used to the official English series’ name…
  • Finished Shadows House Vol.1, today
    • Fun and interesting thing begins the moment Emiriko sees outside the house. What’s wrong with this noble family and their manservants?

Yuru Camp got advertised again. Perhaps I should continue Vol.2-12? There are also anime S1-2, but perhaps not for me yet?

I still have trouble with novels in general. Specifically, I can’t progress with TUGUMI. It feels too hard.

I don’t really have problems with 妖怪の子預かります, although not reading that fast. Probably I can also read Night Cafe, but my understanding was… 不合格. Anyway, I finished Ch.3 of that 妖怪 thing. I don’t have enough interest to continue to Night Cafe Vol.2 right now.

I saw old files on Google Drive on No.6 and Autumn Prison. I barely remember them. In any case, nowadays would, first of all, be attempt to learn from reading properly. (Well, just as much as appropriate.)

I bought Monster Hunter World on Steam, and I feel it is playable for me and fun (and fun story), but I have doubt whether it would work well for me as a study material… not that level yet and not yet time to have fun.

About LOOPERS, maybe? I probably won’t buy the game, though. ATRI is still on hold, and isn’t so bad, just yet another material…

22 Likes

:tiger2: :books: The Tanuki Beach Resort: Date 20220815 :beach_umbrella: :raccoon:

吾輩は狸である progress: 3.88% :fallen_leaf:

Completed chapter I, which had an unexpectedly sad ending. :crying_cat_face:

Also a reminder of why learning to read Japanese is rewarding and worth the brainpain it puts me through: … I think…

101% Poetic sentence

赤松の間に二三段のこうを綴った紅葉こうようむかしの夢のごとく散ってつくばい に近く代る代る花弁はなびらをこぼした紅白こうはく山茶花さざんかも残りなく落ち尽した。

:beach_umbrella: Japanese found in the sand :beach_umbrella:

Meowords

褪める「さめる」ー To fade; to lose colour; to discolour
天秤棒「てんびんぼう」ー Shoulder carrying pole
I had no idea what this meant so I had to look it up further, it’s one of these things:

I've forgotten how to do those cool little clicky pop-up boxes so spoiler in a spoiler

Cat-friend is very kindly demonstrating what a 天秤棒 is.

天秤棒

「つくばい」ー Stone wash basin found in gardens
紅白「こうはく」ー Red & white; two teams/groups; colours for festive occasions (Japan’s colours)
山茶花「さざんか」ー Sasanqua Camellia (plant)
籠る「こもる」ー To shut yourself in (like in your room/house etc.); to seclude yourself; to stay inside (like a shell or something similar); to be filled with emotion; to fill the room (with a gas/vapour or smell etc.); to be stuffy // (also seen as: 篭る)
滅多に「めったに」ー Seldom; rarely
絵端書「えはがき」ー Picture postcard
拗ねる「すねる」ー To sulk; to pout

Forms
厭 = 嫌「いや」(Disagreeable; unpleasant)
竪 = 縦「たて」(Vertical; height)

Other
漸々「ぜんぜん」 (Gradually; by degrees)
Though the furigana given here is だんだん, like 段々


Replies

I am happy that my learning, has helped your learning!

Congrats!! :tada:
More success for the mountain of success these threads are creating :sparkles: :mount_fuji: :sparkles:

I think @ChristopherFritz was right with that the success is contagious :laughing:

21 Likes

Oooh, thank you. (Also thanks for the bookmeter links!) Which one or two books would you consider the easiest? And while vocabulary matter, I think complex sentences and a lot of abstract/metaphorical/stream-of-conscious writing is probably more of a hindrance (because I’d have a hard time figuring out if I’m missing something or it is that confusing/vague intentionally :joy: ).

4 Likes

Absolutely agree with that! That’s why I tried to give a short comment on the writing style.

Hmmm… I think the three easiest from the list are 雨と雪, 夜市, and 孤笛のかなた. While the writing is pretty straightforward for all three of them, the latter two are in a fantasy setting which might occasionally add to the confusion. Also, having seen your thoughts and comments in the orange book club, I would expect you to absolutely love 雨と雪, so that would be my #1 recommendation for you. (and I hope I’m not totally off with this one :sweat_smile:)
Just please do yourself the favor of reading the book before watching the anime so that you can fully enjoy the text! :blush:

6 Likes

Thank you! My to read next list have now been reshuffled. We’ll see exactly what takes the top spot in a couple of weeks, but I believe I know what my next novel will be, even if it isn’t the next thing I pick to read. :smiley:

3 Likes

Home post :bookmark: Aug 15th :beach_umbrella:

・ 本好きの下剋上 10 (24% → 27%)

As always, very curious how much reading I’ll have time for now that classes are starting up again. But I worry not - many sand can make big hill :+1: Already experienced that from previous challenges.

oh! btw, Bookwalker’s evil scheme is getting the better of me. cc @Naphthalene I bought Honzuki 30 just to fulfill requirement of “you must buy New BookTM to rank up”. Who knows when I’ll be able to read Honzuki 30??? :joy: That’s so far into the future, I’m like… whelp owo. Pretty much guaranteed to be a special moment when I get there.

27 Likes

Today went back to the beginning of よつば& Vol 2 and reread p. 3-15, this time with help from reference material.

Also met with a classmate to give her my spare copies of Vol 1 + 2 (I bought a full set, so have duplicates); our class is online, so this was our first time meeting face-to-face after a year of classes together; it was nice to sit and chat! She is intrigued by my experiences with WaniKani, especially the discussion forum, so is going to check it out; she also gave me some recommendations for anime to watch. So even though work and home responsibilities are ramping up, it felt like a productive day on the Japanese study front.

Some new things:

写生 (しゃせい): sketching, drawing from nature
ゴリゴリ: with a scraping sound
殺人 (さつじん): murder
事件 (じけん): incident
殺人事件 (さつじんじけん): murder case
賛成 (さんせい): approval, agreement
用意 (ようい): preparation
スイスイ: lightly and smoothly (movement)
滑る (すべる): to slide, to glide
何もんだお前 (なにもんだおまえ): who/what the hell are you?!
裏 (うら): bottom
コロコロ: lightly rolling (of something small)

23 Likes

:sunny: :beach_umbrella: Memoria’s Summer Readin’ :beach: :sunny:

August 15th:

Quick update before I sleep. 35 pages of 好きっていいなよ volume 2. I’m tired so I’ll look at everyone else’s posts later. Have a great day/evening/night!

24 Likes

August 15th!

I started Volume 2 of Orange today. Really enjoyed the first chapter, even though I had to look up quite a lot of vocab. The story is really interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.

(Home Post)

21 Likes

Summary Post

August 15th
What did I read?: 今日のさんぽんた Vol 1
How much did I read?: 8 pages
How long did it take me?: 12 min

Blergh, I’m in a terrible mood today. Everything is irritating and dumb lmao
Just a tiny read today. But it feels like a victory because I’m tired and I want nothing more than to curl up in a blanket and forget the world exists.

20 Likes

Also there are some very fun scenes in that book, so it will be doubly special!
I really want to geek about it too, but I will refrain myself until someone gets there.

In other news, I almost finished わたしの幸せ結婚 (around 80% now).
The end of 甘水 was very anticlimactic but whatever. I loved the part from 一志’s point of view showing how amazing 美世 has become. Other than that, I thought that 新 would be a double agent at then end of volume 4, but then volumes 5 and 6 did a good job convincing me that maybe, no, he is a traitor for real. And then he wasn’t. That was fun.
Now, where’s my marriage at?!? (in the last 20%, I guess)

13 Likes

Home post

REDC
Week 8

8月15日
Final Fantasy XIV


Quick update mode, engage! Started the main story questline and did several side quests just running around in the city I started at.

21 Likes

:star2: Home :star2:

ジョジョの奇妙な冒険25

38 - 117

Whoo, more normal numbers!

F MEGA finished spectacularly and now it’s time for THATS A BASEBALL

Featuring an interesting panel.

23 Likes

I really struggled to get into Tugumi. I’m still finding it hard, but have started to make headway. To me, the fact that my local library, in a very remote area, stocked the book meant that I should try my hardest to read it!

Yoru Café was difficult in a different way, though I’m finding the second book easier.

17 Likes

Home

A/C got fixed! Though I still read way less than I’d hoped today, because I ended up spending a lot of time scrolling through tumblr. Also waiting for an email from the library to say that the book I’d put on hold, which was checked out and due back today, was now available, but it never came. So either the person never returned it or it takes a while for a book to be checked in. And since I’m a ND with “can’t get anything done while in standby mode” disease, I ended up. not really reading. Or doing much else. Fun.

I read ch 25-26 of HQ, finishing vol 3 and starting vol 4.

I’ve finally learned Kenma’s name! I think his is one of the few I had zero idea of how it was spelled in kanji. And it’s こづめ, not こずめ, like I’d been thinking from the romanizaton. 孤爪, lone claw. Though I originally thought it was “fox” because I only remember the general shape and not the specific radicals lol

Some vocab of note:

幾度となく (いくどとなく) [adverb] on countless occasions; many a time
むさ苦しい (むさくるしい) [い-adj.] filthy; squalid; dirty; foul; sordid
四面楚歌 (しめんそか) [四字熟語, noun, の-adj.] being surrounded by enemies on all sides; being betrayed/forsaken by everybody

20 Likes

August 15 :blossom: Home Post

Alright バディミッションBOND’s done for real this time! Which feels pretty wild honestly, it was a long one, almost exactly two months. I’m gonna miss them :') But seriously it was an absolutely fantastic experience, I can’t recommend it enough for anyone who enjoys like Ace Attorney or AI type mystery VN stuff (or like Zero Escape or Danganronpa honestly, it feels like it was made by people who like all of those lmao)! It’s honestly probably my favorite that I’ve played so far, all the characters are so fun and varied and complex, and there are so many interesting dynamics, and then all the absolutely wild plot stuff happening around all of it, it’s really an amazing game! I knew nothing going in so I really didn’t expect to love it nearly as much as I do, but I’m so glad I happened to get it when I did :laughing: plus the bonus that I never could’ve experienced it without learning Japanese! Feels good :grin:

the buddy bond rambling finale!

Where to begin honestly… so they successfully snuck onto the manmade island where エドワード’s plan to mind control the whole island was centered, and naturally there was a whole struggle that ended with アーロン whistling to get ルーク to sit and duck out of the way so he could leap in and attack :joy: Can’t believe they brought that goof in at like the most tense moment lmao, very on brand. So they successfully stopped the machine and エドワード, having lost, hit self-destruct on the island and commit suicide basically which… there are a lot of complicated feelings there, especially with ルーク trying to save him and all.

So yeah they stop the plan and yay all is good kinda!! In the main ending and all the other side stories there are lots of peeks into the future; ルーク goes back to リカルド to be a police officer again and fix their whole situation, アーロン lives with him for a bit (and man that’s chaotic) while アラナ recovers and then goes back to ハスマリー to try to stop the constant war and everything, and モクマ and チェズレイ stay together and basically go full vigilante, it’s really good. チェズレイ has his organization that he’s starting up again, but also he and モクマ are out here hypnotizing criminals into giving recorded confessions, incredible :joy: I like them a lot, have some pictures to prove it:

This is after チェズレイ asked モクマ to come along with him, and they were talking about how their promise is good for the rest of their lives and モクマ has to be by his side to make sure he’s sticking to it, and also how チェズレイ regretted not doing the pinky-promise last time so now he’ll do it directly even though モクマ’s covered in blood and dirt and stuff from their mission, and yeah it’s all very nice :') チェズレイ cares!! About ルーク too, he sent him a whole care package filled with vegetables like “I know you’re not eating, go to bed” :joy: But yeah anyway they’re just like this:

モクマ did a cute little play on his ninja slogan too:

Lastly please look at them having just the best time with ナデシコ, it’s very cute:

So yes all of this happened after the main ending and it said the main story was complete, everything’s resolved, but last-minute ルーク throws in this thing about remembering there being a baby at the lab as well? And there’s this mysterious new side-story category and going into it, it talks about how カエン didn’t actually kill アッカルド and イズミ’s son; he sent him on a boat to ハスマリー with a piece of the meteor as a protection charm. So this baby showed up and the researchers ended up with him and therefore the meteor necessary for their research, but then the lab was attacked and the baby got picked up by the army and raised as a military weapon, always believing that his parents just discarded him because he wasn’t good enough, but wanting more than anything to connect with them, to connect with anyone really. Then エドワード found him, adding him to the list of people エドワード’s a weird messed up father figure for, and so he came to support エドワード’s plan in the hopes of finally connecting with people, and ended up working with イアン, and… yeah, that’s right. The long-presumed dead son of アッカルド and イズミ… is シキ. :sob: And even more than that? The whole thing of シキ sacrificing himself when マイカ was destroyed? Nope, he just wanted to fake his death so he could go back to the plan more directly, he’d always been part of it. Really wild, by that point any hope I had for them bringing シキ back was gone, so all that happening after I thought the main story was done!! So yeah all that unlocks an alternate ending where you go confront シキ and show him that his parents never stopped loving him, and it’s so bittersweet, like by the time this is happening his parents are long dead, just… ouch. Look at him :sob::

But also look at シキ badass mode, love to see it:

But yeah you convince シキ and shut down all the power that way, which also prevents エドワード from blowing up the island, allowing ルーク to talk to him and stop him from jumping off:

And thus begins エドワード being a really tragic character actually? Like I always found it hard to see him as straight-up evil just thinking of all his time with ルーク, even if he had ulterior motives he still raised him for years and genuinely saved him from being a broken, lonely kid. But going into his backstory, he was also discarded as a baby (real theme here huh) and picked up by an intelligence agency that raised him as a weapon and intelligence tool. Even as a tiny kid he was thrown into battle and had a high enough body count he lost track which just… oof. And he remained a spy for that country for like 30 years until he got exposed in ハスマリー and his agency completely abandoned him, and suddenly his whole existence and purpose and everything he’d known was gone and he was just in a war-torn country getting tortured for no reason. But then he happened upon the research and:

He really just wanted to feel something, to be connected to people for once in his life, and that seemed like the only way. So yeah, obviously he did a lot of awful things, that’s a given, but even in his plan he didn’t actively want to put people in aggro mode, he was just as happy to instill peace in everyone’s brain, that just… also has problems. But yeah ルーク hears all of this from him, as well as how the only sort of emotion he felt was when he was hypnotizing ルーク and he’d say 父さん all small and suddenly エドワード wouldn’t be able to continue, and ルーク’s just a bawling mess which yeah me too dude. But he gets the opportunity to heal, and シキ gets to spend time with his sister and the rest of their wild family situation, and I’m really glad they didn’t leave things the way they were in the first ending :')

Anyway I could talk about バディミッションBOND forever probably, I really love it a lot and I have so many feelings about it (obviously lmao) but I think that’s the gist of it. If there’s anything you wanna know about that I didn’t mention just let me know! It really was quite the journey; they’ll all live on in my heart for sure :')

Oof that aside, I also read a chapter of 海辺のカフカ today! Just one more left :eyes: Then I tried reading 十角館の殺人 but it’s definitely not smooth sailing yet, I only read a couple pages before my brain gave up :joy: It should get better soon though!

22 Likes

:spiral_calendar: Day 46: August 15th :coconut: :parasol_on_ground:

Little bit of extra reading today to make up for not getting a lot in over the weekend.

spacer:ribbon: ふだつきのキョーコちゃん Volume 7 (39% ➨ 58%)
spacer:ninja:t2: くノ一ツバキの胸の内 Volume 4 (34% ➨ 51%)

🔍 名探偵コナン Volume 11 (42% ➨ 52%)

After the last Conan story that was filled to the brim with dialogue that took me forever to go through, it’s nice to have a case where I have only a couple of vocabulary look-ups per page, and a whole chapter is over before I realize it.

👧 からかい上手の(元)高木さん Volume 5 (56% ➨ 63%)

There’s a potentially familiar face in today’s reading:
image

Looks like it’s potentially this girl grown-up (although she’s a few years younger than Takagi):
image

Could just be a coincidence, though.

🪄 まじっく快斗 Volume 1 (49% ➨ 66%)

Even though Kaitou Kid appears eventually appears in Detective Conan, I wasn’t expecting to see anything in this series that later appears in the latter.

And yet:

The main difference comparing the two is that this Tropical Land has a Dragon Coaster, whereas Detective Conan has the Mystery Coaster.

Kaito Kid:

image

image

Detective Conan:

image

image

I’m under the impression the two stories take place in different cities, so maybe there are at least two Tropical Lands?


The mangaka’s habit of having female characters wear their watch with the face on the inside of their wrist was in place here, as well:

image

Random female character from today’s Detective Conan reading:

image

I wonder if it was common for girls/women in Japan to wear their watch that way back then.

spacer:card_index: 藤代さん系。 Volume 2 (26% ➨ 51%)

23 Likes