📚📚 Read every day challenge - Winter 2023 ☃❄

January 30th

:snowman: Home post :snowflake:

Aria: the masterpiece volume 3 – progress report
Yesterday: Read up to page 143, finished chapter 24.
Today: Read up to page 158.

Ah, the return of mister ‘ore-sama’ – what kind of trouble has Akatsuki gotten himself into this time? :sweat_smile:


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Word or expression of the day:
干満 - (かんまん) - ebb and flow

Honourable mention(s):
買い占める - (かいしめる) - to buy up

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Home Post

It took me 4 days (january 26, 27, 28 and 30) but I finally got through the first chapter of the とらドラ manga! It did take some time, but I can say I understood a good 90% of what was said so I’m pretty happy with it. It didn’t help that the image quality was pretty bad, which sometimes made the furigana unreadable, but overall it wasn’t too bad.

I was adding the new vocabulary/vocabulary I felt I needed to revise in a list as I went, and it slowly added up to 112 words :sweat_smile: I’ll probably study this list and reread the chapter in a bit to try and read it more fluidly, but for now I’m ready to start working on the second chapter :muscle:

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:bookmark: Home post // Jan 30 :snowman_with_snow: :snowflake:

・ 封印再度 (86% → 91%)

Almost finished chapter 9. It’s getting late, past sleep time already.

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:snowman_with_snow: :snowflake: January :snowflake: :snowman_with_snow:
Home Post

NHK News :newspaper_roll: 一連の強盗事件 これまでに1都7県で14件 30数人を逮捕 警察庁

I thought this article was gonna be so interesting, to learn about a robbery gang that is so widespread and hit so many places, but nope. No info on that at all, only on the fact that a police task force or conference/meeting was gonna take place to figure some of this out. They seem sure there is a gang but don’t know the leader, I think.

My problem with NHK news is that I feel like I read the same thing repeated 2-3 times. At least when I read the regular version. I might have to look for another source of free news article reading. Geez, talk about being conceited, it is free after all. Not saying you can’t complain about the quality of free stuff, but if it is free, I can’t really expect the most amazing content/writing, can I? ^^


Before I go hiding under replies, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who answered my question about crime/mystery manga. I now have several interesting ones to check out when… when you know I’ve actually finished some of what I already own. I got a bit ahead of myself there. :sweat_smile:

Also want to say that if I mention that I’m not interested in a specific manga someone recommended, it isn’t personal. If I’m gonna read a manga, I have to like the art. And art is a very subjective thing. (For example I kinda like the 90s style of shoujo manga which I know a lot of people hate, not saying I love all of it, but I like the style in itself.) Beyond that, I’m going on sample, if the premise sounds interesting to me, if there are any anti-reader cookies* in reviews.

*anti-reader cookies are tropes, stereotypes, themes, settings, etc. that I/someone don’t like reading about. In the same way that reader cookies would be the tropes, stereotypes, themes I/someone love reading about.

So now that I’ve prefaced that, I’ll jump into my replies, which aren’t all about the amazing answers I got to my manga question.

Replies

To those who read チュベローズで待ってる, like @NicoleIsEnough @Greti33 @pocketcat @omk3 (sorry for tagging so many of you, I wasn’t sure who to pick :sweat_smile:), does the first one stand alone? I’ve peeked enough at the reviews for the second one that I don’t think I wanna read that, but I saw everyone tearing through the first one and enjoying it, so I wondered if reading only that one would be a satisfying story. Thanks in advance!


While I suffer every time I pick up the VN I’m currently reading. :joy:


The premise and everything seems very interesting, but the art from the sample was a bit boring. Mostly heads talking to each other without setting. So I wondered, where did you watch the show? I’m hoping it is on Netflix, but I would need to know the English title or whatever I could search for it on, because with Japanese I found nothing. :joy:

Thanks!


I’ve looked through the sample, aka looked at the art, and seems interesting. I’m gonna find some time to actually read the sample. Thanks for the recommendation!


This is the exact reason I have a feeling I’d find Conan pretty frustrating. It is one of my anti-reader cookies. I think even more so when I as the reader know the person isn’t really a kid, but even when they are a kid, the trope often comes off as the adults being too stupid to listen when they should. I’m not saying Conan is like that, but it doesn’t inspire me to read it. Not to mention the whole teen to child thing feels me with the heebie-jeebies. Sounds like a horror movie. xD

Honestly, this is another negative factor for me; not the being sucked in part, but the length. :joy: I’m with @polv, unprogressing story lines always kills my interest after a while.

In this way, it is even better for me that Conan doesn’t really appeal to me. So much money saved and time for many different things to read. :joy: Although I suspect I’d probably enjoy several of the cases. Maybe if I get the change to borrow a copy at some point, or pick up a few really cheap ones, it wouldn’t be bad. ^^


I remember vaguely when you were reading this that it seemed interesting, and now that I’ve seen more of what the kind of chaos you like is like myself (bustafellows!), I’m totally on board trying this. I didn’t even feel like I needed to read the sample, I only checked the art, and some reviews and went: yep! Thanks!

Also, pretty boys may or may not be a selling point for me. ^_~


@pocketcat Thank you! You went above and beyond honestly!

I think I remember when you were reading this (the book I mean), and it made me put that on my to be read list. The manga looks pretty amazing actually, but I think I want to read the novel first? Sometimes it is annoying that I prefer to read the source material first, because honestly the manga just looks so amazing, both the art and storytelling. Just from looking through the sample.

I kinda hate that the art looks amazing for this, because this kind of memory loss trope is one of my anti-reader cookies, because it tends to lead to no overarching plot, and/or you know, the mc has a pretty harrowing life in front of them, since they would never be able to actually form any lasting relationships (from their own side, after all a lot of affection and relationship stuff is entirely based on shared memories…). So I do have a question that I did not manage to easily find the answer to… The manga is finished, so the story has some kind of finish/arc (it doesn’t seem to be abandoned), do you know how the memory stuff ends? Does she get cured or anything like that? (Obviously this would be a huge spoiler, but it is the kind of spoiler that would need spoiled to decide if I’d even enjoy the read in the first place, so I’m all for it, but I guess blur it for other people if you do know the answer. xD)

It went on my yes list because it looks really amazing and everything else with the premise seems super good. I just can’t imagine finishing reading it and knowing that for the rest of the mc’s life, she will never have any new memories. Because she’ll forget all at day’s end. (Maybe the memory loss isn’t that complete, but I wouldn’t know because I haven’t read it. ^^)

I was trying to figure out where to even start with this. :joy: The different manga adaptions seems to be more about them being separated into different sub-series, rather than actually adapting the same material or actually being separated. But I didn’t look into it deeply. I am planing to read the sample of one version I picked to potentially check out. ^^

I looked at the manga covers and they looked so horror-y. I’m so squeemish, I didn’t look any closer. :see_no_evil:

This list was really cool. Thanks for the nice find. I only looked through the top 10 so far, and found some more potential candidates like Ouroboros which I feel like I’ve seen mentioned at some point somewhere on the forum, so I should probably go looking to see what people have said about it. ^^

I do love a lot of that stuff. Sherlock Holmes (many different adaptions and spin-offs), Hercole Poirot, and so on. I tend to enjoy those that work more closely with the police more, which is why I think I leaned more towards mentioning that. Also because I was curious since I felt I hadn’t seen anyone read any police manga. ^^


Serves me right to forget how very good this community is at recommendations. Has anyone looked at my Bookmeter 積読 recently? I already have just below 200 manga (and a few books, but mostly manga) that I own and need to read. I don’t need more. :joy: :joy: :joy:

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January 30 :heavy_check_mark: :flashlight:

半落ち , 30-39%

Read this week’s 半落ち, finishing chapter 2. This section was a little longer than the previous ones, and it felt harder too. Not so hard that it hinders enjoyment (I really like the book), but hard enough that I probably need to stop trying to fit the whole reading in one day. There’s really no earthly reason to do so, only there’s so much else I want to read too and there are only so many hours in a week. :upside_down_face:

Reply

I do agree with this, I actually tried to read the manga at some point (ages ago), but the art didn’t pull me in and I just ended up quitting before giving it a fair chance. You can watch the show on Viki for free. Don’t Call it Mystery | Japan | Drama | Watch with English Subtitles & More :heavy_check_mark:

Oh, and yes, the first volume of チュベローズで待ってる definitely stands alone. The second one… erm, it doesn’t stand much at all. :rofl:

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January 29th & 30th (Days 29 & 30) :snowflake: :cat2:

Home post :books:

So I may or may not have picked up book 1 part 1 of 1Q84 and read the first chapter :eyes: Feels like a slightly harder read than チュベローズで待ってる, but I am liking it so far :3

Also, so much music (in a typical Murakami fashion) that just flies over my head.


Replies

This is such a great idea - I think I need me a Wall of Defeat, too. Having a list of unfinished Japanese books to look at may just irritate me enough to boost my motivation. I mean, those books cannot go unread forever, right? :sweat_smile:

I really liked Kafka on the Shore when I first read it, so this one should be a blast then. You convinced me. I’m in :3

I’d say so :3 I think it tied up nicely enough to be a stand alone story, very much recommend.

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Much obliged!

I’m glad the first one stands alone. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

I honestly was looking forward to reading that and then hearing all the disappointment about the second one made me go, but but but… :pleading_face:

Now I can read it without regret. Well… like in a year or two when my reading schedule opens up. :crazy_face:

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Noice! Welcome to the club :blush:
Oh, speaking of which, please feel free to post in the club threads if you like! Reading Murakami Haruki's 1Q84 (Intermediate/Advanced Book)

Good to hear! The difficulty varies a bit depending on the chapter, but I guess you are used to that already. (It never gets as hard as the interviews at the start of Kafka, though.)

My thinking exactly :laughing: One day…

I think you really need to put 博士の愛した数式 - The Housekeeper and the Professor 🎓🧮 (Intermediate Book Club) on your reading list. Memory loss with a super heartwarming story. You know, I’m not that easily moved to tears by a book, but this one hit all my buttons :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Did you miss that I called it an anti-reader cookie? Meaning I really hate these kinds of memory tropes in general. xD

When they are done well, they are devastating emotionally (which has its charm… sometimes), and when they’re done poorly they’re just annoying.

Sounds like this one is done super well. I’m not sure I’m up for that kind of emotional rollercoaster of the :sob: variety. :sweat_smile: But I will keep it in mind. :slight_smile:

Although you called it heartwarming, so maybe it isn’t as sad as I imagine it will be? (To me, romance plus regular memory loss sounds like constant heartbreak to the one who remembers. Spoiler based on what genre the book seems to be and my interpretation of what that will mean for the story.)

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Day 29
I continued reading Kindaichi Shounen vol.1. Finally got back to reading the Monobeno visual novel and finished chapter 16 which was pretty much only filler.

Sometimes it’s hard to decide what to read when you have a huge backlog.

2358 pages read 17642 to go

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6 pages remaining of Chapter 3 of Re:Zero 16. T-T I swear I will finish this, but omg this is definitely made for high schoolers, which I am not. I think I am finally ready to grow up now xD

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What I wanted to say, this book can show you that there can be a different side to these stories, i.e. no “no overarching story” and no “their life is so hard” tropes are anywhere to be seen.

No, it was not devastating, it was very satisfying and fulfilling.

No, it’s absolutely not sad, I only cried once, promise!

Please somebody correct me in case I misremember (or misinterpret), but I did not perceive it as “romance” at all. I don’t want to accidentally spoiler you, so I better shut up here, unless you explicitly ask me for more information. :blush:

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Weird, because I literally saw that in the description of the story. xD But whoever said publishers know what books they are publishing. (I’m not joking, honestly sometimes descriptions are so off, you wonder if the person who wrote it read another book entirely…)

Huh. Well, maybe I will consider it then. The premise just sounds so heartbreaking to me. Like can you imagine never remembering stuff for more than 80 minutes… I guess someone who lives with that just kinda have to accept it if they want to in any way enjoy their life, but dang…

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:cup_with_straw: Home :it:

January 30th

ジョジョの奇妙な冒険8
54 - 62

Yesterday sure was a day.

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You mean in this?

Bookxxr あらすじ

[ぼくの記憶は80分しかもたない]博士の背広の袖には、そう書かれた古びたメモが留められていた──記憶力を失った博士にとって、私は常に“新しい”家政婦。博士は“初対面”の私に、靴のサイズや誕生日を尋ねた。数字が博士の言葉だった。やがて私の10歳の息子が加わり、ぎこちない日々は驚きと歓びに満ちたものに変わった。あまりに悲しく暖かい、奇跡の愛の物語。寺尾聰主演の映画原作。

Are you referring to 奇跡の愛 ? Hmm, I think you could phrase it like that. But I wouldn’t call that “romance” … (neither what 愛 refers to nor what was in the book) :thinking:

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Reply

I took the description from Amazon and threw it into Deepl, honestly. xD But that text seemed to come out to pretty much the same, and when it pulled out love story (more or less) and the book is called the housekeeper and the professor, you can see why I leapt to romance. :woman_shrugging:

I wish I could casually read descriptions, but since they tend to have a lot of words I don’t know, I usually just Deepl them for a quick overview…

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Reply

Oh okay yes absolutely! When you phrase it like that, it’s easy to get there, I guess. But it’s really different.

You know, the thing is, sometimes I think that maybe I’m the weirdo, and everybody has a completely different view of what’s going on in the book etc, and then I doubt myself sometimes, and I worry that I might lead people astray :sweat_smile: but now I have said that and now you know what you are up to with my comments :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Oh, don’t fret! I’ve read so many books by now, but I’ve only recently started to be able to read the summaries :rofl: Sounds weird, but they are often written in this newspaper-like write-as-compact-as-you-can style with way too many (to me) unknown words. :woman_shrugging:

Hmmm… maybe I should read book summaries to practice for N1? :bulb: :exploding_head:

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It’s easy enough to make an account and buy off the JP store but I wouldn’t want to buy it without having the eng to fall back on, so it will remain on my wishlist for another day. Thank you for the info!

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January 30th!

Today I read the next Chapter of Orange. It was a pretty long chapter so I’m pleased that I managed to read the whole thing today!

(Home Post)

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Summary post

Day 30: January 30th
What did I read?: ペンギン・ハイウェイ
How much did I read?: 8 pages
How long did it take me?: 55 minutes

Not Aoyama making up a new disease to terrify the class bully before his dentist appointment :joy: Why did I think there was actually something called Stanislav syndrome though, like what disease was I thinking of :thinking:

Random thought, I might try for about an hour of this each day and see if I get any faster as we go along (like if I’m able to read more pages within that time frame). I’m curious if I will actually speed up or stay the same. I don’t really know what a “good” reading speed is :thinking:

Aww, yay! That’s always encouraging to hear :smile: Maybe I’ll watch the anime after I read the book :eyes:

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