Originally, I bought the volume because I think the joke in the preview is OK. Much of the latter chapters here seem to be about school.
うたわれるもの
I just want to pause before a fighting scene.
Interesting words
はなから = from the beginning. Kanji form is 端から.
もがき苦しむ = to writhe in agony. The first part is 藻掻く, literally scratching on seaweed.
どん底 = nadir; rock bottom. Not the vocabulary, but Rendaku tripped me.
続柄 = family relationship. It is really specific for relations / connections. Even in this form (other than 続き柄), the former reading is preferred over 続柄 (which sounds like from 家族).
間柄 = relationship
勝組 = winning group (e.g. those who succeed socially). Also, 勝ち組.
都度 = every time; whenever = 毎回
走馬灯 = a revolving lantern; ever-changing scene. Perhaps a lantern has a few pics of running horses?
奔走 = running about; making every effort to
渾身 = with one’s whole body; with all one’s might
肝煎り = promoting; help of. Like with boldness, and pouring some tea.
陳腐 = cliched. Like showing of old rotten jokes. First Kanji from 陳列 / 陳述.
硫化 = sulfide
負債 = debt
返済 = reimbursement; repayment
服役 = serving labor in prison. Also, 懲役 = penal servitude. I should have known the latter, but failed partially due to not recognizing エキ.
抄本 = excerpt; abridgement. In context as 戸籍抄本.
水商売 = nightlife business. 水 probably refers to お酒.
running while opening a book (本); so page leaves flew
奔走, 奔放
硫 (Level 58)
sulphur; sulfur
リュウ
硫化, 硫酸
硫黄
You have found a nice one hiding under 貌. Jisho wouldn’t catch different unicode point, and sometimes alternate Kanji form must not be able to completely replace the original Kanji (?)
I think I found the perfect pace of reading that just feels comfy at my current level and it’s not frying my brain Read through the whole 3rd chapter so I’m currently at page 114 (which I consider pretty nice in just 4 days). Usual cute lil’ story in the life of Yotsuba, raising the issue of global warming (地球温暖化) in a funny way.
Also I wonder what you all think, I noticed at the end of the chapter when yotsuba said “あっちーなー” in my head I thought is she in Niigata prefecture? This sounds like super 新潟弁 to me, I spent a summer at a host family in Niigata and they said 暑い the exact same way. Are there other dialects where they say it this way, or perhaps this is just a coincidence in the manga and some childish whiny way of saying it?
Few words and expressions from today
冷え性 = sensitivity to cold
見損なう = to misjudge (someone in the case of the manga)
Day 8
I finished Your Lie in April manga vol. 3. The manga was slowly improving but they started again with all this concert stuff which is pretty boring to me. I only got the first three volumes free from bookwalker and don’t want to continue reading more of it, even though I enjoyed reading the first three volumes.
Next I started Bakemonogatari manga vol. 2 and it’s pretty challenging which I like.
My approach changed this year. Now I try to understand every little thing when reading. Unlike in the past, I reread a sentence multiple times when needed, until I feel like I understand everything.
I know that technically English reading isn’t quite in the spirit of this challenge since I’ve been fluent for over a decade, but that is all I got for the 8th and today, I read nothing on the 9th. I was too busy and then too tired. And honestly will be tons of busy tomorrow too, but will probably do more English reading (required reading).
I did want to check in though.
Oh I love/hate that feeling. It means I really loved it but also want more. xD I look forward to having that experience or the lost in book feeling with a Japanese book.
Day 10: January 10th
What did I read?: おでかけ子ザメ2
How much did I read?: 8 pages
How long did it take me?: 2 min
Honestly this barely even counts, there were like three whole words, but I’m counting it No pictures today either, sorry I’m so stressed out, I have a very busy and stressful period coming up (starting in earnest with tomorrow) - last Friday, my stress over this coming up kind of ran rampant until it burned itself out, so I was ok for a few days, but now it is back and I’m just
Replies
Oh, I have more opens trenchcoat filled with cute manga
Lmao but in all seriousness, I love sharing my cute manga so I’m glad you enjoy them Though I can’t take full credit for the aquarium manga, I know I got that one from someone else in a previous challenge I didn’t realize it was a book club nomination too lol
Whoa, that’s a lot! Yay indeed, congrats on finishing your technical first novel
Ok but actually though, English is my first language and I still find myself wanting to somehow incorporate this into the challenge sometimes I don’t read in English at all anymore even though I used to be such a bookworm when I was younger, I don’t like it I stg my brain is just broken, I hate adulthood so much
Anyway - what I think I’m trying to say is, it’s ok, I’ll allow it
One of my goals for this year is to be more consistent with my English reading, so I hear you like a lot!
So I definitely plan to keep tracking it here, I just don’t generally do updates if all I read was in English. But right now I’m super busy and there is no room to add in reading in language I’m not fully comfortable with…
Continuation of 1月9日
I actually started and finished chapter 1 of チュベローズで待ってる. No joke, it reads fast even with all the kanji and vocab that stumped me. I wasn’t even going to check it out at first. An idol writing a book just sounded like a good way to collect more money from fans
And then the sudden popularity continued to nag me until I looked up the synopsis and more about the author. (Apparently he cranks out a novel about every year) I honestly thought it would be a dramatic romance but the idea behind exploring the depressing reality of the job hunting experience in Japan and the even less acknowledged hosting life intrigued me. And with the special Bookwalker sale at the time I was bought.
1月10日
I finished chapter 1 of 世界から猫が消えたなら, and the dark humor makes it fun to read. My expectations of the book changed while reading, but I think it was for the better. I was kind of expecting a more depressing tone with philosophical musings. While there are things the author muses about that make you feel sorry for him, his exchanges with the devil can be downright silly, so it feels light-hearted.
There’s a lot of dialogue exchange so it reads fast. There’s not too many lookups either, so it’s manageable to read as a paperback.
I’ve been so busy today. Just errands and to-do tasks and N1 prep and ugh. I dragged myself through the ユージニア reading and now it’s past time to get into bed. I have a social engagement tomorrow so I don’t know if I’ll even have time for チュベローズ, but if nothing else Friday should be clear for reading! Maybe. A friend might be coming into town…
I had that thought to until the first line That is not a pretty boy trying to be pretty at all. It was clear from his interview too on the book channel that he really, really enjoys reading and he likes reading dark things. I wanna say he said something like “I hate happy endings” when talking about Catcher in the Rye.
Belated update for the last couple of days. Although it looks like one day was much better than the other they sort of morph into one as I was on a plane.
So I did get quite a bit done, only book club reading left for this week is おばちゃんたちのいるところ story 11 which I’m planning to read on the Shinkansen. So,if I do any reading tonight it’ll probably be チュベローズ。
The day kind of got away from me (translation: distractions EVERYWHERE), so I read a story on Satori Reader to keep the streak going. Hopefully I’ll focus more tomorrow so I can chip away at one of my books (maybe 冬物語, maybe 授乳).
My vacation that I thought would provide ample reading time did not. I read a ton on the plane to the US, and then spent 2 weeks rereading the same 4 pages because I didn’t have any time to myself (not a bad thing per se). The flight back I got a big chunk done, but going forward I now know realistically what I can and can’t do when traveling. Even just watching Netflix was a tough one. Luckily my family was really into Violet Evergarden, so while I couldn’t get reading in, I got my listening in.
TODAY, I got one sub chapter done in 青ブタ. My hope is to finish one more today, and just keep this pace for the next week or two and finish either by the weekend or some time next week. I finished Stone Ocean and binged Chainsaw man, so I am on a reading kick (which is naturally what happens after binging a series apparently xD).
Sorry for the long post, just haven’t been updating anything since getting back on a normal sleep/eating/work schedule. My routine was totally shattered by this trip, but I somehow managed to retain what I was learning before the trip, which is a relief.
In classic fashion, finishing my previous project threw me for an absolute loop as to what to read next So I did a little bit of everything today. I started ノッキンオン・ロックドドア in keeping with my recent mystery theme, and I’m sure it’s doable but I always forget how rough starting a new book is so I didn’t get very far before I decided to play 13 Sentinels instead, where I was of course immediately dropped in the middle of an unprecedented amount of sci-fi mech jargon As such I only played that one scene before I was mentally over it, and then I finally went back to the バディミッションBOND drama cd I’ve been working on! It’s been a while lmao; I got through one more track with my whole listen-only-first then follow along with the scenario method and it was a good time as always.
Then I finally got somewhere and decided to fill my currently empty manga slot with some 地縛少年花子くん! I watched the anime/read some of the manga in English ages ago and I remember really liking it, so I thought it’d be a fun read and it definitely is. I love a manga with good art and it definitely delivers, it has great aesthetics and even the panel layouts are cool So yeah I read most of the first volume today, who knows what I’ll end up doing tomorrow but I certainly have options
Replies!
Haha thank you!!
Thank you! I really don’t know where it came from lmao, it absolutely wrecked my brain but I had to know
Same, it’s especially rough when it’s a standalone story, but thankfully 山猫 has plenty more to offer so I can placate myself with that knowledge It’s a matter of time! Not a book exactly but I suspect BU$TAFELLOWS will feel that way when we eventually get that far
Thank you!! I have no idea how I pulled it off haha, at what cost feels powerful though!
Finished my last sub-chapter for the day. I am happy I am not doing an audiobook this time because I can skip the needless long pauses and don’t have to desperately search for the part am supposed to be on but somehow lost track of.
Being caught up I feel less pressure to read, so I am able to just kind of consume it the way I want and when I finish the book, I will be done with the series until the next entry. So I can focus on other book series.
Actually just a nominal reading day which is pretty sad because I wanted to finish the book… oh well.
Word of the Day: 鰯 - pilchard, sardine. Nothing particularly special about this one but you get a keen idea of how important fishing was to Japan based on the number of very specific fish kanji out there…
Rushed through reading today but I still did it even with my brain barely functioning… Nothing much happened this episode anyway. Just running through the 自然界 with more 鹿.
God this week’s been tough and it’s only Wednesday…
Read through the whole 3rd chapter so I’m currently at page 114 (which I consider pretty nice in just 4 days). Usual cute lil’ story in the life of Yotsuba, raising the issue of 
Kind of tempted to forget sleep and keep reading.
No pictures today either, sorry 
opens trenchcoat filled with cute manga
Though I can’t take full credit for the aquarium manga, I know I got that one from someone else in a previous challenge I didn’t realize it was a book club nomination too lol
Yay indeed, congrats on finishing your technical first novel 
I stg my brain is just broken, I hate adulthood so much
I have a social engagement tomorrow so I don’t know if I’ll even have time for チュベローズ, but if nothing else Friday should be clear for reading! Maybe. A friend might be coming into town…
So yeah I read most of the first volume today, who knows what I’ll end up doing tomorrow but I certainly have options 
