📚📚 Read every day challenge - Winter 2023 ☃❄

January 1st

:snowman: Home post :snowflake:

Card Captor Sakura volume 5 – progress report
Today: Began reading volume 5, finished chapter 19, stopped at page 47.

Happy new year everyone! I hope you started off this new year well. :fireworks:

New year, same old new things to read. :wink: Decided to continue reading Card Captor Sakura for this and the coming week until I probably start Aria: the masterpiece volume 3 on Saturday. (My order containing volume 4 and 5 should arrive in 1-2 weeks, I hope).

I’ve already gone a bit overboard and finished one chapter despite not planning to do so today. I won’t complain…but a ‘strong’ start means that it’s only going to be worse from now on which is most likely what will happen because of my change of focus in the coming weeks. Well, I’ll simply continue to enjoy satisfactory progress for as long as it lasts. :sweat_smile:

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Word or expression of the day:
てがい / でっがい - huge, big, gargantuan

Honourable mention(s):
避暑 (+する) - (ひしょ) - escaping the summer heat, going somewhere cooler during summer

29 Likes

:snowflake: :red_gift_envelope: 1月1日 :red_gift_envelope: :snowflake: (Home Post Link)

皆さん、あけましておめでとうございます!

Congratulations on making it through 2022, and I hope 2023 will be bright year for everyone :partying_face:

The New Years tradition I share with my friends (and a relatively small but very dedicated group of indie music fans more generally) is to all raise a glass and sing along to The Mountain Goats - This Year (Video) - YouTube I hope that wherever you all are, and whoever you all are with, you got a chance to celebrate in a way that is meaningful to you!

Unfortunately my 初夢 was not full of any good omens (at least that i’m aware of, i’m no oneiromancer), but hopefully yours were/will be!

Read:

  • NHK News Web Easy: 温泉から「」がとれた - My goal last month was to do one of these every day, and I succeed in that. Not sure if I want to keep that up necessarily, but they are so quick to do I might as well if I see something that looks interesting. When I first read this title, I wasn’t sure if the 金 was money or maybe metaphor, but it’s neither! It’s literal, real 金 that they are extracting from hot springs.
  • ホリミヤ ch 45, 46, 47 - I know I said I wasn’t in any real hurry to finish this, but it would be nice to get it done by the end of January, especially since I already know I can read most of it quickly. I’d need to average about 2.5 chapters/day to do that, so here’s getting a little bit ahead of that
  • マジック・ツリーハウス pg 12 → 16 (end of ch1) - small bites of this, at first. But, as long as I’m reading at least a couple pages every day, I think the speed will pick up a lot.
Good Words

NHK
溶ける「とける」ー to melt, to dissolve
ラン藻 = 藍藻 「らんそう」ー cyanobacteria, blue-green algae
性質「せいしつ」ー nature, property, disposition

ホリミヤ
品切れ「しなぎれ」ー sold out, out of stock
嫌がる「いやがる」ー to appear uncomfortable
庇う「かばう」ー to protect (someone), to look after (something)
どうでもいい ー inconsequential, not worth worrying about
激しい「はげしい」ー extreme, intense, strong
災難「さいなん」ー calamity
雨乞い「あまごい」ー praying for rain
手抜き「てぬき」ー cutting corners, omitting crucial steps
承知「しょうち」ー forgiving, excusing (usually negative 承知しない)
応援「おうえん」ー cheering
やる気「やるぎ」ー will, motivation (to do something)

マジック・ツリーハウス
沈み込む「しずみこむ」ー to sink (into)
梯子「はしご」ー ladder

34 Likes

Happy new year everyone :crabigator:
This is my first post on the forum, I’m hoping to improve my reading comprehension and general Japanese skills through some reading immersion this winter. I will be reading 高木さん volume 1 to start with, this is my first manga volume.
Good luck everyone!

32 Likes

Jan 1, Sun of Week 1 of Winter Q1 2023 :snowman::snowflake:

  • はたらく細胞 Black Vol.1 Ch.2-3

Ch.2 is this mechanism. Someone tried to 肝試し, but 落胆 – I was confused with the two Kanji’s a little.
Ch.3 is serious business and consequences.

  • うたわれるもの
Interesting words
  • ゆくゆく = someday. Kanji form is ()()
  • いたたまれない = feeling like running away. From (いた)()れない.
  • (いとな)む = to run a business
  • (やわ)らぐ = to be mitigated; to be softened
  • (すさ)む = to grow wild. I also recall (すさ)まじい here.
  • ()がある = to have an interest in / to incline towards
  • 見据(みす)える = to stare fixedly at
  • (やま)しい = feeling conscient; feeling unsure. From ()む.
  • ()いぼれ = old man
  • (つか)() = a brief moment
  • (とりこ) = captive; prisoner. No Furigana.
  • 心酔(しんすい) = adoration
  • 羞恥(しゅうち) = sense of shame
  • 店構(みせがま)え = storefront appearance
  • ()頓狂(とんきょう) = freakish. Similar to 頓狂(とんきょう).
  • 有意義(ゆういぎ) = important
  • 執務室(しつむしつ) = the office
  • 市井(しせい) = the streets, just like (ちまた). Yet another On reading of 井.
  • 伊達(だて) = elegantly. Has Furigana.
  • 土台(どだい) = foundation / the beginning
  • 誘発(ゆうはつ) = inducing
  • 分解(ぶんかい) = disassembly
  • 酵素(こうそ) = enzyme
  • 代謝(たいしゃ) = metabolism
  • 胆汁(たんじゅう) = bile. Such is On reading for お(しる).
  • 多彩(たさい) = various kinds of
  • 膵臓(すいぞう) = pancreas. Probably this organ’s islets of Langerhans are like jade greenery (翡翠(ひすい))?
  • 類洞(るいどう) = sinusoid of liver. Probably from cave of various ends?
  • 帳簿(ちょうぼ) = account book, about money or stocks
  • 貯蔵(ちょぞう) = storage
  • 睾丸(こうがん) = testicles. See, 金玉(きんたま).
  • 充塡(じゅうてん) = filling up; loading. Similar to 充填(じゅうてん), just another Kanji form.
  • 平滑筋(へいかつきん) = smooth muscle. Opposite is 横紋筋(おうもんきん).
  • 緩和(かんわ) = mitigation; lightening the burden = (やわ)らぐこと
  • (むか)(ざけ) = alcohol drinking in the morning to mitigate hangovers
  • 百戦錬磨(ひゃくせんれんま) = veteran. Trained and polished by hundred battles.
  • 文武両道(ぶんぶりょうどう) = both accomplished of literary and military arts
  • 清廉潔白(せいれんけっぱく) = spotless integrity; unselfish. I am not accustomed to the second Kanji and 清廉(せいれん).

SFX

  • ゲシゲシ = kicking kicking
  • チョンと = poking sound

Kanji

  • ()

    • zodiac of rabbit
      • 卯年(うどし),     卯月(うづき)
      • 卯建(うだつ)
        • うだつが()がらない
  • (テン) (塡)

  • (レン) (Level 60)

    • pure and clear
      • 清廉(せいれん),     廉潔(れんけつ)
  • (ジョウ) (Level 45)

    • セイ
      • 油井(ゆせい),     市井(しせい)
      • 井然(せいぜん)
27 Likes

:house:
Jan 1

ハピネス Vol 3 0% → 100%

I grabbed the first three volumes of Happiness from Bookwalker as freebies a while ago, and over the last three days read them in spare moments or waiting times. It’s so satisfying to be able to read fast without needing to look up every tenth word! I only looked up about four words in total, and each volume took me about half an hour.

Tomorrow I’ll get back to reading 世界から猫が消えたなら. I also bought かがみの孤城(下)on Bookwalker yesterday so I can read on my phone if out of the house.

30 Likes

:raccoon: :books: The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den :snowflake: :raccoon:

January 1st
新書太閣記 progress: 00.03% // Volume I: 00.38% :page_facing_up:

Happy new year everyone, and happy new reading challenge! :tada:

I’ll be reading (well, attempting at least) 新書太閣記 by 吉川英治 (Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa)

I only read the preface today which wasn’t very long, I’ll start the story proper tomorrow when I should hopefully have more time.

Words found under the kotatsu

壮年期「そうねんき」ー Prime of life
絢爛「けんらん」ー Gorgeous; brilliant; dazzling; ornate
凡俗「ぼんぞく」ー Mediocrity; the masses
類本「るいほん」ー Similar books
ユーモラス ー Humorous (not what I thought it’d end up meaning :laughing:)
功利主義「こうりしゅぎ」ー Utilitarianism
同型「どうけい」ー Isomorphism; same shape/type/pattern

Character Kanji-Name List
for easy referencing later, because these will take some remembering

Hideyoshi: 豊臣秀吉「とよとみ ひでよし」// 豊太閤「ほうたいこう」

28 Likes

day 1 :dragon:
home post

Read: Yotsubato!

Progress: 8/224 → 16/224 pages read

Thoughts: I like being able to recognise more kanji as I do more lessons and practice reading them, but there’s still some difficulty with hiragana only words that I have to look up to be able to understand sentences.

I felt like my brain had a mini workout today, which is great!

28 Likes

:snowflake: Day 1, 1st of January :snowflake:

:open_book: Back to my Home Post

Alright, two DrDru stories, here we go.

In the first I stumbled over 危ない once more; the ない at the end makes it sound like it is a negation, but that is not the case. Have to keep this in mind, because it signifies danger! If I were to asume that is says “not dangerous” I could be in deep trouble… Instead, to negate this ありません was used.

Second story, we’re in London so there are a lot of Katakana (ugh).

26 Likes

:bookmark: Home post // Jan 1 :snowman_with_snow: :snowflake:

・ 本好きの下克上 16 (7% → 16%)

First day of the challenge :3! I’m continuing Honzuki adventures after cracking open the e-book yesterday. I have the suspicion that I’ve read through the best parts of Arc 4 already (book 13-15) :eyes: but I’d love to be pleasantly surprised. On another note, I was kinda unfocused today, probably tiredness from doing the speed read challenge from the other day :rocket: Doesn’t feel like I took the off-month off, hehe whoopsie :see_no_evil:

Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s updates! Happy new year, everyone! :durtle_the_explorer:

28 Likes

Gonna try for real this time. I can’t get myself to post daily, but I’ll try to do it weekly though :v:
And use this neat calendar.

Currently reading: 夜市 ~52% (want to finish before the end of the month)
Paused: Nausicaa
Planned: Spirit Circle, finish Nausicaa

Jan
01
02 03 04 05 06 07 08
09 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
Feb
01 02 03 04 05
06 07 08 09 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28
28 Likes

Summary post

Day 1: January 1st
What did I read?: 夜の名前を呼んで Vol 3
How much did I read?: 32 pages
How long did it take me?: 37 min

Welcome to the first day of the challenge, everyone! Glad to see so many old and new faces :heart: Even some first-time-ever posters, I’m honored that you’ve chosen this thread as your first-ever posting place in this community :blush:

I decided to start the challenge season off with the last (currently published) volume of my obsession from the previous challenge, 夜の名前を呼んで. I opened the first page and I’m already falling in love again because look, Rei braided his hair, how cute is that :pleading_face:

Look at this cute Rei face :confounded:

Why is he so cute :confounded: :confounded:
This was a happy magic times chapter :sparkles: Rei’s roof apparently leaks, so they collected the rainwater and went swimming in the rainwater’s memories, with the help of Stella’s magical bubble soap that gives them swimsuits that allow them to breathe underwater (and also makes them resemble the sea creature of their choice :joy: Mira chose jellyfish so Rei went with a squid ksjhgksdjhfj I thought that was so very cute)

It was just a lovely little fun time that made Mira happy, so that was nice :3

32 Likes

:snowman_with_snow: :snowflake: January 1 :snowflake: :snowman_with_snow:
Home Post

NHK (new method for extracting gold) :newspaper_roll:
BU$TAFELLOWS :moneybag:
Novel in English :books:

Well, they say to do January 1 as you mean to go on for the rest of the year, eh? Only I couldn’t possibly fit everything in, but somehow I absolutely smashed some reading today.

I forgot to mention on my home post that I hoped to try reading some more regular news. I’ve gotten to a stage where NHK easy is…easy I guess. xD So I want to occasionally dip my toes in and read the regular news. It does mean it takes me longer than just a couple of minutes, if nothing else because the articles are longer, but it wasn’t hard (safarikai for the win (safari/mac version of yomichan)).

I also ended up reading in English, I’m reading an old mystery/heist/caper that is pretty exciting.

And to finish off the day, I read a couple of more scenes of Bustafellows and got my first memorabilia which is why the home screen now shows I’ve read 1%. So percentage is completely tied to memorabilia and not at all to how much have been read. xD

Lastly, the spelling of percentage is one I will never remember and which is why I usually just do % instead, but sometimes I forget just how far off my thoughts on the spelling is and I try typing it. At least all spellcheckers always knows which word I’m trying to write, which means I’m not the only one who finds the spelling weird. :stuck_out_tongue:

27 Likes

This looks so cute! I’m going to have to add this manga to my to be read!

12 Likes

Well then, it’s the first day of the challenge and managed to read the second and third mini chapter in the first volume of 宇崎ちゃんは遊びたい!Was quite surprised at how dense the writing was to be honest so it took me around 30 minutes to fully read only 7 pages but hopefully it’ll get faster. I’ve also spotted some words I’ve only recently learned in Wanikani (like 真似) so that helped ease things along and was quite gratifying.

I’m not sure it also counts as read every day but I also started Pokemon Scarlet in japanese and they are quite talkative early on. Managed to sustain a full hour of play time. There wasn’t a lot of action but lots of reading and it also went surprisingly well. Much better than I was last year when I started Paper Mario and the Origami King around June.

28 Likes
Here we go again
:chair: Jan :frog:
01
02 03 04 05 06 07 08
09 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
Feb
01 02 03 04 05
06 07 08 09 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28
Mar
01 02 03 04 05
06 07 08 09 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31

Previous Thread Stats

Summer 2022
Spring 2022
Fall 2022

31 Likes

January 1st!

Today I read the 2nd chapter of volume 10 of Teasing Master Takagi-san.
I had planned to do a lot more reading today, but I got invited over to a friends house to meet their new baby so I did that instead of extra reading! He was super cute and teeny!
I’m hoping to read more tomorrow though :crossed_fingers:

(Home Post)

26 Likes

1/1/23 9 pages Haruiro Astronaut, 3 pages おばちゃんたちのいるところ, 8 pages Cells at Work (finished this week’s reading)

I started to read over the chapters at the end of each of volumes 2-5 of Orange, having read the first one ages back. I’m not enjoying them so will probably drop them.

Finished Cells at Work for this week so just the IBC to catch up with.

27 Likes

:coffee: :snowflake: Frankie’s home post :snowflake: :coffee:

I’ve been struggling to keep a consistent habit when it comes to reading every day so this challenge is just what I need. (Its been very all in or nothing at all which is… :sweat_smile:)

the plan

No real rules as long as I finish at least a page.

  • Read / catch up to the current schedule for はたらく細胞 before the eighth (abbc)
  • Join the beginner book club reading 月刊少女野崎くん and see if its my level.
  • go though some of the books I have on my shelf and / or play some easy games.
Jan
01
02 03 04 05 06 07 08
09 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
Feb
01 02 03 04 05
06 07 08 09 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28

Only linking days with updates

Books completed during the challenge
  • hopefully they’ll go here.

:snowflake: my listen everyday challenge home post :snowflake:

29 Likes

Home

あけおめ!

Today I just finished vol 37 of HQ.

Update: Sometime after posting, I ended up picking up vol 38 and reading 5 more chapters.

26 Likes

Happy New Year everyone!!! :fireworks::clinking_glasses::red_gift_envelope:
Wishing everyone all the best for the new year!!!

:raccoon: :snowflake: :books: Vasi’s home post :snowman_with_snow: :raccoon::open_book:

January :red_gift_envelope: :snowman_with_snow:

:bamboo:
Week 52
Week 1 :heavy_multiplication_x:
Week 2
Week 3 :heavy_multiplication_x:
Week 4
Week 5

February :sparkling_heart: :performing_arts:

:revolving_hearts:
Week 5
Week 6 :heavy_multiplication_x:
Week 7 :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x:
Week 8 :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x:
Week 9 :heavy_multiplication_x:

March :woman_farmer: :umbrella:

:dolls:
Week 9
Week 10 :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x:
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13

= read today
:heavy_multiplication_x: = missed day

My approach and goal for this challenge
:dart: For quite a while now I have been wanting to join back in the tanuki squad fun, but everyday life was just being too much..(some of you might remember me saying that at the beginning of December in the Autumn thread lol, well Finals happened,oops ). This past year had been a wonderful one, but not as much when it came to keeping consistent with habits and studying, and I really wish to change that this year :muscle: Having participated in these challenges in the past, I can't even begin to tell you how much of an immense boost and help they were for forming and making new habits, so that's one of my major goals joining again this year: *to become again as consistent as possible with daily reading!* :dart: Quantity or level of what I read won't matter to me as much as actually getting reading done. I also wish to start reading Chinese :cn: a little bit more. since I'm at a beginner level, I'll probably only dare to take up graded readers as a challenge, but hopefully that will be a good first step! If anyone has anything to recommend, let me know! I'm preparing for HSK3
Reading material

:thinking: :eyes:
I still haven’t sorted out what reading material I will be going through, but probably it’s going to be just a backlog of books/readers/manga, since I’m also trying to have a NoBuyingMoreBooksTemporarily policy in effect lol;

Alright, so this is what I’ve got for now:

  • :chipmunk: 暁のヨナ、第18巻、第19巻 with our ongoing bookclub!
  • :teacher: 教養366、Still have not gone full circle with this (started spring 2022), but I do have a lot of backlog…
  • :orange_book: 10分で読める伝記6年生, a graded reader. [ Amazon link ]
  • :ring: わたしの幸せ結婚第1-3巻 manga
  • :cn: Du Chinese app & Mandarin bean
  • :cherry_blossom: 花野井くんと恋の病 This manga’s volumes 1 and 2 for the minimmersion discord bookclub!
  • :ring: わたしの幸せ結婚、小説 Vol.1
  • :woman_scientist: なぜどうして,もっと科学のお話ー4年生 link
Updates

1月

第1週間

1日-4日 | 5日ー8日

第2週間

9日 | 10日ー12日 | 13日-15日

第3週間

16日-17日18日-21日 | 22日

第4週間

23日-27日 | 28日-29日

第5週間

30日-31日

2月

第5週間

1日 - 5日

第6週間

6日ー10日 | 11日ー12日

第7週間

13日-19日

第8週間

20日ー25日 26日

3月

第9週間

27/2-5/3

第10週間

6/3- 12/3

第11週間
第12週間
第13週間

And updates might not be daily, but bidaily or however it best works out with my daily work routine etc!

Past challenges
Autumn 2021 :fallen_leaf: :maple_leaf: :raccoon:
Winter 2022 :snowman_with_snow: :snowflake: :raccoon:
:link: Bookmeter
:link: Goodreads

30 Likes