[2024] 多読/extensive reading challenge

Well, I just like to have a place to keep track of my progress towards my yearly goal (which I cannot do on Bookmeter) and to talk about what I thought of the books. I could do that on bookmeter but I do not have to guts to post in Japanese. Plus, I feel much more at home posting here. :high_touch:

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My goals are in my head so I can say I succeeded no matter what.
My goal was 4 full books this year and I’m partway through my third with 魔法少女育成計画. So I’ll finish at least three and some partials. Probably not a full fourth though, since even if I read ahead on 霧の向こうの不思議な町 I doubt I’ll read it in just two weeks.

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That sounds even better! Thanks for taking care of that.

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I definitely take breaks, and when I feel a strong urge to return, I’ll start the next book. Sometimes I read two in a row, and sometimes I wait for half a year. My sample base is rather small (in Japanese it’s 魔女の宅急便 and 獣の奏者), but even if I like something a lot, I usually want a change of pace after a while. I didn’t always use to be like that and I kinda miss the times when I single-mindedly read all the Harry Potter books back to back. But on the other hand, it’s also reassuring to have something you love to go back to for months or even years.

Speaking of which, I think I’ll be ready soon to tackle the final volume of 獣の奏者. I just feel bad if I have other unfinished books and ふたりのトトロ is still somewhere at 35%, so I guess that’ll come first. Gotta get back into my reading routine!

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Updated my tracker! I actually finished reading 少女終末旅行 and reached my goal for the year, so I raised the goal a bit!

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@Belerith
Sorry, I changed the version of the よるのばけもの that I read because the author’s name was incorrectly registered, so I had two “住野よる" in my stats and it was killing me inside. (Also, the one I just registered has the correct cover, so that’s a good reason to change).
So I guess your comment disappeared.

About the book, it was good, but definitely follows the same pattern as 君の膵臓を食べたい. I guess, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. It was still a pleasant read, but it impacted me less that 膵臓. I guess the situation would have been reversed if I had read them in the reverse order?
One thing I found interesting is that there are a few plot points going on in parallel to the main story. The reader is given enough hints to understand what happened, but the main character never figures it out, which felt interesting.
Overall, I’d give it a 7/10. A pleasant read, but nothing too special. Still, I like that author’s “template”, so I’ll probably read some more of it :stuck_out_tongue:

In other news, finishing all the books I am currently reading will bring me to 25 this year. Sounds like I could try to aim for a @sigolino (30+ books). I’ve already read more books in Japanese than I had ever read. I guess the drive to see my numbers increase here and on bookmeter is really pushing me forward :slight_smile:

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:joy: A worthy goal for sure.

I see, thanks for sharing you’re opinion! :slight_smile: I’ll probably go for 君の膵臓を食べたい before this then if only because it’s been a while since I read a story of its type, although I like the supernatural element of よるのばけもの.

I’ve definitely experienced a similar phenomenon. It’s been years since I last read ‘so much’. Not only that, but I’ve been introduced to a number of interesting titles. :slight_smile: Thanks for creating this thread!

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It’s been a looooong and hectic time, but after four months I’ve managed to get back into my reading routine and finished ふたりのトトロ -宮崎駿と『となりのトトロ』の時代- by Hirokatsu Kihara.

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It’s another excellent collection of anecdotes about the production of a Studio Ghibli movie. The book is full of informative, heartwarming or downright funny little episodes.

Miyazaki’s motto for the production of the movie was to “make the movie fun by having fun making it”. Obviously the production got more stressful towards the end, but in Kihara’s mind there is no doubt it came true for both Miyazaki and the staff.

Kihara believes Miyazaki never had more fun making anime than during the production of Totoro. It took exactly one year and there was not a single day without laughter at studio 2 where Totoro was made (the main studio was reserved for Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies).

Kihara doesn’t recall Miyazaki getting angry, rising his voice or telling staff members off during the production. As the studio was very small and the majority of the staff female, he even restrained his chain smoking habits.

There are a lot of other tidbits worth writing about, but I’ll leave it at that for now. Just as “Another Balse”, it’s a great book. Kiki’s 30th anniversary has passed, so I’m not sure there’ll be another book. But if Kihara decides to write one, I’ll read it, that’s for sure.

Also, did you ever wonder who the girl on Totoro’s cover / promotional image is? It’s not Satsuki or Mei. The possible answer is quite touching, I wrote about it here (also watch the linked eulogy video).

After 3 non-fiction books on Studio Ghibli, I think I’ll get back into novels next. The last volume of 獣の奏者 is waiting for me. :>

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I finally got around to finishing 聲の形. I remember liking the film more than I liked the manga. The manga dragged in places (except volume 6, which was amazing start to end), and I feel like it worked better in a more “compact” film format. But it has been a while since I’ve seen the movie, so we’ll see if I still feel that way whenever I rewatch it. I did still enjoy the manga overall though. The biggest problem was that I didn’t really like most of the characters and it was hard to connect with them.

The next series I’ll be reading is やがて君になる. I really liked the first two volumes, but I put it on hold because I didn’t want to catch up too soon since the last volume isn’t coming out until November 27th. Now that it’s a lot closer, I’ll probably continue reading that soon.


Even though I didn’t set any manga goals in this thread or even to myself, it’s been a productive year. So far this year I’ve read 33 volumes of manga (including all of 放浪息子 and 聲の形, and several volumes of Aria the Masterpiece and ご注文はうさぎですか). I expect to finish 5-10 more volumes before the year is over. In all of 2018 I only read 6 volumes of manga, so I think this year was a pretty respectable improvement!

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@Ditto20 I was searching for 4-koma and/or cgdct manga on AniList to fill the inevitable ご注文はうさぎですか-shaped hole in my life, and ran into a couple you might be interested in trying. Both comedies, and the samples were pretty funny.

Summary

お兄ちゃんはおしまい!

A TS Comedy about a brother who was transformed into a girl by his little sister’s strange drugs.

Amazon


明るい記憶喪失

Mari’s girlfriend, Arisa, loses her memories of the past three years, including all memory of their life together. However, it turns out that being crazy in love with someone transcends all realms of possibility.

Amazon


P.S. I would appreciate recommendations in the 4-koma format if anyone has any. I find the experience reading that style different from other manga, so it’s nice switching between the two formats.

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Oh my god literally my nightmare

Which one? :joy:

Heheh I thought I might not have to specify but
The second one :wink:
Memory loss is triggering for meeeeee
Which is a shame because that sounds pretty cute?

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Oh yeah, sorry. I remember now. Use a cute story to tackle your fears? :sweat_smile:

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I want to add that I’m about to read 夜市 by 恒川 光太郎, same guy who wrote autumn prison, but I don’t really feel like touching the formatting of the big post so I don’t even think I’m gonna bother.

Just know that I’m reading it I guess. XD

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I added a line for you if you feel like updating :v: It’s okay if you don’t want to though, I’ll just delete it.

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Omg thank you ! You didn’t have to do that, I was being extremely lazy, but I appreciate it! :blush:

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Apparently I have reached my book reading goal. I guess 4 books isn’t a lot for some people here but it seemed quite ambitious when I decided on it back when I’d only read 1 book in Japanese. I expect to finish one or two more books before the year ends so I won’t feel too bad about failing the manga goal, since I just kinda changed my focus once I realized I could read more difficult books.

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I read about 20% of 獣の奏者4, the last volume (512 pages), while traveling last week.

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Again, a small time skip is keeping things fresh and it’s back to what I love most about the series: A slow and careful portrayal of human relationships and animals (including their behavior and biology). I really love how Erin is torn between her family duties and duties for her country. Lots of questions still need to be resolved, so I’m sure the rest of the book will be full of excitement, too. So far it’s great to be back and a lot of fun.

And also very satisfying that by now I can read the books almost without effort. That was veeeery different when I first tried reading the first book about 3 years ago.

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I actually finished とんがり帽子のアトリエ vol 1 and also カードキャプターさくら vol7.

I seem to be really bad on focusing on just one series XD

Now I’m reading 少女終末旅行 vol 6 so I can say I read it all.

I’m also reading CCS before bed. I find it so satisfying that I can now read simple Japanese manga while laying down before I sleep.

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