📚📚 Read every day challenge - Summer 2022 🏖 ☀

Not sure I have a plan, but I think if I don’t feel like reading anything current I’ll aim to read a few pages of the Bookwalker trial chapters of books that seem interesting.

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July 16 :blossom: Home Post

Today was kind of a weird one haha; my long-awaited steam deck arrived today so naturally all I wanted to do was mess around with it, which somehow led to me playing the beginning of Steins;Gate :joy: My friend’s been playing it so it’s been on my mind, and it was an excuse to play on the steam deck so :man_shrugging:

I didn’t play all that much of it so I don’t have a very informed opinion yet, but so far it’s easier than I expected? I mean yes there’s sciencey stuff obviously, and main boy is chuunibyou mode of course, but like… it was pretty smooth going! It felt easier than バディミッションBOND generally has which seems weird? But I guess I’m familiar enough with the spike chunsoft brand of writing to be unfazed :joy: The glossary thing is fun too, love reading explanations of chuunibyou terms, very helpful actually!

But yeah the hardest part was definitely the beginning, there were whole monologues, one of which didn’t have subtitles so that put me to the test :laughing: but I think it was generally okay! Definitely like having actual dialogue boxes I can go through at my own pace though.

I don’t know that I’d necessarily call it a “strategy” but I definitely have days where I’m like “hmm I want to read something that isn’t any of these” and generally I just… do that? :joy: I’m very chaotic about it all though lmao, this is how I end up with a billion projects :sweat_smile: (how many of my posts on here have been like “guess what else I started today,” even this one rip) Sometimes those spur-of-the-moment reads become something really great though! You never know :sparkles:

I’m also chronically really bad about actually continuing with things I enjoy, like logically I know I’ll have fun watching/reading/playing whatever it may be, but mustering the motivation to pick it up again once I’ve put it down?? Wild :joy: Every time I play バディミッションBOND I’m like “I never want to stop playing this ever” and then the instant I do it’s like I completely forget lmao

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Home

I read the preview for 王国の子. It seems interesting, but I had trouble reading it, and not just because the text was small in places (especially for furigana, and there’s a not-insignificant amount of “text that says what they mean with furigana that says what they actually say”) and I couldn’t zoom in, so it’s definitely a low-priority series for me to get.

I read 25 whole pages of 2.43 today, reading all of ch 1-7 SUPERHERO and leaving off on pg 144. Next will be the first subchapter of ch 2 ユニチカ包囲網, SPLIT, which is gonna be from Yuni’s POV! Yeah I got sucked in and ended up reading a lot, even with translating a bit here and there as I went.

Anyway, the practice match finally starts, and we get a bunch of explanations of positions and their roles, who plays what, different types of attacks, etc. in between notable plays. It’s more explanation-heavy at the beginning since it’s just 25 consecutive side outs (which is notable in itself, since Fukuhou are the reigning champions of the prefecture and Seiin are a total no-name school, but not very exciting to write about), but then it starts to focus more on the match after that when Fukuhou are hoping for a break and finally get it on the 28th point. Honestly while reading that match, I felt a lot like when after watching an ep I’d feel all ふわー inside and could hardly string two intelligible words together (like idk halfway through the series, I saw people writing these long posts after each ep and decided I wanted to too, but I wasn’t coherent enough to properly write anything after any of them except surprisingly the last). Definitely more exhausted though, that was a lot.

Finally I get to see what all’s written on Subaru’s sports bottle! Aside from スバル専用 and ヒトには毒, which I already knew (they’re visible in the anime), there’s also ゲロ甘 and ひでぶ. Each of them was written by one of the third-years (I keep forgetting Yuuhi’s a third-year, I keep thinking he’s a second-year), and Ochi has written a message in small letters on it too, but he doesn’t say what it is. Also, I know what the first three mean, but I can’t figure out the fourth.

Title drop!〝三村統〟という、他人の夢で作りあげられたスーパーヒーローの〝正体〟を見てしまった気がして、心臓がどきりとした。(Plus we get Ochi calling him a hero a couple times before then.)

Lately I’ve been seeing more of 福井弁’s tendency to drop the く in the connective and negative forms of い-adjectives, and it’s kinda tripping me up a bit. (Not all くs drop, just in such cases as, say, らしくなる, which becomes らしなる; 悪くない becomes 悪ない; 行きたくない to 行きたない; etc.)

Some vocab of note:

基本中の基本 (きほんちゅうのきほん) [expression, noun] the most basic of basics
来す (きたす) [他サ五] to cause; to induce; to bring about a result or state; to produce
布陣 (ふじん) [noun, する verb] battle formation. lineup (for a game).
内訳 (うちわけ) [noun] itemization (of expenses); the items; breakdown; classification
末恐ろしい (すえおそろしい) [い-adj.] frightening (of the future); worrying; scary; ominous; portentous
参った (まいった) [interjection] I’m beaten; I give up. Never expected that to be the kanji used for it. But also I didn’t know 参る could also mean “to be defeated; to collapse; to die,” only “to go; to come; to visit.”
炸裂 (さくれつ) [noun, する verb (自)] violent explosion; bursting
涙もろい (なみだもろい) [い-adj.] easily moved to tears; given to weeping; lachrymose
十八番 (おはこ) [noun] one’s favorite party trick; one’s specialty; one’s forte
度肝を抜く (どぎもをぬく) [expression, カ五] to astonish; to astound; to stupefy; to flabbergast; to strike a person dumb; to dumbfound; to take someone aback; to boggle someone’s mind
下敷きになる (したじきになる) [expression, ラ五] to be pinned under; to be squashed by
弱冠 (じゃっかん) [noun] youth; early age; tender age of…. Can also mean “twenty years of age.”
首を洗って待つ (くびをあらってまつ) [expression, タ五] to wait for one’s punishment; to wait before one gets what’s coming; to wash one’s neck and wait (for one’s own beheading). Used in the imperative as a threat.

Found a lot of interesting ones today! Though with how much I read today, I’m not really surprised lol

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I think it’s cute too! Our daughter is almost two and still spends most of the night sleeping between my husband and I. She is our only little monkey after years of wanting and not being able to have kiddos, so she definitely gets alllll the cuddles!

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:house:Home Post

Day 15

:open_book:カリスタルハンータズ 本2

:arrow_right: [||||||||81%]

:face_with_monocle: Grammer, grammer, and more grammer tripping me up. And homophones. Curse you いる and 居る!

:thinking: Read the book guide, but I think it’s time to fire up BunPro again. I got overwhelmed with everything I was doing to learn Japanese a while ago, so I decided to commit to one thing I could do consistently. Since I paid for WaniKani…:woman_shrugging:t2:BUT. The more vocab and kanji I learn the more I realize that the nuances of grammar can completely change the meaning of a sentence. I need to get back to it!

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:spiral_calendar: Day 16: July 16th :swimming_man: :shark:

spacer:male_detective:t3: SPY×FAMILY Volume 1 (87% ➨ 99%)

spacer:plunger: スーパーマリオくん Volume 1 (18% ➨ 21%)

spacer:rabbit2: ご注文はうさぎですか? Complete Blend Volume 1 (48% ➨ 49%)

🔍 名探偵コナン Volume 10 (56% ➨ 77%)

The upside to having read (much of) Detective Conan in English is that it makes it easier to follow what’s happening if I’m having trouble with some grammar or don’t want to look up too many words.

The downside is I often (not always) remember who the culprit is and how they pulled off the crime.

But then there’s the upside that I get to see all the clues as they come up.


As for today’s reading, I encountered this right away:

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I created an Anki card for 念のため just the other day, as I countered it in ごちうさ:

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And I happened to see it in-between these instances as well:

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At first, this looks like typical frequency bias. I learn something, then I notice how much it’s used.

However, this expression is actually fairly uncommon in what I read.

Out of all the manga I’ve read these past few years and indexed for easy text search, 念のため came up a total of 11 times (prior to this week).

For it to then come up four times across at most a week certainly beats the odds.

I probably wouldn’t even have noticed if I hadn’t created an Anki card for it. I almost didn’t create the card, but ended up deciding to do so, just in case.


And speaking of cases, the villain for the case I finished reading today has, I think, the best design and setting from what I’ve seen in this series. (I’ve read the first 67 volumes in English before.)

The contours of his face, the large nervous eyes, and the setting of a multistory library building in the dark of night work in his favor, artistically.

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It’s also rare to get an art situation like this in this series, as most cases don’t reveal who the guilty party is until the end.

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It sounds like you just need a break from the current material that you read. I know from reading Orange, there’s some light-hearted scenes before you’re suddenly kicked in the throat.

Some people find those kind of stories cathartic while others need to eat their favorite snack or watch a feel good movie to uplift their mood. If you’re the latter, then just taking a break and doing something that makes you feel good can help.

Maybe you enjoy reading but reading in a second language is just a bit tiring right now. Then you should a book in your native language you really enjoy.

Sometimes it’s not the content of the book but the goal to read every day feeling like a chore. You want to continue the streak because it’s good for studying even if it means you’re not really in the mindset to do it. That makes it easier to feel disinterested because you’re forcing yourself.

In that case, it’s better to just take a break and do what you have the energy for, especially something you enjoy. If the reading streak is important, give yourself an easy day and read Japanese subtitles of an anime episode or just read a page from a manga if you think that’s better than nothing.

Honestly just putting a book to the side and coming back to it a little later can be really refreshing. I personally haven’t struggled with reading certain books in Japanese, just not having enough time. So when I do get a chance to read a story again after a while, I really look forward to it. This applies for books in my native language as well (many of which I’ve gotten burnout from reading too much).

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:green_heart: Home :green_heart:

ジョジョの奇妙な冒険20

80 - 134

I was really tired and eventually had to say to myself that I could just go to bed, I didn’t need to stay up. I also didn’t think I could handle reading N’Doul’s suicide right before bed. His character had so much potential and I love any fanfiction au where N’Doul is alive and present :sob:

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more cute picture books and animals being cute

  • まねっこどうぶつたいそう

  • とうさんまいご by 五味太郎 (one of my favourite Japanese picture book author)

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:tiger2: :books: The Tanuki Beach Resort: Date 20220717 :beach_umbrella: :raccoon:

Today’s reading: タヌキと彦一 :raccoon:

I read tomorrow’s folktale because it’s about tanuki, sooo… :raccoon:

About a tanuki playing tricks on someone, but as it turns out, the tanuki ends up getting tricked.


Running back to tanuki content like:

Thank you! :raccoon:
that cat manga looks very cute

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Once again today, just three pages of よつばと! yielded 13 new vocabulary words, expressions or constructions. This is fun, though; having understood the broad strokes, going back and picking the sentences apart is really useful.

Some new things:

腹減った (はらへった): hungry
見つける (みつける): to discover
拾う (ひろう): to pick up, to gather
してくれ: do it; do that for me
頼む (たのむ): please do
さて: well; now…
どっから: from what direction
手をつける: to start work on
もしかして: by any chance; if I’m not mistaken
ダンボール: corrugated cardboard
出す分 (だすぶん): portion to be put in… (ex. ごみに出す分)
資源ごみ (しげんごみ): recyclable garbage
電柱 (でんちゅう): utility pole

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:tangerine: :books: July 17 :books: :tangerine:
(home post)

Orange :tangerine: page 68 → 100 (33 pages)

I wasn’t sure how far I was gonna read today, I think about halfway through my read I looked for a place to pause, but didn’t find a good one, so I just kept reading and by the time I saw a good place to stop I was only 5 pages (or so) from the end of the chapter, so went ahead and finished it. So I’ve now read chapter/letter 2 of Orange and I’m caught up with all the book clubs I’m in.

Orange is gonna be playing with my emotions a lot, I can tell. But I really like it so far.


Thanks for all replies to my question. I’ll reply individually too, but I wanted to thank everyone upfront so I made it impossible to miss that. :slight_smile:

Replies to my question

Honestly, this is usually what I would do. But for some reason I still wanted to read because I knew it was just tiredness and not a disinclination to read that was taking away my motivation.

Honestly, I’ve struggled with that guilt too. As an adult, I’ve become more of a binge reader than consistent one. So for a few weeks I’ll read a lot (as in 1 novel every two days or even more, which is not because I am fast but because I will read for many hours), and then I will spend weeks not reading at all.

But I’m better at being able to call myself a reader even knowing there will be weeks where I don’t read at all. Also, now that I read Japanese fairly well, I should mentally start counting that. But I don’t yet. xD

Yeah, I totally hear you. I really liked the Hotel manga I was reading for that reason. Something very casual I could read no matter how tired I was. But then I got to liking it so much that I ended up reading it all. :sweat_smile:

With my grazing, I was actually looking for something that easy (for me). I don’t have quite enough vocab in general though, so it can be a bit hard, and those I know are easy enough for that are ones I’m trying for full comprehension with. ^^’

Sounds like a plan to me. Kinda planned option for the eventuality that you don’t feel like reading your current book(s).

I’m really bad at having multiple things going at once, unless I have a very specific reason (like a book club). When I don’t have a good reason and have many projects going, I just get overwhelmed.

Btw, you have to finish バディミッションBOND, I’m invested in your updates. :joy:

I had a hard time picking a quote. There were so many good ideas here. Different strategies for different situations.

It’s kinda funny—talking tangentially about Orange, but more emotionally wrenching stuff—I read stories for characters and emotions. So I don’t mind the sad and heart-wrenching. But I hate tragedy/sad endings. After all that pain and heartache, the characters deserve a better future. Doesn’t have to be a perfect happily ever after, but the future should look to be better/to be good.

It’s kinda funny what you mention about being tired to read in a second language and read something in my native instead. I’m a bit weird that way, that I haven’t read regularly in my native language since I was 15, instead before I got to a reading stage with Japanese, I read exclusively in a second language, aka English. ^^ But I’m not the norm.

I should try and find some more time to read in English though. I really enjoy it.


Other replies

Welcome!

I didn’t track pages for my first two read every day challenges. I simply focused on reading. And my focus is still there (even if I do track pages now). So don’t feel like you are missing out if you aren’t tracking pages. :slight_smile:

:eyes: :pleading_face:

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:house:Home Post

Day 16

:open_book:カリスタルハンータズ本2

:arrow_right: :100:!

:thinking: This volume was a lot more action packed and the art was AMAZING. Onwards and upwards to 本3!

:raising_hand_woman:t2: Anyone have a suggestion for what I should read next after カリスタルハンータズ?It’s basically Japanese with training wheels :grimacing::bike:

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I read back over chapter 1 of Shadows house for the book club. Probably will keep reading. Also went over 2 pages of Spy Family so the next bit I read will be new to me.

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I ended up reading a lot of Monkeys yesterday. The VN is so funny that it makes it hard to put down at any point. In my last reading session, 月島 カラス (one of the girls in power at the all-girls school) wanted to visit the boys school to see how they interact there since if they end up merging schools they’d all be together. So she had to cross-dress as a boy in order to fit in under the guise of a potential future student.
They were talking about what first person pronoun she should use. She decided on わがはい and mentioned its cute like cats are. I’m pretty sure she was referencing 「吾輩は猫である」which made me smile to pick up on Japanese references. :sweat_smile:

My favorite part when she was visiting the school was when she was running into all of the students there. For some reason, they happen to have a student that is a grizzly bear :joy: Apparently he came down from the mountains and got lost so they just accepted him as a student? I was dying the entire time during this scene

Also a cute kabedon scene when the MC went back to the girls school

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Anything that have been covered by a WK book club, especially Absolute Beginner Book Club (ABBC), but also Beginner Book Club (BBC), will have a lot of resources to help: vocabulary sheet and also grammar questions asked and answered. You can find a master list of book clubs here. Here is an incomplete (because it hasn’t been updated for a while, but still good) list comparing the difficulty of Beginner Book Club picks. Although, you’ll probably find more break downs and such in ABBC picks.

Personally, I find Yotsubato (BBC) really funny. It can be a bit hard, especially early on, if you don’t have a good grasp of casual language and its many contractions. I also really liked the にゃんにゃん探偵団 books read with ABBC.

It might help to know a bit more what you like to read to make any recommendations. Ultimately, you’ll probably find it easier to push through some difficulty with something that you enjoy, than something you only read for studying purposes.

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Thank you so much! I have the first Yotsubato book, but the more casual vocab and grammer was definitely a challenge when I first picked it up. I have a two year old, so her exuberance and everyday antics are so cute! I’ll definitely check out the ABBC and BBC and see what looks fun to read. Thank you for your suggestions!

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

Day 17:

30 pages of ハピネス vol 3! The way I’m just blazing through my easy reads… I need to dig up some more reading material that’s not all that challenging. I’ve definitely not been in the right state of mind to tackle anything difficult this week :melting_face: But I’m quite proud of myself for staying on track! I was able to rest a lot this weekend, so I feel good about the coming days, even though I’m heading into the busiest work week of the season.

Hope everyone’s doing well! Stay safe in the hot weather. :sunny:

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Home Post

Hey everyone! Today I finished かくりよの宿飯!The link to my review on Natively is here, if anyone is interested.

This was my fourth book in Japanese and the first one I hadn’t read before in English. I also switched to a monolingual dictionary, so it was a bit more challenging because of all that. However, it’s the only Japanese book I’ve finished in three weeks (as opposed to three months or six months…) so it’s also a big accomplishment for me because of that! I really appreciate the reading challenge for helping keep me consistent.

I’m feeling very happy now! I think I’ll probably take a little break and reading some manga and the rest of a graded reader that I own (since I haven’t finished it yet :sweat_smile:) and let my brain take a break. I also hope to do a big order from amazon.jp soon and finally get some physical books (!) so probably my next read will be from there.

Have a great day everyone!

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Main Post

Finished reading through Nagatoro volume 1. Had already watched the anime so there were no big surprises there. There’s some slang I have to look up here and there. I’ll start reading from volume 2 tomorrow. With Yoru Cafe volume 2 I’m about halfway in, some things are about to happen soon. :eyes:

I was supposed to get my amazon jp order, but it is delayed. Hoping to show to you peeps next week then.

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