銭天堂 ・ Zenitendou, The Mysterious Sweet Shop! (Beginner Book Club)

Ah… I have to admit that I gave up (for now). Will takle zenitendou (starting from chapter 1) again after I finish naze doushite (which should be next weekend) and go with a slower pace, I think max. 1 page a day.

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No point beating your head against a brick wall and losing motivation :slightly_smiling_face: I still have a backlog of questions from earlier chapters (haven’t finished chapter 3 yet either), so if you want to post more questions when you start from the beginning you won’t be the only one :wink:

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Chapter 6 is here!

Last chance to read a chapter along with the group :wink:

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But what about Chapter 7? :confused:

Hmmmmmm, fair :stuck_out_tongue: there is an epilogue…

The last ‘proper’ week of reading is here! :tada: :cry:

We’re finishing up Chapter 6 this week, but there will be another thread next week in the break before 一週間フレンズ for people to ask questions about the epilogue and discuss the book as a whole.

Sorry this thread is going up a few hours late

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I can’t remember if I shared this earlier, but it’s Tokyo’s oldest 駄菓子屋, which I walked past a number of times when I was there last year (but wasn’t quite brave enough to buy anything from!)

From the web: Founded in 1781, Kamikawaguchiya is undisputedly the most ancient dagashiya in the Greater Tokyo area. The shop is now passed down to the 13th generation. It is located in the temple of Zoshigaya Kishimojin in Ikebukuro.

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Intriguing. I’ll be in Ikebukuro during my next trip in October, but tragically not with sufficient time to visit this place. Gonna have to add it to my list…

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Woah! Well that’s definitely a must-see if I ever get to go back.

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Hi! Sent you a DM on Discord. :yum::yum:

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Final discussion thread is here! There’s a poll to indicate when you’ve finished the book, and to rate it.

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Quick question to gauge interest.

Personally, I found that this book was at a pretty perfect level for me to read relatively smoothly (with judicious dictionary use because my vocab sucks), while also being enjoyable. I really need to invest more time in extensive rather than intensive reading, so although I’m quite busy right now and would also like to re-read this volume first, I’m considering picking up volume two at least to read at some point in the future.

I can’t imagine there will be enough interest / schedule alignment to run a full-on book club for subsequent volumes of this series, but is anyone else considering reading further volumes who might be interested in a general discussion thread? If not I will just post my rambling thoughts on here :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’d be interested in that, but for me the reading would definitely be “some day” rather than the immediate future. I’ve been building a big backlog of stuff I want/need to read, so it will be quite a while before I get around to the next book.

But like you said, the level of the book is really good, and I think the series could be good reading resource for a lot of people around our level. A general discussion thread would be a good idea, and I’ll definitely try to join in once I get all caught up on my reading so I can move on to future books in the series.

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I’m down for this. I only started a few days ago and am already on chapter 3. What a rush to not agonize over every other sentence and be able to (kind of) read casually like a normal human being.

I also noticed that there are only two more books in this book club and the rest are manga. I’d very much like to stick with books for the time being. How different is Kiki’s Delivery Service and The Girl Who Leapt Through time compared to the ease of reading Zenitendou? I am greatly dependent on the excel sheets.

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@Radish8 actually wrote a comparison of the BBC books: Comparison of Book Club Picks

I haven’t read Kiki’s, so I can’t say personally, but my sense is it’s considerably harder than other stuff from the BBC. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is definitely harder than Zenitendou, though how much I have a hard time saying since I read it first. I’d say if you’re getting through Zenitendou okay, you can probably handle TGWLTT, even if it is a step up in difficulty (keeping in mind the book club threads for it will help a lot, especially at the beginning, where it will be the hardest.)

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Thanks! I forgot about that thread and had to go check it out again.

Zenitendou is aimed at 中学年 kids which is probably why it’s an easy and entertaining read. Maybe more books at this level can be explored for the BBC. I abandoned a 高学年 level book for this one because it was turning tedious. TGWLLT doesn’t seem to be in the 児童書 lists so I might just stick to something +1 until I’m ready.

Yeah, I think this style and level has been just about perfect. I’m thinking the Scary Lessons book Toyger nominated might be in a similar vein, though it looks like it’s aimed at slightly older kids (and is a bit more dense, I think).

If you have any suggestions you’re welcome to nominate them :wink: we could do with one or two more book ideas.

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I’ll be on the lookout with what’s popular at school :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Haha, perfect :wink: also you’re going to finish 銭天堂 before me :see_no_evil:

I would potentially be interested in a general discussion thread too …once I actually finish the first volume xD I still haven’t read chapter 3 or 4 :upside_down_face: But I’ve liked the style of this series quite a lot and it does feel like a good level, I could definitely see myself continuing it in the future.

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