Book collector rehab (actually reading what you own accountability thread)

[Ayara012]

@muchukiwi

I’m jumping in on this too. I started reading again for the first time in ages. I have read four manga in four days.

Way to come in swinging!! Mind if I ask which manga you’ve been reading? Just idle curiosity.

@muchukiwi

I’m scared that I won’t have enough time since I got back from my holiday.

Yeah, I know how you feel - my reading time is definitely very seasonal, since I tend to do it during downtime at work. But here’s hoping!

@muchukiwi

Easily over 60 unread (not ideal, I know). I was bad but I guess it’ll be okay as long as I keep reading at the rate that I was. Takes me maybe two hours to read a manga? Maybe less, I haven’t timed myself.

stares at my librarything catalogue
Yeah, don’t worry, 60 books is uh. Definitely not the worst backlog in here.

I’m also around 2 hours for a volume, approximately. I don’t bother with timing or anything formal like that because that would just stress me out

Being an adult is DEFINITELY too time consuming. Why can’t I just do nerd stuff all day??? This is rude.

@Urazi

I see you are an Ignis fan, have you tried playing FF 15 in japanese yet?

MY BELOVED BOY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AGH-
ahem
Yes, I am in fact an Ignis fan, and I did give XV a shot in Japanese! I got about 6 hours in and then my save data got corrupted and I couldn’t restore it

I do want to go back and give it another shot some time, I just need the miraculous intersection of time, energy, and braincells to hit me again. Someday!

@Urazi

Only played xeno 1 but x is on my (long) list of game to do.

And man, X is good. I’ve never managed to get all the way through it - I inevitably wind up getting side tracked and putting a ton of time into sidequests and then life comes in and I have to put the game down - but it’s a lot of fun, even among the Xenoblade games. I think it and 1 are my faves, personally.

@obscureniche

So I’ve just not even talked about how absolutely terrible I’ve been with obtaining more books. I just distract you all by talking about what I’ve been finishing instead. Which btw I finished the first volume of Aria the Masterpiece yesterday!

Congrats!!!
Now spill, what’d you pick up-

(Sadly no progress for me, it’s bunkasai week this week and I’m also scrambling to prep review materials for the kids’ finals shortly after, BUT I’m at least keeping my wk/bp reviews cycling so those won’t dogpile me when deskwarming hits!)

[BadgerN00b]

@Urazi

I am level 10 or 11 from tadoku books I manage to read that are reference there.
So sadly still far from being able to read Yotsuba

As someone who’s around level 12-14 on Natively, I think Yotsuba is still worth attempting. I’ve been slowly reading Yotsuba on Bilingual Manga, and even if I don’t know all the words, I seem to be getting the gist of everything. By that I mean, 50-90% understanding.

The pictures really help, and the parts of the story you’ll be able to catch is hilarious! I now wave at people like Yotsuba does in the first few pages.

[lazywerebear]

Back to check in, another ゆびさきと恋々 volume down! And halfway through vol 8 already

[Urazi]

Alright, I’ll give it a try when I clear a bit more of my backlog.
RIP bilingual manga, I discovered it last week and it will be taken down soon

[muchukiwi]

@Ayara012

Way to come in swinging!! Mind if I ask which manga you’ve been reading? Just idle curiosity.

What am I reading, you ask? I haven’t been sticking to one series! Just various ones I found at Animate that looked interesting. As for the genre, it’s Pride Month babyyyy. Maybe you can guess haha

[muchukiwi]

@Ayara012

Yeah, I know how you feel - my reading time is definitely very seasonal, since I tend to do it during downtime at work. But here’s hoping!

With the genre I tend to read… I can’t really read it at work but sometimes I’ll bring in a short novel to fight my way through at work!

[muchukiwi]

@Ayara012

Yeah, don’t worry, 60 books is uh. Definitely not the worst backlog in here.

Fair point. I should count mine some time! And I have heaps of unread in my home country too. We just gotta keep working through them.

@Ayara012

Being an adult is DEFINITELY too time consuming. Why can’t I just do nerd stuff all day??? This is rude.

Buddy, tell me about it. All I wanna do is stay home, read and game please.
(Can you tell that this is my first time replying to someone… I still have much to learn. Sorry for all of the notifications haha)

[Ayara012]

@muchukiwi

What am I reading, you ask? I haven’t been sticking to one series! Just various ones I found at Animate that looked interesting. As for the genre, it’s Pride Month babyyyy. Maybe you can guess haha

Well I doubt I can guess the exact one, but I do have my fair share of seven seas translations, if that means anything to you

They’re mostly English text versions rather than manga/manhua versions, but still thematically appropriate, lol.

@muchukiwi

With the genre I tend to read… I can’t really read it at work

Yeah, I’ve usually just got like shonen and shoujo manga kinda thing. I still have to be a little careful, cuz the kids shouldn’t really be seeing me reading at work, but the other teachers know I do it for reading practice when there’s not stuff that I can help with.
(i.e. exam prep and grading)

It’s actually sparked conversations once or twice, with the teachers who are also manga fans but don’t speak much English - the excitement of seeing me with xyz volume gets them past the barrier of nervousness.

@muchukiwi

I should count mine some time! And I have heaps of unread in my home country too.

YEAH even my librarything is just the stuff I’ve got here in Japan - I’ve got books back home that aren’t in there, but they’re also more of a general collection (as opposed to over here, where I am Collecting^TM any favorite manga that I can get my sticky little paws on).

@muchukiwi

All I wanna do is stay home, read and game please.

This is truly the mood.

And don’t worry about the notifications! If you have questions on formatting, I’m happy to help explain them.

[muchukiwi]

@Ayara012

Well I doubt I can guess the exact one, but I do have my fair share of seven seas translations, if that means anything to you

Sounds like I need to up my game haha. I hadn’t heard of it but just looked it up. I’ll be keeping that bookmarked! But yes, looks like you’ve got the right idea haha.

@Ayara012

It’s actually sparked conversations once or twice, with the teachers who are also manga fans but don’t speak much English - the excitement of seeing me with xyz volume gets them past the barrier of nervousness.

That’s awesome to hear! I should try to get into some manga like that. I like Dorohedoro but it’s lowkey expensive and hard to find - also not well-known. Maybe Witch Hat might be a good one to go for!

@Ayara012

I’ve got books back home that aren’t in there, but they’re also more of a general collection

I can tell that you’ve got quite the collection. We love to see it. BUT we need more reads than unreads. Comrades in arms, in the trenches of 積読.

@Ayara012

If you have questions on formatting, I’m happy to help explain them.

Thanks! I think I’ve got the replying thing down now but I’ll keep that in mind.

[Ayara012]

@muchukiwi

I hadn’t heard of it but just looked it up. I’ll be keeping that bookmarked!

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Heavenly Officials’ Blessing, and Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System are probably their most well known (all three by the same author), but I also enjoyed The Disabled Tyrant’s Pet Fish (very fluffy, low stakes) and I’m two volumes into After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine.

This is all in English, though. (I do have the first two volumes of the manga version of Grandmaster, but I haven’t gotten around to reading them yet.)

If any of those manga you’re going through right now are worth recommending, feel free to share! Or you can message me if you’re more comfortable with that

@muchukiwi

Maybe Witch Hat might be a good one to go for!

If you mean Atelier, my one warning is that - at least from the glimpse I took at my copy of the first volume - it doesn’t have furigana. May make it a bit trickier to tackle.

One of the teachers at my school is a big FMA fan, though, so he and I have chatted about that and he’s confirmed that 黄泉のツガイ is good as well. I’ve also talked about the Conan movies with a different teacher, and at least two others have given me little Conan-omiyage that they spotted because they know I’m a big nerd about it. It’s a good way to break the ice, for sure!

@muchukiwi

I can tell that you’ve got quite the collection. We love to see it. BUT we need more reads than unreads. Comrades in arms, in the trenches of 積読.

Well. I don’t actually have this marked for which ones I’ve read and which ones I haven’t, but uh.
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/Ayara012
At this point I’m kind of just trying to ride out my reviews until deskwarming kicks back in, and then I’ll try to buckle down on manga again.

Cheering for y’all as you read, folks!

[muchukiwi]

@Ayara012

Or you can message me if you’re more comfortable with that

It’ll probably have to be this option haha. I will let you know!
And being all in English isn’t so bad, our brains need a break every now and then. Mental translation is exhausting. I try not to but often can’t help it!

@Ayara012

it doesn’t have furigana.

OOF, okay. I might have to take a raincheck on that one, unfortunate.

@Ayara012

黄泉のツガイ

I heard about this one recently! I actually had a student introduce a manga to me today, Kagurabachi. It looks cool too. Much to read!

@Ayara012

I’ll try to buckle down on manga again

Bro, I’ve got some rookie numbers haha. That’s quite an impressive list!

[Urazi]

@Ayara012

Well. I don’t actually have this marked for which ones I’ve read and which ones I haven’t, but uh.
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/Ayara012

Oouuh, I never heard of that site but I was looking for an alternative for Goodreads and such and it looks perfect!
Thank you!
And that’s quite an impressive collection.

[Ayara012]

@muchukiwi

I actually had a student introduce a manga to me today, Kagurabachi. It looks cool too. Much to read!

Oh yeah, my friend really likes Kagurabachi too! She hasn’t snagged me on trying it yet, but I’ve been trying to get her in return with 魔男のイチ, so not that any of us here need any more recommendations buuuuut…

@muchukiwi

I’ve got some rookie numbers haha.

Just don’t ask me to tag which ones I’ve actually read, my dignity wouldn’t survive it.
To be fair I HAVE read the majority of those in English, just uh. Not Japanese. Which is what I’ve bought. Oop.
Anyway there’s a reason I’m in here with everyone, even if I’m not making much progress at the moment

@Urazi

Oouuh, I never heard of that site but I was looking for an alternative for Goodreads and such and it looks perfect!
Thank you!

You’re welcome! Honestly, an especially big draw for me personally was that the app lets you scan things in with their barcodes using your phone. It’s far from perfect - especially with non-western materials - but even if I have to go back and remove a handful of false positives, it’s still much faster than trying to type in all of the ISBNs or names individually. For that, I can handle a little app jankiness.

[obscureniche]

@Ayara012

Now spill, what’d you pick up-

Oh you know just some volumes of Franken Fran, Amanchu, Shadow House, Laid Back Camp, an entire series called Riverview Cafe cause I heard it was good, all of Girl’s Last Tour…

But hey I made it through 70 pages of the second volume of Aria yesterday!

@Urazi

RIP bilingual manga, I discovered it last week and it will be taken down soon

I’m pretty sure this has happened to that site multiple times now.

@Ayara012

cuz the kids shouldn’t really be seeing me reading at work

Ah the benefits of working at a school in the US. I could be reading the most vile book and these children will never know. Now that I’m at a middle school I don’t even have to be that careful with manga. When I was at an elementary school I wouldn’t even try to read Detective Conan, just in case.

[Urazi]

@obscureniche

I’m pretty sure this has happened to that site multiple times now.

Sooo does that means it wil just have another URL and will come back?

[Ayara012]

@obscureniche

But hey I made it through 70 pages of the second volume of Aria yesterday!

I see I see - you’ve definitely got two balanced sides of the scale there, yup!
jk jk we all know I am equally weak, congrats on the reading!

@obscureniche

Ah the benefits of working at a school in the US. I could be reading the most vile book and these children will never know.

It’s usually not the content I’m worried about (barring the aforementioned seven seas or other more mature series), just making sure that it doesn’t look like I’m mucking around when I should be working. The kids don’t really know about deskwarming, after all.

It’s not like they can never see me reading, I just have to be careful about what it looks like, lol. Thankfully there’s a nice tall bookshelf between me and the door.

Edit for today: a few pages of 魔りました after bunkasai finished up today, so that’s something at least!

[Noxsora]

Steadily reading かがみの孤城 now on Page 188.

I bought a used computer game with a sticker ジャンク品, It’s a 200円宝くじ, will it run??

[Urazi]

Wel done
The covers for that novel are gorgeous.

I didn’t read on Tuesday but I managed to finish the last 2 chapters of summer on Satoshi reader and 4 pages of Monogatari.
Monogatari takes a looot of time (30 to 40 minutes per page) as I have to manually translate words so I put it aside yesterday as I was tired to start an easier read.
I read through nearly half of Short Stories for Japanese Learners (Level 1, Volume 1) in 45 minutes which was too easy so I will quickly finish it and start the level 2 book I have.
I should be able to finish the first monogatari novel by the end of next week so I’ll aim for that.

[Noxsora]

I won the 宝くじ！
It doesn’t have an installer, just an exe and the mac equivalent (Game.app ?)
The ‘credits’ are stuff like “David’s pointer library” and “Netscape loader”
Looks like a JRPG tho

[nminer]

Been a couple weeks since my last check in, so here’s an update:

Steadily reading through 星降る王国のニナ. Finished vol 11 and 12, and just started vol 13. Also keeping up with the 身分差に終わった恋を、今さらですが web comic, but that’s only updated every other week.

Kiki is also officially finished, which is a huge relief as I’ll have a lot more time to focus on other things. Pretty sure I ended up reading through that book about three times over the past six months, as for every new chapter I’d read it once, then as I was writing the summary for book club I’d read through it again, then before posting the summary I’d skim through the chapter a third time to make sure I didn’t miss any major plot points. As I mentioned in the book club thread, it was a good exercise that made sure I was understanding the material more deeply, but damn did it take a long time!

Anyway, going to take a bit of a break to catch up on Bunpro reviews, then hoping to start another novel. Not sure which one yet though!