Currently reading オレたちバブル入行組. I don't recommend it unless you have a death wish for yourself. Holy shit is this hard for me. It's about the Japanese bubble of the late 80's (is that right?) and includes a lot of business terminology in what I believe is a fictional story based on a non-fictional event. It's all slowly killing me.

Also just finished ボックス. I recommend it. It's kind of like Rocky if Rocky was Japanese and a high school student.

Samuel elmo martins reference grammar of Japanese and a French grammar book

howtwosavealif3 Wrote:I've read a book by him in the past which was okay

What was the other book you read by him? Some of the plots of his books sound interesting, so I've been thinking of giving this author a try, so I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it as well.

『太陽の塔』（たいようのとう）は、森見登美彦の長編小説
This was nominated for some award.

http://i.bookmeter.com/booklist?p=3

Funny you say interesting plot. That's the last thing I'd say about him as in I didn't get plot from this book and the one im reading right now. What I wrote on dokusho meter was that his writing style reminds me of american writers with his detailed sentences (I used the word koru) since japanese tends to be vague. That was the positive thing I could say and since there was no plot I gave it 3/5... if there was more plot and charcters all that i would've enjoyed it more etc etc. I appreciate that and the literally stimulation (he tends to use mad vocab... words and phrases i don't see often or have only come across once. it's like that in general with books with more words and whatnot... so i don't have to cling to this author for that) but I'm not that drawn to the characters or story... I didnt think there was much plot. Some people like his sekaikan but I don't think I got into it as much. I certainly don't rxommend him since I didn't like him that much at least compared to other writers like mori eto, Honda takayoshi, shukawa something etc. by all means its just my opinion and preferences so try him to find out if u like his books

Delurking to say that I love 森見登美彦 but he is absolutely not for everyone. Most of his stories are magical realism, focusing around the day-to-day lives of not-particularly-conscientious Kyoto college students and incorporating a lot of Japanese folklore, and don't have so much in the way of linear plot. He also uses the most obscure vocabulary (and non-jouyou kanji without furigana) that I've ever seen in a modern novel. If you want to expand your vocabulary, this would be an excellent place to look; if you get frustrated by lots of unfamiliar words or by not understanding what's happening immediately, you will probably hate him. For reference, I read 太陽の塔 post-N2 but pre-N1 and followed it enough to enjoy it, but I also have a high tolerance for unknown words.

I'd recommend starting with きつねのはなし, which is a collection of short stories with a bit more plot and a bit less ridiculous vocab than he generally uses. If you can't get through that, you will probably not enjoy his other books. If you do like it, 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 is my favorite, and I think it's really representative of his usual style. I would read 太陽の塔 only after that.

howtwosavealif3 Wrote:i have no idea what the f is going on ie who the main character is or if the narrator is changing every chapter.

This should become clearer if you do keep going! It all ties together in the end... mostly. There are two narrators/main characters, the girl from the title and her male classmate.

I'm just starting the second half of 悪人 by 吉田修一: decent, and I like the way the story develops via a wide range of characters connected to the murder, but I think I prefer his short stories. My 読書メーター is over here, feel free to friend me if anyone's interested: http://book.akahoshitakuya.com/u/159401

Stian Wrote:Japanese: ハリーポッターと秘密の部屋

I'm almost done the first book now. Pretty excited to have a solid set of books to read through. Having the English alongside does help me though.

Manga: catching up on these:

while waiting for the next releases of よつばと! and ヴィンランド・サガ.

Visual Novels: currently reading through the French version of

while patiently waiting for the release of the full Japanese translation.

Non-fiction:

Also reading a book about Classical Japanese in Russian (if anyone's interested, Сыромятников Н.А. "Классический Японский язык") and a couple of small Ilya Frank's method books that I bought a long time ago and never finished. They aren't very level-appropriate to me any more, so I'm just reading them out of completionism, I guess.

Based on a recommendation from another thread in this forum, I started reading 十分で読める伝記, a book for third graders in Japan. It has biographies (伝記) on a handful of famous types. I'm only on Chapter 1, reading about Alfred Nobel. I'm about 60% finished with Heisig's first book, so it's a joy to see so many recognizable kanji. But some of the grammar eludes me. I wish I was as smart as a Japanese third grader.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon Japan: 十分で読めれ伝記

Anyone read 空飛ぶタイヤ? Exploring my options for new books to buy.

dekirudake Wrote:Delurking to say that I love 森見登美彦 but he is absolutely not for everyone. Most of his stories are magical realism, focusing around the day-to-day lives of not-particularly-conscientious Kyoto college students and incorporating a lot of Japanese folklore, and don't have so much in the way of linear plot. He also uses the most obscure vocabulary (and non-jouyou kanji without furigana) that I've ever seen in a modern novel. If you want to expand your vocabulary, this would be an excellent place to look; if you get frustrated by lots of unfamiliar words or by not understanding what's happening immediately, you will probably hate him. For reference, I read 太陽の塔 post-N2 but pre-N1 and followed it enough to enjoy it, but I also have a high tolerance for unknown words.

I'd recommend starting with きつねのはなし, which is a collection of short stories with a bit more plot and a bit less ridiculous vocab than he generally uses. If you can't get through that, you will probably not enjoy his other books. If you do like it, 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 is my favorite, and I think it's really representative of his usual style. I would read 太陽の塔 only after that.

howtwosavealif3 Wrote:i have no idea what the f is going on ie who the main character is or if the narrator is changing every chapter.

This should become clearer if you do keep going! It all ties together in the end... mostly. There are two narrators/main characters, the girl from the title and her male classmate.

I'm just starting the second half of 悪人 by 吉田修一: decent, and I like the way the story develops via a wide range of characters connected to the murder, but I think I prefer his short stories. My 読書メーター is over here, feel free to friend me if anyone's interested: http://book.akahoshitakuya.com/u/159401

I finished it. I like it overall and it does get easier to follow once I got further in. I would give it 3 out of 5. It was like his previous book where I enjoyed the literary stimulation but wasnt as completely feeling/immersed in the sekaikan like his hardcore fans. I think I like this better than the other novel of his i read.

Recently I read the first short story in yoshimoto banana's book called
白河 Something. The story is interesting at parts and iffy at parts and the endin made me go wtf as in what was the point of the story. I'll try the full novels before I give up on his author . I know this author is popular in korea which garnered my interest but so is murakami haruki ( there's a big split between lovers and haters for him)

I'm reading through a series called ふたごの魔法つかい. I just finished 風と火の国, which I think is the best one so far, but they're all quite enjoyable.
It's part of the フォア文庫 A series, so very easy - but far better than the other stuff I've read aimed at that age group.

I'd like to unearth this thread, maybe this time it will last...

I'm currently reading 探偵ガリレオ, by 東野圭吾. I like it for two reasons:
- it's the first 探偵 book I read in japanese, a genre that fascinates me
and
- it's written by an electrical engineer, the major I'm currently studying, which adds extra points in terms of vocabulary and sympathy for the book

It's part of a series which apparently consists of many books but I think the stories are individually enjoyable.

Aikynaro Wrote:I'm reading through a series called ふたごの魔法つかい. I just finished 風と火の国, which I think is the best one so far, but they're all quite enjoyable.
It's part of the フォア文庫 A series, so very easy - but far better than the other stuff I've read aimed at that age group.

Sounds interesting. I hope I cross paths with this series.

On my Current Reading pile:

世界中で迷子になって by 角田光代. An easy to read book of personal essays, the first half of which centers squarely on the author's world travels.

ウイッチクラフトワークス、第6巻. Watched the series, and am reading the books to round out whatever I might have missed in terms of vocab. These are quick reads - I can generally finish one in a few hours if I sit down and concentrate on it.

プログラミング言語Ruby. I've wanted to learn Ruby for work, so I decided to go all AJATT and learn it in Japanese.

On the stack, awaiting consumption:

Books:
遺体 by 石井光太. Gonna have to build up to this one; I'm sure it's not an uplifting read.
Go by 金城一紀
負け犬の遠吠え　by 酒井順子
進撃の巨人, Vol. 3 and up
シドニアの騎士、第２巻

gaiaslastlaugh Wrote:プログラミング言語Ruby. I've wanted to learn Ruby for work, so I decided to go all AJATT and learn it in Japanese.

Nice one!
I'm very interested in technical japanese books, and also in programming (but I study mainly electronics).
How do you find the books? Do you plain search on Google and Kindle-purchase them?

sunehiro Wrote:

gaiaslastlaugh Wrote:プログラミング言語Ruby. I've wanted to learn Ruby for work, so I decided to go all AJATT and learn it in Japanese.

Nice one!
I'm very interested in technical japanese books, and also in programming (but I study mainly electronics).
How do you find the books? Do you plain search on Google and Kindle-purchase them?

You can buy O'Reilly's books through their Japanese site and download them as PDFs. https://www.oreilly.co.jp/ebook/. For other technical disciplines, I'd try Kindle.

Holy crap, this isn't a book, but I'm totally obsessed with reddit.com/r/IAmA and reddit.com/r/AMA/ right now.

Here's some good ones:
Former member of the westboro baptist church
Guy who climbed mt everest and witnessed the stek / sherpa fight
Peter Thiel
Amish guy leaves the farm and joins the military.

Currently I'm reading 聞く力 (not yet figured the proper reading... きくりょく?).

It's a nice essay on asking question to people and listening to their answers. The language is pretty stiff, but there are some interesting semi-common, essay-specific words to mine so that's actually cool.

I've just read the part about 相づち, and I realized once more how poor my 相づち skills are.
Now I'm searching the net for a book about using them smoothly, I think I'll need it.

Hmm, can't offer any Japanese titles.

Currently reading "Meisje met negen pruiken" from Sophie van der Stap.

It's an autobiography written by Sophie and describing her battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in her lung when she was 21. Because of the chemotherapy she lost most of her hair and had to wear a wig. Over time she amassed 9 different wigs which also represented different personalities. It's a nice read full with humor and wit and has a more or less happy ending (since the author is still alive and currently without cancer).
I don't think there is an English translation of the book available, but there is surprisingly enough a Japanese one available next to a German and a French one. In 2013 a German movie, which is based on the book, was released.

I picked up Harry Potter 1 Part I with furigana the other day. I first read it in English, and then when I read it in Spanish I thought it really helped me progress. Hopefully it will be useful in Japanese as well.

Fight Club.
Sacred Economics.
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language.

After Fight Club going to start "Raptor Red".

I'm working my way through "Japanese Reader: Graded Lessons In The Modern Language" by Miller. I like it because it's tough and you learn a lot.

The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4213...ller_Files

The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn't What It Used to Be
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1604...d-of-power

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1766...hing-store

And started just today, the original japanese version
ハーモニー
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7326876-harmony

まんがでわかる 7つの習慣 (manga version of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People that's in convenience stores and book shops everywhere)

ゼロ・トゥ・ワン (translated version of Peter Thiel's Zero to One)

I'm reading 黄金旋律 and feel the urge to complain about it somewhere. It's like the author had a really good idea for a story and then decided to not tell it. Feels like I've been reading ~250 pages of prologue and it doesn't look like the plot is going to start before the end of the book. Everything is told through flashbacks and conversations. The protagonist hasn't actually proactively done anything the whole book except throw himself in front of a car.
I think it's well written, the characters are well developed, and the central idea of it is really interesting - but there's only about 60 pages left and no one's done anything and I have no idea what conditions need to be met for the story to end. It's frustrating.