I know what you're saying. I bought and wore out my copies of the Basic and Intermediate books, and as I started getting more advanced, was always wishing they would come out with an Advanced version.

But then I was in Junkudo bookstore in Nanba just this past summer and saw the Advanced version on the shelf. And I thought "Hey, finally!"

But then I ended up not buying it. I didn't even look inside it, to be honest. The reason being - I don't really systematically study Japanese anymore. I'm sure there are some patterns in there that I don't know, but these days I live and work almost completely in Japanese (forums like this are a rare chance for me to use English!). I speak with clients, attend company meetings, read/write letters and business memos - all in Japanese. I just didn't see the need to spend 4,000 yen on a grammar book I probably wouldn't have time to open and look at.

I guess it would be a useful buy for advanced speakers who are not living in Japan. Or perhaps for people who are studying to take JLPT1. Other than that, I think you may have the same experience as me.

Nowadays, when I have time to sit down and study Japanese, it's to focus on my kanji retention/writing ability.

I had been waiting for the book to come out for some time and bought it as soon as Kinokuniya had it in stock. I haven't actually used it that much though since I don't have much time for Japanese study these days and most of what I do study is vocab. That said, I did pull it out a few times when I needed clarification on something for JLPT. It is the most complete and definitely the most detailed grammar reference there is in English, so you can't go wrong.

If only it (and the previous two books) was available in EPWING format. I'd probably be willing to pay a lot of money for a good grammar reference that is easily searchable. The sheer amount of time it takes to look something up in a dead tree is what prevents me from using the books more often.

Well, I guess I'll try it out soon, it can't hurt to have a copy, if only to complete the set. ^_-

I just bought those two Read Real Japanese books, since Zarxrax or someone mentioned that they'd been updated for 2008, sans romaji, with audio and the like.

I have the Read Real Japanese (essays) and it's awesome. Finally it has got me reading Japanese.