Lilisin and the Lost Reading Mojo - 2017 version

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Lilisin and the Lost Reading Mojo - 2017 version

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1lilisin
Editado: Feb 14, 2018, 7:47 pm

Hello everyone!

2017 will be my quest for my lost reading mojo as 2016 ended up being a year for adventure and fun and not reading. Will I find it or will it continue to elude me? Who knows but I'm sticking to my same goal of 50. Wish me luck!

Goal unfinished: 41 books/manga out of a goal of 50.

Books in 2017:
1) Richard Flanagan : The Narrow Road to the Deep North
2) Shizuko Natsuki : Hara-kiri, mon amour
3) Haruki Murakami : L'Étrange Bibliothèque
4) Han Kang : The Vegetarian
5) Loung Ung : First they killed my father
6) Amelie Nothomb : La Nostalgie Heureuse
7) Junichi Saga : Confessions of a Yakuza
8) Hiroko Oyamada :
9) Maiko Seo : 天国はまだ遠く
10) Ryu Murakami : オーディション

Manga in 2017:
エリアの騎士 5-6
Maison Ikkoku 1-10
ばらかもん 1-7
コタローは一人暮らし 2-3
アイアムアヒーロー 21-22
Orange 2-3
Naruto 66-71

Previous threads: 2016 - 2015

2MissWatson
Ene 5, 2017, 4:41 am

Welcome back and good luck!

3connie53
Editado: Ene 5, 2017, 10:44 am

Welcome back, Lilisin. Happy ROOTing. I hope you will find your reading mojo soon.

4Tess_W
Ene 5, 2017, 11:36 am

Good luck with rooting and I'm sure the mojo will return!

5avanders
Ene 5, 2017, 2:43 pm

Welcome back & Happy 2017 ROOTing!

6rabbitprincess
Ene 5, 2017, 6:15 pm

Welcome back and good luck with retrieving your mojo! May the right book come along very soon.

7Caramellunacy
Ene 6, 2017, 8:20 am

Good luck with the reading mojo (although, I have to admit that a year of adventure and fun sounds pretty good, too!)

8readingtangent
Ene 7, 2017, 9:55 pm

Welcome back and best of luck with your goal!

9Familyhistorian
Ene 8, 2017, 1:38 am

I hope your reading Mojo comes back. Happy ROOTing.

10lilisin
Ene 9, 2017, 7:51 pm

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I'm going to try and be good again about turning off all electronics at 10pm so that I can attempt to read till midnight. I used to do that in grad school to de-stress and it worked really well. As long as I don't get my friends texting me at that time (which they usually do), I might be able to create some reading magic. We will see!

11Limelite
Ene 9, 2017, 10:01 pm

I know the feeling.

But your ticker dog looks very confident. . .and inspiring.

12rabbitprincess
Ene 9, 2017, 10:43 pm

>10 lilisin: For a while I'd actually managed to be in bed by 9 so that I could read until 10, but that's totally fallen apart over the past couple of weeks (I blame Christmas and the transition to a new year). I wish you better luck with unplugging than I have had!

13Familyhistorian
Ene 13, 2017, 8:43 pm

>10 lilisin: Good luck with your planned destressing time. Maybe you should let your friends in on your new schedule and ask them to stop texting at 10:00.

14Limelite
Ene 14, 2017, 9:05 pm

>12 rabbitprincess:
It's 3 minutes past nine here and now. I'm going to follow your bedtime advice ASAP!

Lots of fresh air and exercise today have made me sleepy! Not often NoGA gets SoFla winter weather, but today was it.

15lilisin
Ene 31, 2017, 3:20 am

First update for 2017.
I have been following my reading plan and although I'm still a bit distracted in the evenings, I've made great progress on The Narrow Road to the Deep North which I should finish in February.

Although I never declare New Years Resolutions, I've without noticing added new habits to my schedule. I've been working out at home to youtube videos two days a week after work (for more intense training than my weekend soccer), have been studying Japanese more intensively while at work, and have also been trying out lots of new recipes that I've been cooking and adding to my ... what's the word? Can't recall right now. (5 minutes later: repertoire!)

The new recipes are quite exciting. There are lots of cooking apps being advertised on Facebook right now so I decided to download a few and found one I like. Every day you get about 6 new easy recipes that come with videos on how to prep and cook so I save my favorites and the next day I make one recipe. They don't take longer than 30 minutes to do and are a great way to get me used to Japanese cooking.

Other good news is that my year long hunt for a violin is finally over and I finally bought the most beautiful (sounding and looking!) violin. I'm very happy. However, with my teacher we are working hard to undo my poor left hand habits and replace them with a more proper form and it's leaving me flummoxed and frustrated. It's so hard trying to fix the basics in your technique when you are working on such difficult pieces with the orchestra. I have to keep the motivation that fixing my technique will make the difficult pieces less difficult!

So lots of wonderful things going on.

January Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 1
Total ROOTs: 1

Manga acquired: 0
Books acquired: 2

Manga read:
エリアの騎士 5

Books purchased:
小山田 浩子:
磯崎 憲一郎: 終の住処

16avanders
Ene 31, 2017, 11:05 am

Sounds like a great January with your new habits! I love finding new recipes that are yummy!
Congrats on finding a violin! As I'm sure you know, creating new habits (especially w/ an instrument) is difficult... but you will definitely get there! All of a sudden, your new habits will be your old habits and it will all be natural :) Good luck!

17rabbitprincess
Ene 31, 2017, 7:01 pm

Good luck with the violin and have fun trying the new recipes! Instructional videos sound very useful, especially when trying to figure out what the recipe means when it describes a certain texture or colour the dish is supposed to achieve.

18Limelite
Feb 4, 2017, 3:32 pm

>15 lilisin:

By the time you read this message, you and your new violin will be better and "older" friends. Tone and texture are everything with a violin, aren't they?

"Narrow Road" is one of the most powerful novels about the ambiguity of good and not good that I've ever read. Difficult though several scenes were to read, I thought the book was beautiful and filled with compassion.

These days I'm the biggest fan of Kiwi, Aussie, and Asian Pacific literature due to 3 novels.
1) Narrow Road
2) The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
3) The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng

19lilisin
Editado: Feb 7, 2017, 2:17 am

1) Richard Flanagan : The Narrow Road to the Deep North

First book read since May!

But I'm not sure what I think of it. I wanted to read a POW of war book as my grandfather was once a (French/Vietnamese) POW of the Japanese. He spoke of their cruelty and lived his life praising the virtues of the Vietnamese, and cursing the "Japs". However, this wasn't a POW book, at least, not in the way that I wanted it to be.

And I'm not sure I know what this book was. I found the Amy love story unrealistic and unconvincing and it read like an Ian McEwan book (an author I do not care for) and then the bushfire later also felt very much out of place and unnecessary.

Flanagan had a better time describing the POW situation but although his writing is lovely, it was too flowery for the subject. Instead of having me feel the horrors myself, he tried to tell me how to feel the horrors and I just read with a shrugged shoulders sort of outlook as he kept repeating himself just with different floral accents on his writing.

I'm not disappointed at the book, and I'm glad to have read it, but I'm not sure I see it as anything but another book. There are so many other books out there about WWII that really rip you out emotionally so I guess I just don't understand the prize.

However, to get a bit more of a realistic take, the next book I'm reading is Shohei Ooka's autobiographical Taken Captive: A Japanese POW's Story which will give me a different perspective. And as he is the author of the magnificent Fires on the Plain, I'm greatly looking forward to this one.

20MissWatson
Feb 7, 2017, 5:30 am

Congrats on finishing a book, and hopefully the next one will live up expectations.

21avanders
Feb 8, 2017, 4:11 pm

congrats on finishing the book!

22lilisin
Editado: Feb 27, 2017, 11:03 pm

This year in Tokyo we are having a very mild winter (yay!) so the weather is gorgeous and already feeling like spring. Here's to hoping the rain stays away during cherry blossom season which will be at the end of this month. Last year I told myself I should do a little weekend trip to a new city to see the cherry blossoms there so I think I might like to start researching that. At least, even if I don't do it this year, I can get ideas for next year.

February Summary!

Books read: 1
Manga read: 0
Total ROOTs: 2

Manga acquired: 0
Books acquired: 0

Book read:
Richard Flanagan : The Narrow Road to the Deep North

This month not only did I manage to stay away from the bookstores, I also managed to read a book that has been on my wishlist since it was first published, but read within 3 months of purchasing it and putting it on my TBR pile.

I'm currently reading a book in Japanese that has not yet been translated in English. I think I can finish it in March so hope to add to the ticker then. I'm also considering lowering my goal to 12, twelve being one novel per month, and just not counting manga which I haven't been in the mood for this year so far anyway. I'll give myself more time to decide and see where my mood takes me first.

The new Haruki Murakami book, Killing Commendatore, came out here in Japan this week and it was tempting to purchase but I've never read over 300 pages in Japanese (and this one is 1000), and I have to say that I really dislike this cover.



I think I'm willing to wait two years for it to come out in paperback and by then I will have a few more novels read in Japanese under my belt.

23connie53
Abr 7, 2017, 1:21 pm

Hi lilisin! How are you doing? I hope everything is all right.

24avanders
Abr 9, 2017, 7:45 pm

>24 avanders: ditto :)

25lilisin
Editado: Abr 30, 2017, 10:46 pm

>23 connie53:, >24 avanders:

Hello! Doing well! Never realized I skipped March! Probably just because there wasn't much to post.

In April I got hit with a nasty cold that keeps coming back and preventing me from being 100% me. Also had our orchestra concert that didn't feel like much of a success but I'll have to hear the recorded version. We played:
Smetana - Moldau
Poulenc - Les Biches
Dvorzak - Symphony 7

This Sunday we start rehearsing the new music which is:
Camille Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre
Debussy - Petite Suite
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique

This week is Golden Week in Japan which is basically like a Spring Break with Wed, Thurs and Friday being holidays. With May being the best month of the year for weather, I'm looking forward to soaking up lots of sun in the park and doing nothing else but that. May will also bring in lots of major festivals, two weddings, my LT 10 year thing-aversary.

March + April Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 1
Total ROOTs: 3

Manga acquired: 1
Books acquired: 3

Manga read:
エリアの騎士 6

Books purchased:
村田 沙耶香 : コンビニ人間
井上 靖 : しろばんば
瀬尾 まいこ : 天国はまだ遠く

Manga purchased:
アイアムアヒーロー 22

Despite not reading I was really bored one day and tired of being stuck at home with my cold so I decided to at least go to the bookstore to wander when I had more energy. I ended up coming home with three books that I don't need but fortunately Japanese books are small and don't take up much space.

Someday I will read this. Someday. Probably not this year, but someday. :)

26floremolla
mayo 1, 2017, 4:35 am

>25 lilisin: so many nasty cold bugs going around and it's interesting to see it's an international phenomenon! no wonder you're short of time for reading if you've lots of pieces of music to learn/practise - once the gardening weather improves my reading will plummet - hopefully we'll have a good May here too. Enjoy your Golden Week, it sounds wonderful!

27rabbitprincess
mayo 1, 2017, 6:09 pm

Sorry to hear you've had a nasty cold! I am just recovering from one myself. Hope the nice weather in May helps bring you back to 100%!

28connie53
mayo 4, 2017, 4:04 am

I hope you will feel better soon. Enjoy your break and all the fun things in May.

29lilisin
mayo 9, 2017, 4:08 am

I read a book! Or maybe I should better state, I finished a book! I read the majority of this last year but never read the last 60 pages so this Golden Week (the Japanese version of Spring Break except not limited to just students) I pushed myself to read at least 10 pages a day to finish it.

2) Shizuko Natsuki : Hara-kiri, mon amour
American title: The Obituary Arrives at Two O'Clock

The book was actually translated into French from the American version.

Kosuke is a grounds keeper and one day gets in a fight with the owner of a golf course over unpaid debts. The following day the owner of the golf course turns up murdered and all evidence points to Kosuke. Did he do it?

This little crime fiction is apparently a prize winner and was definitely intriguing with all its twists and turns. I also very much liked the ending although I think I'm over my brief foray into crime fiction.

The French title was very confusing as it has nothing to do with the plot of the book and was only used because a character quotes it. Due to this I was definitely mislead into expecting a different kind of book.

30MissWatson
mayo 9, 2017, 4:22 am

Great for you to have finished a book!

31floremolla
mayo 9, 2017, 7:19 am

>29 lilisin: it's a pity when reading a book becomes a labour and you find you're having to really apply yourself to getting it finished, but sometimes there's an increased sense of satisfaction, in having risen to the challenge, that makes it worth it. Well done!

32lilisin
mayo 19, 2017, 1:10 am

>31 floremolla:
It's not so much that it became laboring, insomuch as I lost the rhythm in the read. I was reading at a nice pace and enjoying the book but once I put it down it stayed down for about 4 months. Jumping back in and trying to reimmerse in both the book and my original rhythm and feeling was difficult.

But thank you. I'm certainly happy to be able to claim a book as done.

3) Haruki Murakami : L'Étrange Bibliothèque
English title: The Strange Library

I read this one next as it is a short 50 pages or so with half of the pages being illustrations.

I didn't like this. There was no point to it other than to make a lot of money off a short story (which worked). Brilliant marketing strategy, not so much a brilliant story.

I just feel indifferent to this. I didn't see the point; there was no message; surrealism for the sake of surrealism.

At least it was short.

33avanders
mayo 23, 2017, 8:05 pm

>25 lilisin: eh, it happens ;)
Bummer about that cold! Hopefully it's long gone by now!
I can understand going to a bookstore when you're not feeling well... and of course you had to buy a book or two (or three) while there...

>29 lilisin: woo hoo, congrats!

>32 lilisin: I really liked it -- but I know it gets really mixed reviews. Sorry it didn't work out for you!

34lilisin
Editado: mayo 29, 2017, 3:27 am

It is my 10 year LT anniversary today!

I first joined LT when I was living in Argentina and have had so many great experiences on this page since then. My reading has slowed now and my exuberance for the site has as well but I still enjoy coming here every day to see what people are up to. I look forward to seeing where another 10 years on LT will take me.

Now, normally the tradition is to buy 10 books for your 10-er but I'm just going to try to complete the series I'm reading that happens to have 10 volumes in it. I think reading that will be a great way to celebrate.

Off to Paris on Thursday for my two week vacation visiting family!

35floremolla
mayo 29, 2017, 4:00 am

Congratulations on your 10th Thingaversary!

Things ebb and flow throughout life and reading may be one of them. Hopefully LT will still be going strong when your passion for reading returns - as I think it will (speaking from experience!).

Have a wonderful time in Paris - I'm so envious of your two week visit!

36MissWatson
mayo 29, 2017, 5:33 am

Congratulations on your tenner badge! And I hope you have a wonderful time in Paris!

37Jackie_K
mayo 29, 2017, 8:18 am

Happy Thingaversary! 10 years is very impressive. I think I'm hitting 5 years later this year.

38rabbitprincess
mayo 29, 2017, 4:54 pm

Happy Thingaversary and enjoy celebrating by finishing up that series! Have a great trip!

39avanders
mayo 31, 2017, 3:15 pm

>34 lilisin: Happy Anniversary! :)
Great way to celebrate, indeed!
Enjoy your vacation!

40connie53
Jun 4, 2017, 2:40 am

Happy Thingaversary! Enjoy Paris!

41lilisin
Jun 14, 2017, 10:27 pm

Back from my vacation!

While it started with weird weather (sweaters and hail!), it ended with wonderful warm sun and friendly blue skies. I have really missed having the sun set past 10pm as in Japan, at the height of summer, the sun sets at 7pm (6:58pm to be exact) and rises at 4:24am which can make it feel like summer never even happened since you are still sleeping during three hours of prime daylight.

I enjoyed eating good food, visiting some castles, spending time with my relatives but mostly just enjoyed doing nothing and walking around aimlessly. Of course I bought lots of books I have no intention of reading anytime soon but oh well. At least they can sit there and look pretty on my shelf.

May Summary!

Books read: 2
Manga read: 2
Total ROOTs: 7

Manga acquired: a lot
Books acquired: a lot

Books read:
Shizuko Natsuki : Hara-kiri, mon amour
Haruki Murakami : L'Étrange Bibliothèque

Manga read:
Maison Ikkoku 1-2

Books purchased:
Jules Verne : L'étoile du Sud
Han Kang : The Vegetarian
Junichi Saga : Confessions of a Yakuza
Stefan Zweig : Le voyage dans le passé
Zola : La Fortune des Rougon, La Débâcle, Une page d'amour, Germinal, Le Rêve, L'Oeuvre, Nana, La Faute de l'abbé Mouret, La Conquete de Plassans, L'Assommoir, Son Excellence Eugène Rougon

Manga purchased:
Detective Conan 78-89
Naruto 66-72

42floremolla
Jun 15, 2017, 4:21 am

>41 lilisin: what a great haul of books! I haven't read any Zola so will take an author bullet and rectify that sometime soon.

43MissWatson
Jun 15, 2017, 4:29 am

Welcome back! So, which castles did you visit?

44rabbitprincess
Jun 15, 2017, 5:51 pm

Of course I bought lots of books I have no intention of reading anytime soon but oh well. At least they can sit there and look pretty on my shelf.

Story of my life! ;)

Glad to hear you had a great time in Paris. I hope you ate all of the croissants and baguettes and macarons and cheese for me :D

45lilisin
Jun 15, 2017, 9:59 pm

>42 floremolla:

When I get in reading ruts I love pulling out a Zola and getting immersed in his world.

>43 MissWatson:

Thank you! While I was in Paris I was starting to regret not having at least lived a year in Paris but as soon as I step on Japanese soil that regret was forgotten so it's good to be back! I ended up visiting the castles in Pierrefonds and Chantilly.

>44 rabbitprincess:

Lots of pain au chocolat, baguettes, cheese, foie gras and lots and lots of fruits I can't find in Japan.

46MissWatson
Jun 16, 2017, 4:36 am

>45 lilisin: Thanks! Chantilly is on my list, but Pierrefonds sounds interesting, too.

47lilisin
Jun 28, 2017, 10:14 pm

And just like that June is coming to an end. What a nice month it has been for me. Even the rainy season is cooperating nicely. It isn't raining as much as it did last year or the year before but even when it does rain it's raining only at night while sleeping, or during the day while you're inside at work. It hasn't interrupted my schedule once yet. So refreshing.

I'm looking to move into a new apartment by the end of July so hopefully July will be busy with visiting prospective places and then moving. It'll be nice to be living on my own again instead of being in a share house. My roommates are nice but I'm quite tired of having to clean for everyone.

June Summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 1
Total ROOTs: 8

Manga acquired: 0
Books acquired: 0

Manga read:
Maison Ikkoku 3

48MissWatson
Jun 29, 2017, 3:56 am

Oh, good luck with the apartment hunting!

49floremolla
Jun 29, 2017, 12:15 pm

Yes good luck, exciting and hopefully not too stressful!

50lilisin
Jul 10, 2017, 11:47 pm

A rare book ROOT!

Han Kang : The Vegetarian

Meh.

I feel like I've read this kind of book so many times. Sexuality covered in surrealism (ie. Haruki Murakami), disfunctional Asian families (ie. Banana Yoshimoto), marital unhappiness, etc. I've read so many variations on this topic that it is hard to make it seem new.

While I devoured the book in three reading sessions over the weekend due to how well translated the prose is, I just know that I'll forget about this book in a few months time.

51connie53
Jul 21, 2017, 2:43 am

Hi lilisin, how is the apartment hunt doing? Did you find something to your taste?

52lilisin
Jul 21, 2017, 3:36 am

>51 connie53:

I've applied to an apartment and am just waiting for confirmation! Just hoping I don't get denied for being a foreigner.

53connie53
Jul 21, 2017, 2:50 pm

I hope so too! Fingers crossed for you.

54floremolla
Jul 22, 2017, 2:31 pm

Echoing Connie, hope you get the apartment! Coincidentally my daughter and her boyfriend just succeeded in renting an unfurnished city apartment. She has been home to snag some furniture. It's an exciting time, getting a space of your own, good luck!

55lilisin
Jul 31, 2017, 7:40 pm

July update!

So I did get the apartment, or rather, I got the apartment next to the apartment I though I was getting. I'm a little peeved as that means I was mislead and that the apartment I have has less light coming in than the one I wanted. But at least it's still nice and we'll see how the light situation goes as I live in it. When I saw the apartment again it was already turning to night so perhaps I still have good light on the weekends when I'm actually home.

However, I have yet to move into it. I can't move in until water/gas/electricity is turned on which my friend was supposed to call yesterday for me but didn't do so that means it probably won't get turned on for another few days at least. So this week I have to deal with an hour and a half commute instead of the 30 minute commute that it is supposed to be. Waking up at 6am to not arrive to work until 8:30am is the opposite of fun. So close to the new life though.

This week's agenda is to buy a bicycle, a bed, and a fridge. Oh, and curtains.

As for reading I've been going to the beach so I've been reading quite a bit although I haven't finished the books I'm reading yet. Hopefully those will come out in an August update. And I have been good about not buying any books as I'm moving and don't need any.

Books read: 1
Manga read: 3
Total ROOTs: 12

Manga acquired: 0
Books acquired: 0

Book read:
Han Kang : The Vegetarian

Manga read:
Maison Ikkoku 4-6

56floremolla
Jul 31, 2017, 8:54 pm

how annoying about the apartment! But you know you've reached a certain maturity when you're buying curtains ;)

57connie53
Ago 4, 2017, 6:49 am

>55 lilisin: Good news, though it was different then you expected. Happy curtain buying.

58lilisin
Ago 20, 2017, 8:21 pm

Another book! Luong Ung : First they killed my father

Finished this short book over the weekend, a first account narrative of the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge. The story is told via the perspective of the author from the age of 5 to about 10. It was a gripping story as she tells the story of her family's attempt at survival while surrounded by the horrors of starvation, fear of execution, fear of separation, and a general lack of understanding why this was happening. The author never goes into the why and the how and the when; she's not here to provide a historical account of the event, only her personal account. All in all a good read.

I had bought this book while in Cambodia which added an extra dimension to the book as I could picture the Cambodian countryside as she traverses it. To wonder what Cambodia could have been without this massive step back.

---

Update on the 10 year Thingaversary goal. I'm halfway through the last volume of the 10 volume series and will finish that this evening.

Otherwise, been having a lovely summer going to the beach practically every weekend, saw one fireworks display and been basically quite busy with moving. I have no furniture so have been sleeping on a yoga mat for the past three weeks. This upcoming weekend they are delivering my mattress so I'm excited to finally sleep on something a bit more comfortable although my back feels wonderful after having been realigned by the hard surface. This week I'm also finally buying a refridgerator, a washing machine and an oven.

Also, my next orchestra concert is coming up in two week. So soon! Lots happening!

59connie53
Ago 21, 2017, 3:00 am

I hope the mattress will be to your liking too! Good luck with the concert!

60MissWatson
Ago 21, 2017, 6:44 am

I hope furnishing the flat is proving fun! And good luck with your concert.

61lilisin
Ago 30, 2017, 8:46 pm

Summer beach reading is always the best. Another book ROOT has come out of it.

Amelie Nothomb : La Nostalgie Heureuse

I always say that I like Nothomb best when she writes about herself and this was no different. Here she writes about her experiences coming back to Japan for the first time since her 20s (she's in her 40s now) as part of a French television program, meeting her former nanny and former fiance. There were great snippets of her famous humor and as always she wrote so well about her return to Japan without falling too much into the Japanese cliches despite the director of the program putting her in cliche areas. A nice summer book accentuated by my own experiences with Japan.

62lilisin
Editado: Nov 6, 2017, 2:16 am

August was an excellent month of reading for me. A combination of being on the beach every weekend and not having internet installed at home yet has led me to almost doubling my ROOTs read in just one month. I need to purchase a lamp so I can read in bed in my room which will be a nice upgrade from reading on a yoga mat in the kitchen but we're making progress on the furniture front.

And although I added some manga today I'm already making progress through the series (that I'm loving) and I even sold some to the used bookstore!

August summary!

Books read: 2
Manga read: 7
Total ROOTs: 22

Manga acquired: 14
Books acquired: 0

Books read:
Loung Ung : First they killed my father
Amelie Nothomb : La Nostalgie Heureuse

Manga read:
Maison Ikkoku 7-10
ばらかもん 1-3

63lilisin
Editado: Nov 6, 2017, 2:15 am

I'm not sure what happened in September. It kind of just.... went by.

I received the last of the essentials for an apartment as I got two light fixtures and some curtains. This Saturday I will receive the counter that I will be able to place my oven on (Japanese ovens look more like bigger microwaves) which will also give me more room to store kitchen supplies and dishes.

After that I have to get a sofa and coffee table and then question whether I get a dining table or not. In the US I used to sit on the floor and eat dinner at the coffee table so I might continue that lifestyle. Still though, been enjoying acquiring furniture. Would like to find a sofa I like though; not an easy feat.

Still have not had internet installed in my apartment so I have been reading. The fall weather arrived right on schedule although it's colder than it should be due to it being cloudy for the past few days. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain then the sun should finally be coming out on Sunday. At least I hope! I miss seeing blue skies and my bougainvillea would very much like some sun as well as it seems to be entering a new growth phase. Hopefully it'll flower once more before I winter it.

Our orchestra concert was a real success. Really loved the pieces we played and it was wonderful to send them out to an audience. More than a 1000 people in attendance! Right now we are rehearsing Beethoven's 9th as we play that every year for our winter concert. It's certainly much easier to play than last year (which was my first time playing the piece) as I've improved significantly over the year but at our first rehearsal this past weekend I was reminded of some of the most difficult parts. I will try to master them this year.

In any case I have been reading books but I'm not finished with them yet so September update is all manga but progress nevertheless!

September summary!

Books read: 0
Manga read: 8
Total ROOTs: 30

Manga acquired: 0
Books acquired: 0

Manga read:
ばらかもん 4-7
コタローは一人暮らし 2-3
アイアムアヒーロー 21-22
Orange 2

64MissWatson
Oct 6, 2017, 5:01 am

Compliments on your successful concert!

65floremolla
Oct 6, 2017, 3:50 pm

Always enjoy your updates on establishing your Japanese apartment - and your orchestra concerts. Oh to be young and talented... :)

66connie53
Oct 15, 2017, 3:34 am

1000 people in the audiences! Excellent.

67lilisin
Editado: Nov 6, 2017, 2:15 am

Nothing much to report this month as the internet was installed in my apartment so I have been "internet-ing" instead of reading which I know is stupid because the internet is a real waste of time. October also saw two typhoons which led to about two weeks of nonstop rain and also had some strange bouts of cold while also allowing me to spend my last two days of the year at the beach.

A very strange month indeed.

October summary!

Books read: 1
Manga read: 1
Total ROOTs: 32

Manga acquired: 0
Books acquired: 0

Book read:
Confessions of a Yakuza

Manga read:
Orange 3

68lilisin
Nov 28, 2017, 2:42 am

Just in the nick of time managed to get something read this month. And it's a book! And it's in Japanese! That makes up for not reading much although my only real excuse to not reading much is being lazy when I get home and just watching tv. Winter is definitely here and settled. Am looking forward to going back home for the Christmas/New Years holidays though.

November summary!

Books read: 1
Manga read: 0
Total ROOTs: 33

Manga acquired: 3
Books acquired: 2

Book read:
Hiroko Oyamada :

Manga purchased:
Trigun Maximum 5-7

Books purchased:
桜木 紫乃 : ホテルローヤル
羽田 圭介 : スクラップ・アンド・ビルド

69MissWatson
Nov 28, 2017, 5:23 am

I'm so very much impressed that you read Japanese. It looks so entirely foreign to me.

70Jackie_K
Nov 28, 2017, 5:40 am

I posted this on the November ROOTs thread not noticing it was the ROOTs thread and not your personal thread! So here goes again (on the right thread this time): That is really impressive though, even if you're not going to reach your goal, to read a novel in another language is great! Last year I managed one non-fiction book in Romanian where I also had the book in English, so alternated between each a chapter at a time, English first so I knew what was going on when I then read it in Romanian. This year I managed a book in Romanian only (just taking it a couple of pages at a time), but it was related to my research so I already had a lot of the subject-specific vocabulary which really helped. I have a few other non-fiction books in Romanian, but recently bought my first novel which I keep looking at trepidatiously, I know that when I start it it will take me absolutely ages to read, but I'm also thinking about the feeling of achievement when I eventually finish it! (especially if I manage to understand what's going on - not necessarily a given!)

71lilisin
Editado: Nov 29, 2017, 1:56 am

>69 MissWatson:

Thank you! That's how I feel about any language I can't read! Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, Vietnamese! If only we could read all the languages; how amazing would that be!

>70 Jackie_K:

Thank you for the encouragement and best of luck to you as well!
My first book in Japanese I could only read about a page a day but the book was interesting and I wanted to know what would happen so that pushed me forward. The progress I've made since that day is huge and I can't wait till I progress even some more! Reading works in their original is fantastic, isn't it? Only problem is that I can't recommend books till they are translated!

72floremolla
Nov 29, 2017, 4:29 am

>68 lilisin: Good work with the Japanese book! And kudos to everyone who reads English when it's not their first language - including >69 MissWatson: - and those who read technical books in a language not even introduced at school, like >70 Jackie_K:!

I'm about to start Zola's Thérèse Raquin in French in December - the fact I've put it off till the end of the year speaks volumes...but I'm sure it'll be worth the effort and hope it'll kickstart me back into learning the language.

73Jackie_K
Nov 29, 2017, 12:26 pm

>72 floremolla: A novel in French is also impressive (I managed it at school when I did A'level, but couldn't do it now!). I could probably manage an Asterix or Tintin in the original French, but not much more!

74lilisin
Editado: Dic 7, 2017, 3:15 am

Just read another book in Japanese and it took less than a week to read!

Maiko Seo : 天国はまだ遠く

A nice little book that probably won't ever get translated but a nice read right at my level (and a bit below).

75MissWatson
Dic 7, 2017, 4:32 am

Wow!

76floremolla
Dic 7, 2017, 5:23 am

Well done again!

77connie53
Dic 10, 2017, 2:21 pm

Good job, lilisin!

78lilisin
Ene 8, 2018, 8:14 pm

I am now back from my vacation in the US for the Xmas/New Years holidays. I spent a quiet two weeks with my family then took an extended layover in San Francisco to spend the weekend with my best friend. I am not back at work here in Tokyo where it doesn't really feel like I'm here. I think it'll take the week to switch back to Japanese mode.

December summary!

Books read: 2
Manga read: 6
Total ROOTs: 41

Manga acquired: 0
Books acquired: A few but I haven't catalogued them yet. Will mention them in my new January 2018 thread.

Book read:
Maiko Seo : 天国はまだ遠く
Ryu Murakami : オーディション

Manga read:
Naruto 66-71

So I finished off the year with 41 ROOTs read out of 60, 10 ROOTs being actual novels and the rest being manga.
A mixed year again but I am happy to have finished off on the strong note of reading three books in Japanese back to back within the span of a month. That was exciting and I'm hoping will be the right thrust into 2018.

79lilisin
Ene 8, 2018, 8:29 pm

Thank you to everyone for your support in 2017.
Come follow me at my 2018 thread!