Like I mentioned in the manga general thread this week, I have been on the road a lot. That makes reading kind of difficult. However, after feedback in last week’s thread, I have been finding Moon Reader great and it has helped me get going again on some LN backlog.
Konosuba Vol. 3: This is the only book I read this week, and I didn’t quite finish it. However, the Konosuba LNs have been great so far. Reading LNs after already watching the anime is sometimes a mixed bag (I really didn’t connect with the Overlord LNs for example). However, the LN version of Konosuba has been great at capturing the same sense of humor from the show and introduces some additional bits that the show cuts for time. I plan on at least getting caught up to the show for this series prior to the new season starting.
I switched to reading the lines in the VAs voice after the anime came out.
Haha, yeah, that is unavoidable for me. The VA cast for that show is so great.
Apothecary Diaries vol 10: Super good volume. I was worried at some points early on it would be a bunch of boring farm tours or something but instead there was tons of interesting background information and a really tense climax.
Konosuba vol 2: In my gigantic backlog of LNs I bought this seemed like an easy one to knock out. Love Konosuba, and love Natsume’s work in general. Always a riot.
I need to pick up Apothecary Diaries again. The anime is incredible and I think I would appreciate the series more now than I did when I first picked it up.
Vol 10 is my favorite since the first two. So much of the character and world development is coming together. I hope 11 keeps it up.
Making Jam in the Woods: My Relaxing Life Starts in Another World Vol.1 - Dropped after 62%. Every time someone says something MC goes constantly on page-long tangents in her mind that are completely unrelated to what’s happening or being said. Interesting sidetone: There’s very little of the titular Jam making. There’s a very short part (obviously interrupted by several thought tangents) about making Jam but that was it. At least until I dropped it. Not that it would have saved the book, but I expected it to have a more central role if it’s so prominent in the title.
I Shall Survive Using Potions! Volume 9 - I get the feeling FUNA didn’t exactly know where he wants to go with this series. He did a reset a few volumes back and now he has written themself against a wall again. There is a lot of running in circles to keep identities hidden just to ignore this when it’s convenient, only to go back to running in circles to keep identities hidden. It’s repetitive and boring to read to be honest. I liked the earlier volumes better. - 5/10
There’s very little of the titular Jam making
That is disappointing. If it is in your title, at least make it important to the story. That being said, there really isn’t a lot to making jam. It is basically boiling a bunch of fruit and sugar together until it sets once it cools. I feel like a more complex culinary practice like baking bread or brewing would provide more material to work with.
You could try spice things up with pine cone jam
TIL that pine cone jam is a thing. I have seen a lot of different jams/jellies in my years, but that is a new one for me. It looks kind of wild.
Is that real or is that a internet meme thing?
Totally a real thing. Apparently it is a type of preserve called Varenye. The pine cone version comes specifically from regions in Siberia which actually makes a lot of sense. About the only plant that has historically grown in abundance across the Siberian taiga are conifer trees. It is no wonder that humans figured out some way to eat them (you can also make tea from the needles). Here is a recipe I found that modifies it a bit from the original to make it more palatable.
Don’t you wish all this was in the LN you read? The world of jam making is richer and fuller than I had thought!
Don’t you wish all this was in the LN you read? The world of jam making is richer and fuller than I had thought!
It’s at least more interesting than what I’ve actually got to read in the LN.
Monster Tamer Vol 1-3: Surprisingly good. It is an isekai series where the entire school gets transported to the new world. The world building is surprisingly good. Humanity in the other world is being pushed back by a continent spanning forest filled with monsters. Humanity only manages to survive with the help of the heroes transported to the world every century. The characters are also well written. The trauma the characters go through leave lasting impacts in a realistic way. I can’t talk much about it without spoiling it, but the ending of the third volume is fantastic. I suspect this series isn’t more popular because the first volume is by far the worst. It starts out seeming much more generic before becoming better in the second and third volumes. It also shares Failure Frame’s highly cynical view of human nature. Monster Tamer is comparable to that series, and to “Loner Life” as well, with Loner Life being more comedic and Failure Frame being more of a power fantasy.
Reincarnated Mage with Inferior Eyes Vol 1-5: It was a fun read, but not very memorable. Similar to Misfit of Demon King Academy in that the protagonist is re-incarnated into is same world many years later to see that general magic levels have greatly decreased. I don’t have much to say about it as it seemed to be what one would expect based on the synopsis of each volume.
The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects Vol 1: I like a good kingdom building story but was disappointed by this one. Its one of those “things happen” type stories where the plot is a series of events without much logical connection between them. A lot of events could be re-ordered in the story without changing anything. It doesn’t give the reader much reason to keep reading after setting down the novel. Personally, I have no interest in reading the next volume in the series.
Reincarnated Mage with Inferior Eyes
My experience is in line with yours. I was reading the manga for a while, but similarly, nothing really stood out about the story. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really great either. With an ever-growing list of series that I am checking out, I eventually dropped it.
Monster Tamer
Was that the one where the classmates go from normal Japanese students to raping mad max murderers in the span of a few days after getting isekai-ed? If so I think I dropped the series after they reached a fort or something but I don’t remember which volume I was at. I hate it when people are just evil to give the MC a reason to be a shining example of JUSTICE(™). But I might confuse it with something else since it reaches further back than my notes.
The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects
Another series I’ve completely forgotten I’ve read. But I think I wasn’t turned off by it. Wasn’t the female sidekick kinda interesting? A Monster or so? I wouldn’t mind reading another volume if there’s ever one.
Bookworm Part4 - Vol.05 to Vol.09
Just finished Part 4.
It’s still going strong. I can’t get enough of Myne being oblivious to the trouble she causes. I am still sad about the end, I can’t believe the eternal sufferer will have to suffer more, just give them a break.
Saddle up. Part 5 is going to be a wild ride.
