WWW Wednesday
Jun. 3rd, 2026 09:11 am1. What are you currently reading?
- Paper Girls: the Complete Story by Brian K. Vaughan: this is like 800 pages long and I've been really busy, but I've at least started it. It's off to a very interesting, if hella confusing, start.
- 盗墓笔记 vol. 2 by 南派三叔: I finished the Bronze Tree storyline! I also crossed page 200 today, and I'm 75% done. I'm not hopeless that I might be able to finish the book by the end of the month. Then I keep waffling on what to read next.
2. What have you recently finished reading?
- Love Between Fairy and Devil vol. 2 by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang: all in all, I liked this duology. They're kind of ridiculous and a little toxic but the dynamic basically worked, and I don't usually like whiny female characters but Xiao Lanhua was manageable.
- His Fifth Highness Still Doesn't Know by Mai Xiang Ji Ne: cute, enjoyable, quick read of a danmei BL xianxia title. Biggest issue was getting into the flow after the beginning throws the reader in the deep end, and at times it felt more like an overview of a story than the actual story, which was probably inevitable given how short it is (200 pages not counting the extras, 240 pages with them). My first read from Haitang; it could have used a final proofread to clean up a few things, like there were a couple errored characters in the text (like the box with an x that interfaces make when there's an unknown emoji).
- Syrup: A Yuri Anthology vol. 1: I really appreciated the variety of stories in this, especially some that were kinda toxic and kinky, since it's so rare to find gl manga that isn't pure as driven snow. Unsurprisingly, the reviews are full of people being fucking weird about it.
- Kagurabachi vol. 3 - 5 by Takeru Hokazono: definitely got more interested in this one, hence reading three volumes. Unfortunately, that's all I have access to right now, but the last one didn't leave off at too horrible a place.
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime manga vol. 16 by Fuse
- Smell by Nagabe: furry BL about two dog people and their shared scent kink. This kink is not my kink and that is okay.
3. What will you read next?
Novels: ...the 8th volume of Lout of Count's Family came out, so. that.
Physical Graphic Novels (from the library): Painter of the Night vol. 1 and 2 by Byeonduck are next, but tbh I almost certainly won't get to them this week.
E-Book Graphic Novels (from Libby): I had a lot of holds come in the last few days, so I'm a little overwhelmed, but the only one I've got due in the next week is Just Like Mona Lisa vol. 6 by Tsumuji Yoshimura.
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Date: 2026-06-03 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-03 03:57 pm (UTC)I started with Duolingo, which isn't nearly as good a choice now as it was 5 years ago when I started; I'd now recommend HelloChinese for the basics, but unfortunately that's not free. Still, you can at least get started for free, and they run sales pretty often.
I now primarily use Chinese Writer, which is just for drilling characters, and DuChinese, which is an app with leveled readings and built-in translation and flashcard functions. I do both of those every single day, and it's been slow but it's gotten me to the level that I can read a book (my listening, speaking, and writing are much poorer, I was focused on being able to read). ChineseWriter has a one-time fee that I think is $10; I pay for DuChinese annually.
There are unfortunately not a lot of good free options; most offer beginner stuff free but for high levels you need to pay. (I know money is often tight for you, hence why I'm talking about the money part).
Oh! and the best dictionary is Pleco. That one is free. :D
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Date: 2026-06-03 04:02 pm (UTC)Maybe I should just get back to improving my rusty Japanese instead of trying to add another language to the pot!
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Date: 2026-06-04 12:36 pm (UTC)You could also grab the apps and try the free levels just to get a taste of it...
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Date: 2026-06-04 03:43 pm (UTC)Turns out his Chinese name is “garden of shining delight.” So I was wrong, but not totally off-base!