Japanese Light Novel Book Club discussion

A little thread to share what is making us happy. Could be a fun or uplifting news story. Could be a video of a cat licking a two-year-old's head. Could be your favorite author has a new book. Anything that makes you happy.

Some ground rules though
1. Nothing political. You might be happy some bonehead got canned, but other people might not be. Unless, of course, that political thing is not controversial (like a cat becoming mayor of a small town)

2. Follow the group's rules.

3. If posting an image directly, please put it in a spoiler tag so we don't kill people's internet. :)

With that, share what's making you happy. :)

NPR has an interactive list of all the books they enjoyed in 2017. It is super cool, and kind of fun to mess with even if you aren't looking for a book to read.

Christmas is coming soon, so I guess you guys are getting excited with planning and preparing for the day. A thing makes us happy especially before it starts, doesn't it? ;)

Yes, preparing! I got Scrabble for my dad's Xmas present since his is totally worn out. He even cannibalized another game for the tiles. Got a phone for my mom. She needed a real smart one, instead of a dinky-screened tracfone. Got a book for my daughter. She's really into math. She's part of her school's math competition team again this year. So, I got A History of Mathematics for her.

Cooking homemade food with my instant pot and sharing with friends makes me happy. ^_^

The instant pot is so convenient. You can saute in it, steam, pressure cook, make yogurt (I haven't tried it yet, but I got the packet), and much, much more--all in one pot, which means easy cleanup. I got one for my mom too and she really loved the pot roast she made in it.

Tonight, I made a meatball and butternut squash marinara sauce in my instant pot and ladled it over penne rigate.



I even made a cheesecake (actually three of them). That's my dad's pomegranate seeds on top. The sides are very rough b/c I use foil instead of a proper spring-form cake pan. I've taken them to friend's places for parties.

Bookwalker Global Coupons and JP import digital books.

Google Translate helping me read said books (sometimes). xP

Play Asia and region free video game consoles. =]

That about covers it. Had been in the doldrums a bit in terms of samey routine until discovering a lot of this stuff recently.

Terrence wrote: "Play Asia and region free video game consoles. =]..."

Cool. How do you do that? Do you have to buy a console that is enabled for multiple regions?

Alex wrote: "Terrence wrote: "Play Asia and region free video game consoles. =]..."

Cool. How do you do that? Do you have to buy a console that is enabled for multiple regions?"

All the current / new consoles are region free, besides 3DS.

The region free consoles:

Nintendo Switch
PS3
PS4
Xbox One (? I think it's region free; don't own it).

A lot of older handhelds were region free too (like the Gameboy line iirc). I can't recall if Vita is region free (I think so...).

Nintendo Switch you can even access the Japanese EShop (digital store) by simply changing your region settings. I just made a separate account for the convenience.

I know the original DS was "region free" if you changed the language settings on the system. :) I knew some people who did that.

Good to know. Thanks! I’ll probably get a ps4, eventually, but my Xmas budget was maxed out. :(

Don’t throw out your old consoles! You could make a killing on eBay, right now.

via npr: Retro-Games And Consoles Are The Latest Craze In The Gamer World http://n.pr/2pdsT1L

Can confirm Vita is region free. Played White Album 2 on a North American Vita TV yesterday. =]

https://youtu.be/AJaQ7hrepS4

I just discovered that they re-released the .hack//G.U. games in HD and added a new game to the series.

I am a super happy .hack// fan girl right now. So happy.

Cool. Is it Last Recode? (Still haven't gotten my PS4 '_' maybe this summer.)

Alex wrote: "Cool. Is it Last Recode? (Still haven't gotten my PS4 '_' maybe this summer.)"

Yup. Last Recode. They also have it on Steam.

I'm hoping this means they'll re-release all the .hack// games for the 15 years. And maybe finally release that final game that never made it to the US. :)

This is making me super happy. :) This is true for me, every time I watch Mulan.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

Such a great movie.
GO WILD PEOPLE !!!!

Do you have Isekai-itis? :p Another amusing video from Mother's Basement. https://youtu.be/LF2DzAQYw68

Warning you though, there's some explicit language. But you will laugh, especially considering how much this affects the light novel genre these days. :)