Book Club Report: Paper Books or E-books?

Hello, this is Murakami from JIYUCHO.

Did you know that JIYUCHO holds a reading group twice a month on Sunday mornings before opening? Participants bring the book they want to read that day and quietly read for an hour. In the second half, everyone talks casually about impressions, questions, and thoughts.

This time, I will introduce the reading group I facilitated on Sunday, April 14, the first session of the 2024 fiscal year.

Some participants had joined many times before, while others were visiting JIYUCHO for the first time or joining the reading group for the first time. Everyone is welcome.

With the many different books brought by book lovers, the conversation became lively, almost like a relaxed gathering among friends.

Topics after reading

We talked about whether people prefer paper books or Kindle, why many Japanese people seem to like cats, how to understand people who seem to have a front and a back, and why there are books we somehow want to read again and again.

The topic I found especially interesting was paper books versus Kindle. It was raised by someone who had read a book about the mind of simultaneous interpreters.

I had firmly thought that I was a paper-book person, but after hearing from Kindle users, I learned about useful and interesting functions such as word search and reporting typos. It made me want to try using one.

Some people said they use both paper books and Kindle, so I would like to learn the strengths of each and choose depending on the situation.

One charm of the JIYUCHO reading group is that the discussion after reading does not have to stay only inside the books. Honest questions and little digressions are welcome too.

Next session

The next JIYUCHO reading group will be held on Sunday, April 28, from 9:00 to 10:45. Please bring whatever book you would like to read.

The schedule is reception and simple introductions from 9:00 to 9:15, reading time from 9:15 to 10:00 with tea or coffee, and relaxed sharing from 10:00 to 10:45. You may join or leave partway through.

The participation fee is 880 yen including tea or coffee, and light food may be brought in. The capacity is six people, and the venue is JIYUCHO in Kuramae.