Harii Pottaa, Sayuri and Densha Otoko

Tomorrow after my test, I am going to go to Book-Off at Sanjo and see if they have the Harry Potter Series in the 100yen book section. Yep that's right, I can get books for 100yen. I got "The Joy Luck Club" - or was it "Memoirs of a Geisha"? - for just 100yen, which is less than a dollar. I love Book-Off; if only I can actually get through the novels. Memoirs of a Geisha is pretty tricky, especially since it uses geisha speak - hence, Harry Potter is more or less a children's book (my guess is by the time I get to 7 my Japanese will be pretty decent) so I hope the Japanese will be a bit better. My plan is to bring back home all of my English novels/fun reading books (not much, there are only three that I brought with me) and just read novels in Japanese. This is what I've got so far:

Breakfast at Tiffany's
The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing
The Joy Luck Club
Memoirs of a Geisha (in 2 parts, actually called "Sayuri" in Japan)

They ARE translated novels, simply because I don't know who are good writers in Japanese, save Soseki and Murakami. And, if I get stuck, I have read most of these books (save Breakfast at Tiffany's) in English so I can remember the part in English then puzzle out the meaning in Japanese. I really need to get my reading and listening up and get more out of the academic Japanese thing, so I am watching Japanese movies (some with, some without subtitles) and reading Japanese novels. Oh wait I DO have some actual Japanese novels back home that Maki gave me before she left for Chicago...now I have to add "Densha Otoko" to the list! Lotsa reading and studying for me this summer.

Maybe I'll surf around Amazon.jp and get some bestsellers if they have them at Book-Off before I leave Japan for good (there is a 100yen book section, and other books are like 700yen, they are used but practically brand new). Besides, it's really reading practice regardless. And I will have like 14+ Harry Potter books - they break longer books down into pieces because they like their books to be small and portable. I plan to read either Girls Guide or Joy Luck Club on the plane; Girls Guide is bigger in size so I might do that, easier to write in the readings of the kanji. I think I am going to start reading Girls Guide in earnest after my test, with Harii Pottaa if I can get it cheaply. If Book-Off has most of them in the 100yen section I am going to get as many as I can.

And in case you're wondering, "Harii Pottaa" is the romanized version of ハリーポッター
which is "Harry Potter" in Japanese. Oh man, all the spells and the names in Katakana are gonna KILL me.