What does Ascendance of a Bookworm mean to me?

In July of 2022, I decided to watch a series that I had seen some anituber recommend, a series called "Ascendance of a Bookworm" or 本好きの下剋上 (Honzuki no Gekokujou). I don't even remember which channel it was, but I ended up binging the whole series within less than a week. I really enjoyed the anime, and raved about it to my friend. We ended up watching it together shortly after. It was a re-watch for me, but I wanted to share my joy with someone. I enjoyed Myne's hijinks, but the twists and turns in the story and delicate world-building was what really grabbed me. I wanted more!

Then I found out that it was actually based off a light novel series by Miya Kazuki. I couldn't read the manga because it was doing something unusual, but understandable for such a long running series. The story of Honzuki is split up into 5 "Parts" (these are overarching Arcs in the story). In order to have a chance of releasing the manga and have a chance at catching up to the light novel, the Japanese publisher TO Books decided to give parts 1-4 to different artists and work simultaneously. I think part 1 and 2 might be done by now, but back then that wasn't the case.

The anime covers Part 1 and 2, but I would need to read the light novels to continue on with the story. I was familiar with light novels since I had seen many anime based off of them, like Konosuba and Overlord. But I never had any intention of reading them at the time, as I was happy to follow along with popular series that were getting adaptations consistently.

But Honzuki was not that series. It was a niche fantasy drama that would probably not get another season (I'm happy that's not the case now, a new anime season adapting Part 3 was announced!). So if I wanted to continue, I needed to dive into the world of light novels. However, I wasn't a big reader at this time. I owned an e-reader, but I only used it for fanfiction and the occasional novel I checked out from the library. I barely read 3 novels in 2021, and I wasn't making too much progress in 2022 either. I was maybe on track to read 10 books the entire year.

I knew the webnovel for Honzuki was already completed. There were already 30 books of the light novel version out in Japan, and approximately 20 out in English by J-Novel Club. At the time, it seemed like a huge undertaking to read, but I didn't think much of it. I loved long series with large casts, as I'm already a dedicated One Piece fan! It would probably be the most I've ever read, but I imagined it might take me a year to catch up. 

Dear reader, it didn't take a year. It didn't even take 6 months. From October to December, I read everything currently out for Honzuki. That too, I read the majority of the books during Thanksgiving week. By early December, I was entirely caught up to the series.

What a whirlwind experience it was! I didn't get distracted by my other hobbies, or feel like putting the book down. I just read, and read, and continued reading. Some days, I was reading more than one book a day! I was reading until 3 AM.

Was this healthy? In hindsight, I wish I had slowed down and savored the experience more. But this process transformed me from "barely a reader" to "someone who likes reading"!

I recognize the irony of a series called "Bookworm" turning me into a true bookworm, but Myne's love of books is just infectious. The story is about a girl who loves books, and overcomes problems using her wits and help from the people around her. She has strengths and flaws, and she cares deeply about the people around her. It's charming and easy to get sucked into the world.

Even now, I read far more than I used. Of course, I read a lot of Japanese light novels (love anything anime/manga related), but I'm also getting into Korean and Chinese webnovels.

I've always been interested in Sci-Fi, but now I'm actually interested in reading novels from western authors such as Adrian Tchaikovsky, Andy Weir, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky (Does Russia count as Western?), Michael Crichton, and more. In the Fantasy space, I want to actually read Lord of the Rings (I've already read The Hobbit), and continue to explore more works from authors like Ursula K. Le Guin and Brandon Sanderson. I also want to go back and read some of my childhood favorites, like the Inkheart Trilogy by Cornelia Funke.

I used to be a big reader when I was younger, but I drifted away from it when I entered high school. I wasn't able to come back to reading until I became an adult. I might have less time than when I was young, but I have more money and more discipline (lol). I've also had fun blogging what I read, whether it's my light novel impressions, or short storygraph reviews.

Thank you to Bookworm and Miya Kazuki for letting me discover the joy of reading again!