Ascendance of a Bookworm

Description

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A bookworm who had finally found a job as a librarian at a university was sadly killed shortly after graduating from college.

She was reborn as Myne, the daughter of a soldier in a world where the literacy rate is low and books were scarce. No matter how much she wanted to read, there were no books around. What is a bookworm to do without any books? Make them, of course.

Her goal is to become a librarian! So that she may once again live surrounded by books, she must start by making them herself.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Ascendence of a Bookworm: I'll Stop at Nothing to Become a Librarian
El Ratón de Biblioteca
Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen
La Petite Faiseuse de Livres
愛書的下克上
本好きの下剋上 ~司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません~
책벌레의 하극상
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Tensei Shoujo no Rirekisho (12)
Common Sense of a Duke’s Daughter (7)
Release that Witch (7)
I’ll Live My Second Life! (5)
Parallel World Pharmacy (3)
Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? (3)
Recommendation Lists
  1. enjoyed my time
  2. ALLJP+
  3. Novels that are not romance focused
  4. The novel whose adaptation made me come here
  5. Isekai Fantasy | #1

Latest Release

Date Group Release
08/15/23 Trollcity Translations drama cd 6
05/18/23 Trollcity Translations drama cd 5
02/12/23 Trollcity Translations ss: tuuli's pov
09/16/22 Trollcity Translations ss: benno's pov
09/08/22 Trollcity Translations drama cd 4
06/08/22 Trollcity Translations ss: rozemyne’s pov
05/06/22 Trollcity Translations drama cd 3
03/19/22 Trollcity Translations ss: ferdinand's pov
10/20/21 Trollcity Translations bluray ss
09/28/21 Trollcity Translations drama cd 2
05/01/21 New Moon Translations v6c7
05/01/21 New Moon Translations v6c6
04/18/19 Infinite Novel... c103
04/04/19 Infinite Novel... c102
03/21/19 Infinite Novel... c101
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160 Reviews sorted by


Arha
Arha rated it
April 5, 2019
Status: c55
I wish we could award half stars because I don't know whether I want to give it three or four stars. I'll be nice and give it four.

There are, I think, three major issues for the series. First, the main character is insufferable at the start. She's very demanding, selfish and condescending, but after awhile she slowly gets used to things and realizes how much of a burden she is on everyone, so I don't mind that too much. Second is the pacing. As I sit here around c55 or... more>> so I'm waiting for this Devouring thing to finally be over and done with. It's not like I want her to launch fireballs at goblins or anything, it's just that it gets a little tedious having her oh so slowly deal with (part of) her weak constitution. I know it's not an easy problem, but it's still kind of annoying. The third issue that there's something kind of off about the characters. Lutz, for example, absolutely does not read like a six year old to me and the clever merchant characters don't seem to grasp the idea of not totally alienating your business partners. If Maine was like 10% more selfish/intelligent she'd cast Benno away for the way he's always trying to cheat her. It's understandable that he wants profits, but he seriously undermines himself as a credible partner.

Now, on to the positive side. Maine actually does develop as a character and the way her social status changes over time is also pretty interesting. She doesn't suddenly leap up to queen of the land just because she knows how to make shampoo. She doesn't know what's valuable, she doesn't know how to market it and she can barely make the stuff at all.

Next, the characters personalities are very distinct. Often when I'm reading a story I feel like the character is more of a template where we fill in the blanks or just go off of archetypes. The characters relationships revolve around the main character and it isn't really clear why they do what they do and what motivates them as thinking feeling human beings. That is not the case here: You can easily tell who Lutz, Maine, Benno etc are, what they want and why they do what they do.

Overall, I'd like to give it about a 7/10. I'm going to be very frustrated when I hit the end of the translated chapters because I know that with the slow pacing it'll take months to really get anywhere again. <<less
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Fantasy-Magician
Fantasy-Magician rated it
March 28, 2019
Status: c278
What attract me first with the beginning of this story is how much struggle realistically depicted in MC after she was transmigrated to the new world. Most story in Isekai tend to brush off how difficult someone can adapt to a new place, much less a world where you have no understanding of their common sense and their life standard is far below a modern person would get use to.

  • There's no bathing culture for commoner.
    (a huge bother for Maine/Reino and more than just mere enjoyment in her part, she is seriously concerned about poor hygiene in her commoner family and how that affect her already sickly body.
  • Sickly body of a five years old have terrible stamina.
    Maine have terrible stamina, which mean she barely can do anything on her own. The writer manage to not skip her effort and failure just to walk to her father's workplace.
  • Maine's selfishness
    At first she does appear selfish and sort of condescending to her new family because of their low life standard. However as unlikeable as this can be, I can't deny how realistic it is for a modern person to react poorly to commoner life in medieaval era. If anything- I am more skeptical to other novel that can't depict a realistic outlook of this scenario of transmigration.
  • Maine's lack of common sense
    The life outlook of modern person couldn't possibly match medieval era she transmigrated to, when changing profession she also fumbled a lot because she doesn't have instant understanding of her environment and she is not very willing until she have no choice but adapt.
What I outlined above doesn't make reading this story enjoyable I admit, it's tedious but they're all scenes the writer have to include to make this story a high quality reading it is.

It's quite an irony that many feels MC's love for book is not... more>> fleshed out very well and taking a jab on the lack of explanation. It's like asking why we read like reading Light Novel or watching anime, not all of us can explain our enjoyment beyond it's just something they find enjoyable. At the very least as a reader I don't find Maine's love for book as an element in this amazing story that have to be explained in details.

All in all I encourage you to read this story for at least ten chapters to get really into it. <<less
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rakusu
rakusu rated it
March 18, 2019
Status: c75
I've been reading this novel for about 3 years now since 2016. If I can read Japanese characters I would have read the raw version long ago. Sadly, I can't so I can only match to the speed of the translation.

Story is good. There is growth in Maine. Don't get why some people gets annoyed with her. For someone who comes from modern times and had to adjusts to her new lifestyle, her reaction is very realistic in my opinion. Compared to those who unrealistically accepted their new life just... more>> like throwing their previous lifetime like it's nothing.

Anyway the story has lots of mysterious stuff going on to keep you interested.

Spoiler

She doesn't know magic exists in the world at first but turns out she is one with abundance of mana.

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Can only hope it gets more interesting and hope the anime also sticks to the plot with only minor changes. <<less
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Kurousagirei
Kurousagirei rated it
November 28, 2018
Status: c52
Once. JUST ONCE!! I would like to find a decent modern knowledge isekai where the MC isn't some douchebag harem protagonist or just a plain naive idiot like this one.

The story is good. I applaud the world building, but... The MC is the spineless, oblivious type of doormat. I try to enjoy it I really do, but the MC makes me want to facepalm so hard my eyeballs go into the back of my skull.
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Edgewise
Edgewise rated it
October 31, 2018
Status: c677
I read the whole thing on its original website. It was very good! The pacing was good, the setting was good, the characters were overall great, much more detailed and 'human' in behavior than most web novels. The action was limited but as it wasn't a central part of the story, that's fine. Or maybe I should say it was 'better than expected'. Tension was usually good. The MC I think was in some ways one of the weakest characters, as she didn't really 'evolve' much mentally, even as many... more>> of those around her did. In the end, I can only say I was generally pleased with the story as I was reading it, anticipating reading more while not reading it, and generally happy with the end.

Spoiler

Why I give it a 4 and not a 5?

As mentioned, above, the MC really does not evolve much mentally from the time she wakes up in the body of a child to the time the story ends. Her focus on reading wasn't just a hobby, but it really was the end-all-be-all of her existence. Even if it was just for a change of pace, she never had any secondary interest in anything not related to her plan to live her life in a library full of books. It made me as a reader have a bit of a sense of disappointment in the MC who didn't really broaden her interests, have any major epiphanies, or undergo a re-evaluation of her outlook on life despite all the things she learned, did, and endured. She was only ever interested in/motivated by books and reading.

Despite being very close with several men over long periods of time, she never had even the slightest hint of romantic interest in anyone. This can be true for people who don't interact much with others, but it's unnatural for anyone with a healthy social life unless they have a major disorder like being a sociopath, depression, etc. This did not seem to be the case since she loved her family quite normally, and her daily interactions with others could be considered a normal healthy social life. Without something like a painful past experience or a love interest from her past life she never could get over, this is too abnormal I think.

Even when she ends up getting married in the end to a guy she's -extremely- close to, she sees him not as a husband, but as an uncle/big brother/second father type. Bottom line, a complete lack of romance for the MC did take something away from the story and could have very easily been written into the story at the end which would have shown both that she can change, and thus grow, and would have made the ending a bit more of a happy ending for most readers.

For the guy she married who was popular with women, OP as hell, generally awesome in almost every way, I feel especially sorry. The story implied that he had no romantic history with a woman ever, living his life extremely selflessly, always on guard against various enemies, going through many difficulties over pretty much his whole life, only to end up in a marriage that was platonic with a wife who didn't see him as a husband. Although it wasn't explicitly stated that it would be a non-physical relationship, it was certainly heavily implied.

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uncleqrow
uncleqrow rated it
September 30, 2018
Status: c76
Things were interesting before, it was getting more interesting ever since the introduction of Frieda and the launching of the "vegetable"-based-paper products. However, it managed to pique my curiosity even further, up to the Hyouka-level of curiosity, with all this new developments following Maine and Lutz's Baptismal Ceremony.

As with Hajimari no Mahoutsukai, as an engineer/developer/science enthusiast myself, I always have a soft heart on these stories and characters that are so passionate about researches and processes on technological/scientifical advancements. The characters are also so well built, and have amazing character... more>> developments, especially regarding Lutz and Frieda, and even on Benno later on.

If you have interests on the stories and histories behind the development of science and technologies, and ultimately how these things affects and forms civilizations, Honzuki no Gekokujou is definitely a title worth of consideration. <<less
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Pyoo
Pyoo rated it
September 24, 2018
Status: c86
A normal isekai with the MC's consciousness being "transported" into a child's body.

I greatly enjoyed reading this. Firstly, the MC isn't OP and isn't filled with a lot of random knowledge isekai MC has that the character shouldn't reasonably have. The MC is a bookworm and thus has a lot of theoretical knowledge on things, but lack a lot of practical knowledge, like dealing with other people or just being aware with herself in general.

What I like the most about this story is tho, life isn't all smooth, and Ascendance... more>> of a Bookworm showed that really well. It's a well written, engaging and relaxing Slice of Life, that can showcase the twists and turns of life and the hope and the despair of the MC, which a lot of SoL isekai tend to forget.

The MC is naive, as she should be. She lived a privileged life as a former Japanese and it showed. She keeps creating trouble from her lack of awareness of her surrounding and how different that is from Japan. I actually really like the fact that the MC is childish in parts (because she was a bookworm, without a lot of life experience) and she doesn't keep reiterating her mental age (because honestly, mental age doesn't work by adding your previous life's age with your new age - this has been a huge pet peeve of mine).

Overall, it was a really good reading experience and I highly recommend it to my fellow SoL readers <<less
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MondSemmel
MondSemmel rated it
November 14, 2017
Status: c57
Reincarnation stories are a dime a dozen, but this one is interesting in several respects - for instance, the protagonist is a child (~6 years old, with no indication of a timeskip coming any time soon) and sickly (and has been for 55+ chapters). When she's not ill, she spends her time on re-inventing modern products, or on trading and haggling. This is a refreshing contrast to the focus on combat in most reincarnation stories.
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Velstride
Velstride rated it
October 22, 2017
Status: v2c20
I'd say that this is the most interesting and probably the best "Isekai" manga/LN so far. If you're not hook with just the premise, you should just watch Ironman or something..

  • Non-OP main character. Ok, what's with people always complaining about MC being childish and whatnot nowadays? Is this what they call "onepunchman" syndrome or something lol? When we were a kid we act childish and selfish when the world can't give what we want, it's as if before we were born on earth we live in a better place like heaven or something :D. This is exactly what our MC experience.
  • REALISTIC middle ages. This is not some s*upid middle ages in most anime/manga where girls running around in mini skirt. The world is dirty, harsh and very inconvenient place. I'm really impressed because we rarely see middle ages from peasant perspective. My mind was blown because I never thought Middle ages was THIS inconvenient for example of how peasant need to make their own clothes starting from weaving the threads!
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OfficePony
OfficePony rated it
April 11, 2017
Status: c49
Grammar: 4.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Story: 3.9/5

First, I'd like to say this story is slowly breaking my heart, in a good way.

Grammar is almost perfect, just a few instances of misspelling and awkward word choices (and even I found it difficult to find more suitable wordings for those instances). The writing is fairly well done with a good flow and easy to read structures. The story is not extraordinary in-and-of-itself, but the way it is told is able to capture your interest and keep you wondering what comes next.

The way the... more>> story unfolds, aside from the more fantastic nature of the Fantasy setting and initial reincarnation, is very believable. Nothing that the MC does is beyond the scope of her actual knowledge, and what she does not know exactly she experiments with to find a suitable solution for. The part that breaks my heart is her illness and how it affects herself and those around her. I really want for there to be a happy ending, but I just have this nasty little fear that this story can only end with her death.

All in all, I am closely following this series and hoping (practically begging) for a happy ending (I saw no Tragedy Tag, so my hopes should not be in vain). <<less
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Aoitenshi
Aoitenshi
October 16, 2016
Status: c31
Sadly to say, the main character has one of the worst personality, which should be unfit to be a protagonist of a story. I am currently making do with having a select few of the side characters that I am fond of, MC's elder sister, for example. Although, it [i]is[/i] well-known for a book intended for female audience to have such an annoying MC (which is why I stopped reading Shoujo genres).

The good points in this novel is how the author takes her time in the world building. Instead of... more>> telling everything right from the start, the MC as a young child from a poverty-stricken family slowly learns about the new world where she lives in. She starts really slow, initially from learning the layout of her own house (lol). It is interesting to enjoy when she finds new things around her.

Pros and cons clash, and I say that Ascendance of a Bookworm is a great adventure-like novel to read (4/5). <<less
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marchex
marchex rated it
September 23, 2016
Status: c29
As a bookworm myself I can see myself on the MC. And it's not a pleasant thing to see. The selfishness, the disregard for everything just to read your books... She's not a nice person. But in this story we get to see her grow up. As she interacts with people in order to fulfill her wish. She becomes someone the people around her admires. She even accidentally inspires loyalty. This story gets better and better. I hope to read more.
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memoryspectre
memoryspectre rated it
March 24, 2016
Status: --
It’s slow, but the character and world building is impressive. It’s true that in the beginning, the protagonist seems to be selfish/annoying, but in all honesty, regardless of how much you know, it would be difficult to adapt from a modern world to a medieval one. Especially if you end up in a weak body with a poor family.

As the story progresses, and the MC comes to terms with her situation, it becomes easier to empathize with her. Personally, I cried so much reading this series (I won’t spoil anything,... more>> but there are many bittersweet events in this series as the story progresses), and I’m so looking forward to the next chapter.

To give you an indicator on what to expect, things don't really pick up til the second/third arc. I'll name the arcs below if you want an indicator of what to expect from the series.

Arc 1: The Soldier's Daughter (~70 chapters)
Spoiler

Arc 2: The Probationary Blue Priestess (~90)
Arc 3: The Lord's Adopted Daughter (~100)
Arc 4: The Aristocratic Centre's Self-Named Librarian's Assistant (~140)
Arc 5: The Avatar of a Goddess (ongoing)

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This has to be my all time favourite series. <<less
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Crissyfox
Crissyfox rated it
September 25, 2023
Status: v6
The MC is a selfish girl, and annoying brat, and has a better than thou attitude. But don't let that deter you from reading because she, unlike most isekai protagonists. Has actual character development. She grows into a wonderful caring selfless girl who genuinely loves her new family.

Her start is rough. Treating her new family like annoyances at first. But gradually comes to love and cherish them. It's a slow burn story, about how her new life changes her and how she changes the world around her.
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AppointedBard
AppointedBard rated it
July 26, 2023
Status: part5
I have read the first few volumes of part 5 and have to say this is probably in my top 3 series of all time in all of media. This novel is a very slow burn but it is amazing along the way and it has what I like to call MT plot structure where it has a slice of life style most of the time but it turns into a a drama or action series from time to time when some random event throws a wrench into the Main... more>> Characters life, this can be anything from the Main Character getting married to them losing a loved one or losing there job disestablishing there life. It is written this way so it can make for high impact moments and a sense of realism.

This novel is also all dependent on the MC so if you don't like her you will not like the novel but if you enjoy her antics it can make for a amazing journey.

Luckily this series avoids many of the problems most isekai have, it doesn't have a OP MC nor is it filled with fan service. It also is not based on the typical isekai world but instead has a very unique set of world building and while magic exists it matters so little to the normal person of this world she doesn't even learn of its existence till a decent way into Part 1.

In the end this is a very good novel for people who want a isekai that is different from the others and that avoids many of the genres main issues. <<less
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Lin99
Lin99 rated it
August 9, 2022
Status: part4 volume 8
The story is really well written,

i may have started cuz it’s isekai and the genera is fantasy and nice when you are bored..

but I was hooked, I simply knew about the story from the anime (two seasons) that is why I did not start the story from the first part (which is really slow and most of it is just building).. I simply liked the story from the anime.. Then to continue the story I read the light novel from the beginning.

reading the light novel after the anime was... more>> actually a wonderful experience for me, it’s a well known fact that novels has more depth and details than shows, so reading the first part was really fun for me, since the simple details matters when you try to get in depth with the characters and the story.

Since I liked the story, even the slow-based was really fun, after that I could not stop (it’s one of my favorite now), I can’t even enjoy reading fast-based, shallow novels anymore.

This my experience, whoever is reading this I will recommend it, even if you choose to watch the anime then the novel from the part after anime. <<less
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scorpion8282
scorpion8282 rated it
February 21, 2022
Status: --
This is the worst story I have ever read. MC sometimes acts like a kid and sometimes acts like adults. Her obsession with books is wierd. I don't understand why they don't use those with potential for magic. It's weird that her family didn't think she acts different and it's abnormal. Church is just s*upid. I don't understand how nobody thinks her inventions are unnatural.
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nimeaano
nimeaano rated it
October 16, 2021
Status: v7c5
I started with anime first, continue to manga, then this novel.

MC is so so cute, and at first, the story is more of slice of life so I watch/read it with comfort.

However, the more the story progresses, MC role gets bigger and bigger and I wonder if the adult in this novel have any brain at all to rely on a 5/8 years old. There was suspicion at first, but after a while, it was treated as nothing, just because she's a strange kid, a special one, no wonder that... more>> she manage to get those achievements. Sure, everyone thought so.

My biggest problem with this novel is the inconsistent action of MC, sometimes she act as kid (as her body) or adult (as her soul?). Even though people might actually act like that, when it's utilized so conveniently, it becomes annoying.

Spoiler

For example, it's understandable when she have outburst of anger when suddenly her parents is in danger (adult and kid alike). But she also unable to contain anger when her aide was attacked (like a kid), while as an OP intelligent adult she portrayed, she should know the condition she was in, that it should be expected.

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Apparently, magic exist and she has so much mana that if she gets out of control it will resulted in national level disaster, but somehow other than teaching her to suppress it, no one teach her how to use it, at least in emergency, despite the fact that she can't control her emotion (like a kid) and also often face danger. Mostly because there's going to be her harem available in convenience.

Also, while so far there is no impression of romance, somehow by treating her as an equal, she collect (as said before, harem) adult guardian. She also rely a lot on a same age friend but since her mentality is an adult.. Well, I don't know which one is worse but I find it uncomfortable.

Spoiler

I find reading this as taxing when the story get up to when she got printing tools (her main motivation is to have books and more books, remember), and I just really, really can't understand it anymore.

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bronx819
bronx819 rated it
May 18, 2021
Status: v12
Currently one of my favorite LN's, I pre-order every volume and even though the releases are usually two months or less apart even that feels too long. The characters are all interesting and have their own lives going on, and since several years pass throughout the series each character has had something happen between meetings with Myne. In the beginning I kinda skimmed whenever Myne talked about bookmaking methods but otherwise I was always incredibly drawn in. She isn't an especially smart or powerful character and arguably her only interesting... more>> traits are her weakness and her love of books but just seeing her live her life solely for books is somehow really interesting.

My favorite part of Bookworm is the pacing, the story is going at a steady pace that's neither too fast or too slow, and if it seems like it skims over a section or an event then it's usually expanded in the epilogue or side stories at the end.

One complaint I've seen people talk about is Myne, and I honestly don't get it. Some people say she's condescending to or looks down on her family which I don't get. Even by the middle of the first volume she's shown to be caring about them and apologetic to them and Lutz for being a burden. Yes she tries to make books at every turn but that's her motivation, if she didn't have that there would be no story. Hell in
Spoiler

volume 3 her parents risk their lives to protect her and she accidentally uses her magic to protect them out of love

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. She complains about being poor or lower class? We're looking into her mind, it's not like she's gonna be grateful or indifferent to her sudden poverty, how is that not relatable? Those complainers sound like spoiled children that don't think it's such a big deal suddenly being poor.

I'm not saying Myne is the best protagonist ever, and frankly later she kind of becomes a Mary Sue, but at that point she's more or less forced into being a Mary Sue
Spoiler

because as she rises in status against her will she's forced to learn many things befitting her rank

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, but she's quirky and entertaining. <<less
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juntaksadis
juntaksadis rated it
April 10, 2020
Status: --
i already read this long time ago. But when I read this girl. I'm pissed off. For someone that love book and read alot. She is really awfull. She really selfish, condescending, and, ignorant of things. But when I see this got 2nd season anime. I thought maybe something good hidden in this. So I watched it. Glad they skipped the part she wanna go to dangerous forest just to get payruslookingplant, coz that where I flip. So anyway I watch the ani, and the scene where she show malice... more>> to her mom coz he use the woodthatactualybook to light fire. Or when she say that maine body kill her. In short I feel anger when I read this. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh (sorry for bad english) and tq u tling this <<less
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