Late to the party, but I’ve been reading 方丹。Another Japanese mystery / thriller that is quite popular in China ATM.

Another very good book for people wanting to dip their toes into a full novel. Aside from keeping track of the names it is very easy to follow and be hooked in.

I use a Boox Leaf for reading as well. Whilst not the most beautiful solution, I think the pleco reader works really well on it. You can link it to anki to add new words you look up to your flashcards which is pretty handy.

Very glad to see this and your general efforts over the last few months to keep here alive!

Would always be happy to act as an extra pair of hands with moderation if you ever need it.

Whoops - I actually used the auto suggest title feature, but clearly not to great effect…

I do think the geopolitical angle they are going with is a bit overplayed. It looks like Mandarin is only a bit below the trend for foreign languages in general. Personally, I think part of that is just people realising over time that studying Mandarin won’t necessarily lead to business or career success.