Hi, I’ve been lurking around the N2 thread and see that folks who regularly consume light novels have a much easier time taking the test (makes sense). I am a terribly slow reader. I read my first Japanese novel 西の魔女が死んだ over the course of several months, and am about 60% through コンビニ人間 at the moment. I’m also trying to read 1 news article/day with the help of Yomitan.
I like both of the novels I’ve read so far, but they can get literary and philosophical, which makes them a bit intimidating for my attention span. They’re not something I reach for on my lunch break. I wonder if there’s some material out there that could grab my attention and hold my hyperfixation for dear life, so reading Japanese becomes more of an impulse than a chore.
Anyone have light novel recommendations? Something you couldn’t put down?
(I’m not even entirely sure what a light novel is lol)
Besides what @soggyboy said, they tend to target the same people who read manga and watch anime, and so they often contain similar tropes. But for the record, light novels are not always easier than regular novels. Some can get really complicated, and it just depends on the series.
For regular novels that are on the easier side, I liked 僕が愛したすべての君へ and かがみの孤城. Both are similar in difficulty to コンビニ人間 on the whole, though I don’t think they philosophize much. (Well, maybe 僕愛 does a little bit.)
For light novels, my favorite is 本好きの下剋上, though it’s quite long at 33 volumes. It starts pretty easy, but later on it has incredibly complex worldbuilding since it’s high fantasy. I’ve also really been enjoying サイレント・ウィッチ. I’ve read 4 volumes so far and it was a relatively easy read. Some magic and math words come up that you’ll need to learn, but overall it’s not that hard. That’s really all I can recommend for light novels since I haven’t enjoyed most of the ones I’ve read.
Keep in mind that Light Novels are a genre, not a descriptor of difficulty. Also, even though I read quite a few manga, I personally don’t mesh at all with light novels, or at least the few I’ve attempted to read. They generally feel extremely fanfic-y to me, if that makes sense.
I’m not trying to discourage you to try them, but keep in mind that it may not be the right path for you.
But the good news is that Light Novels tend to have a bunch of volumes, so if you find one that you truly enjoy, that’s going to keep you busy for a while.
It’s hard to recommend novels when there’s no telling what may trigger that page-turning hyperfixation feeling for you. Even two books from the same genre might elicit different amounts of interest. The easiest suggestion for moving forward right away might just be to scroll the novel/light novel selection on Natively with some extra settings put in for difficulty, maybe levels 24-30 or so, and focus on consuming a high quantity of easy books instead of spending time trying to find the perfect page-turner
Like others have said I don’t think there’s anything special or uniquely good for learning about light novels, and you can get the benefits from novels (or visual novels or other prose). There’s plenty of books where the distinction between novel and LN gets fuzzy anyway, some LNs are the kind of 15+ -volume lighter (not easier) reading, and some are just novels aimed at a YA audience, I still don’t know the exact distinction and for some of them I think it’s just a marketing categorisation thing. I read probably 5 LNs and 25-30 Novels before taking N2 (which is probably way more than necessary to pass, but I like reading) and the novels were more helpful to me personally because I was more interested and thus could read more of them.
Most LNs I’ve read are probably less thought provoking and thus easier to read before bed for me, but also just generally less enjoyable and interesting. Also most LNs are in the medium difficulty level compared to other novels I’ve got through, Murakami for example is probably no harder than the average LN I’ve tried. So LNs act as like “turn off my brain” reading for me personally, if you’re looking for something to grab your attention, maybe it’s better to focus on just finding something you really want to read, LN or Novel or anything else.
A similar way to getting the benefits of more repeated language, more consistent writing style of LNs etc can come from reading the same author or sticking to series. I’ve read quite a few 海誠 books (which are some of those which are on the boundary between LN and Novel but are really just novels) which I really really liked, and also 5 of the コーヒーが冷めないうちに series which is easy and personally I find to be my comfort series. 深海’s novelisations are good if you like the movies. Branching out from films you’ve seen to the original books, anime series to books, books you’ve read the English translation of, stuff like that can be a good way to leverage what you already know and like into finding new stuff to read.
I tried stuff like 本好き and サイレント・ウィッチ which are pretty popular LN series, but that kind of fantasy stuff doesn’t really pull me in as much. If you like fantasy they might be good for you. Otherwise if there’s an anime I watched which I find out is based on an LN I sometimes give it a try, e.g. 時々ボソッとロシア語 (which is aggressively mediocre).
TL:DR Nothing special about LNs compared to novels, focus on what you enjoy reading. If you don’t know exactly what will grip you, searching for genres you enjoy in English, browsing around on natively, novelizations of other types of media you like in Japanese can be a good place to start.
If you have specific genres etc. that you like I’m sure plenty of people here can give you more helpful recommendations. General recommendations aren’t that good because most of the time they’re just not something which is really going to grip you which is what it seems like you’re really searching for (and is the correct thing to be searching for!). Japanese learners on here seem to congregate on the same set of books when starting out (I’ve done my share of that too) which is understandable from a difficulty perspective, but the sooner you can cut loose and learn how to find your own stuff you like, the better.
Okay that might not actually be tldr.. Ramble over
I think the bookclubs and such around here can really give a leg up, especially when you’re starting out and unsure.
Another thing I recommend is parallel reading with an official (or unofficial if you want to gamble) translation - it’s more expensive for sure but I probably wouldn’t have gotten through Apothecary Diaries 1 without being able to check in on the Eng version whenever there was a particularly convoluted section.
Ok, this gives me some good context! I had an idea of what a light novel was, but was under the impression they were somewhat shorter and faster to digest than ‘novels’ (emphasis on Light). I was thinking they might be quicker to read with lighter content. But as it seems they can be practically the same as regular novels I’ll keep poking around everywhere and grab at whatever sticks out!
Thanks for your detailed reply! It’s true, I’ve been so busy with everything else for the past 10 years I haven’t really even been consuming content for enjoyment in English, so I guess I need to keep experimenting and find something that clicks.
I seem to dig thrillers, mystery, and horror in general. But mostly was looking for other folks’ experiences with content they find to be compelling.
Man, again, I’m realizing that in the past 10 years I’ve barely consumed any media for enjoyment (it feels like), but there have been a few sporadic instances where I’ve enjoyed reading something recently?
I really enjoyed reading Jurassic Park and some Stephen King novels, so maybe I’m into thriller, horror and mystery. However, I tend to enjoy most anything with a well-thought-out and compelling plot. That’s pretty vague, but it applies to a bunch of different media I’ve loved in the past, across many genres: sci fi, fantasy, survival, horror, crime. Maybe I’m not that into romance?
lmao sorry for the ramble
mostly I was hoping to see if anyone has a series or book they particularly enjoyed for some reason!
Do you like ghosts? This is a very easy adult (ish) novel series that I found to be pretty entertaining (although was ‘brain off’ reading in a way because the plot is not complex). Bonus: there are a bunch of them so you can read more books and get repeated vocab exposure.
Thank you! I love ghosts, and a good ghost story It would be fantastic to find something that’s entertaining but ‘brain off’. Excited to check it out! And thank you for the resource!! I’m at the beginning of my reading journey so with so many options it has been a bit intimidating to figure out a direction
but I still enjoyed it and it was a really compelling read.
It would be fantastic to find something that’s entertaining but ‘brain off’. Excited to check it out! And thank you for the resource!! I’m at the beginning of my reading journey so with so many options it has been a bit intimidating to figure out a direction