Novels or book recommendations (N4?)

Hi guys, I’m just wondering if you have any short stories or maybe novel recommendations for N4 or around level 25 on Wanikani? I’m not really into manga. Thanks

:rotating_light: @seanblue your knowledge is needed! :rotating_light:

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I don’t really read any slice of life novels, only manga!

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I think GJ Club is a school slice-of-life light novel that’s had a book club on here before:

Be sure to check out the stickied posts in the reading category as well!

The book clubs here can be a really good source of ideas for stuff to read, especially knowing there is (or at least was) a place you can go to ask questions.

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You can have a look at the Beginner Book Club, they sometimes read books as well, and the level should be a good fit for you. Plus, in the book clubs you can find discussion threads where people not only discuss the contents of the book at hand but also clarify each and every language question they might have. If you decide to read a book from one of the old book clubs, you can still ask questions in the threads. If you prefer to read with a group, the Beginner Book Club will start reading a collection of children’s stories on August 28th. The chosen book is even available for free, so you can give it a try without spending any money :slight_smile:

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Do you like detective stories? Edogawa Ranpo has a series about the Boys Detective Club which is fairly easy. The books are freely available on Aozora Bunko, for instance. Here’s a link to his books: 作家別作品リスト:江戸川 乱歩

And here’s a wiki article covering the titles: Kogoro Akechi - Wikipedia

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Assuming you’re not wanting to read kids stuff (you said novels so that’s just my impression), I thought kagami no kojou was one of the easiest things I’ve read and might be worth a try. Of course, an easy novel isn’t going to be easy at all at an N4 level and it will take a lot of persistence and effort, but you can do it and learn a lot from it no doubt.

Visual novels are also an option if you are into that. The writing isn’t something to be looked down on and is definitely comparable to other novels/light novels, but they are just constructed in a way that’s a lot more beginner friendly imo. Tbh I think overall they are the best media to learn a language from.

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I’ve read everywhere, and they always recommend 魔女の宅急便 as the easiest novel, but I don’t think it is easy for N4. Try getting the vocabulary and SRS them from the Book Club. I am also currently reading it.

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