I’d like to read a book in Japanese, something not too difficult but also not simplified, tried reading 吾輩は猫である but the language is still kinda too much in there. Are there any contemporary authors with relatively accessible language? I heard 吉本バナナ is easy enough to read?
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I liked 世界から猫が消えるなら and found it okay when I was around N2 level of Japanese
[this](https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4185ci/) is my go-to recommendation to beginners: くまクマ熊ベアー
It’s simple and relatively approachable for a light novel, especially if you read on the web with yomichan. The story is… whatever, some people like it, some people find it incredibly boring. I’d say give it a go and see if it clicks for you.
> I heard 吉本バナナ is easy enough to read?
I’m currently reading キッチン and I’m at N2. I would say it’s not super easy, but manageable. Definitely easier than こころ from 夏目漱石 for example. Before that I read コンビニ人間 which was even a bit easier than キッチン but comparable.
I really like this website for finding stuff to read https://learnnatively.com/
If you mean キッチン by 吉本バナナ then I would say knowing grammar/vocab somewhere between N3-N2 will give you not only a good immersion but also lets you appreciate the emotional depth of the book.
It’s one of the more “easier” books to read in Japanese and is often recommend to beginners, but it’s all depending on your level. A beginner learner in Japanese overall is not the same as a beginner in reading books, of course.
Speaking of level: I found it easier to start with books that have furigana. Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko books (easily recognisable by the green frame on the cover jacket) all have furigana. Popular books are the ones based on anime
movies like 君の名は or 天気の子 or すずめの戸締り for example.
Aside of that, [jpdb](https://jpdb.io) is a good resource for Japanese light novels, novels etc.
I also agree with the comment recommending 世界から猫が消えるなら. A really good, enjoyable read.
吉本ばなな is pretty easy for literary fiction but if you haven’t read anything in Japanese yet I would recommend you start with light novels or manga, preferably ones with more or less realistic settings.
If you can find something with an anime adaptation that’s even better.
Your first book in Japanese is always going to be a bit of a challenge, so you want to do anything you can do to make it easier on yourself. The first few light novels I read were series that I had watched as anime and it made a big difference already knowing the story.
I tried to jump right into literary fiction when I started reading in Japanese because that’s mostly what I read in English and I have to say it was one of my biggest mistakes in learning Japanese. I would have been much better off starting with manga, then light novels, then “easy” fiction like 吉本ばなな.
[https://learnnatively.com/](https://learnnatively.com/) is a good resource for finding level appropriate books
I read two books by 住野よる last year, which I found very accessible for intermediate readers:
* また、同じ夢を見ていた tells the story of Nanoka and her group of unusual friends. They talk about happiness while Nanoka deals with her everyday life at home and in school.
* In 君の膵臓をたべたい the protagonist reads a diary of his classmate Sakura and finds out that she is terminally ill. The two develop a friendship as Sakura’s illness progresses.
I can honestly recommend both novels, but the first one is significantly easier language-wise. [Another recommendation I can give are 100% furigana books](https://dokushoclub.com/2022/05/15/books-with-furigana/). There are several publishers with all kinds of novels with furigana, which helps with looking up unknown kanji.