Which books would you suggest to someone only just beginning to read novels in Japanese? (I have read short stories and manga, but would like to move on to something a bit more challenging)
Follow your taste, or maybe read the novel version of a manga you read (if it exists). https://learnnatively.com/ or https://jpdb.io might be helpful in narrowing down some choices.
Otoh, I’ve read a bit of Sword Art Online LNs. Those are quite a bit harder. Not impossible, but definitely a challenge for me, ymmv.
What worked for me were this series – １０歳までに読みたい世界名作
These are simplified versions of famous books like Wizard of Oz, Sherlock Holmes and so on, so you already know how the plot goes. This books have images – helpful for understanding. They also have furigana and not too many kanjis.
I use a Kobo Reader (with KOReader) and because it’s so easy to use, I need not more than 10-15 minutes for one chapter. And I am not very good at Japanese.
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Follow your taste, or maybe read the novel version of a manga you read (if it exists). https://learnnatively.com/ or https://jpdb.io might be helpful in narrowing down some choices.
Personally, [不登校の幼馴染が学校に行く条件は、毎日俺とキスすることだった](https://jpdb.io/novel/7098/futoukou-no-osananajimi-ga-gakkou-ni-iku-jouken-wa-mainichi-ore-to-kiss-suru-koto-datta) was the first light novel I managed to finish. Besides that I had to look things up constantly (small vocabulary), I think it’s pretty accessible.
Something like [魔女の宅急便](https://learnnatively.com/book/a93506cde2/) (Kiki’s Delivery Service) might be a good choice.
Otoh, I’ve read a bit of Sword Art Online LNs. Those are quite a bit harder. Not impossible, but definitely a challenge for me, ymmv.
What worked for me were this series – １０歳までに読みたい世界名作
These are simplified versions of famous books like Wizard of Oz, Sherlock Holmes and so on, so you already know how the plot goes. This books have images – helpful for understanding. They also have furigana and not too many kanjis.
I use a Kobo Reader (with KOReader) and because it’s so easy to use, I need not more than 10-15 minutes for one chapter. And I am not very good at Japanese.
[https://www.amazon.co.jp/%25EF%25BC%2591%25EF%25BC%2590%25E6%25AD%25B3%25E3%2581%25BE%25E3%2581%25A7%25E3%2581%25AB%25E8%25AA%25AD%25E3%2581%25BF%25E3%2581%259F%25E3%2581%2584%25E4%25B8%2596%25E7%2595%258C%25E5%2590%258D%25E4%25BD%259C-%25E5%2585%25A829%25E5%25B7%25BB/dp/B0977LP1KC](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%25EF%25BC%2591%25EF%25BC%2590%25E6%25AD%25B3%25E3%2581%25BE%25E3%2581%25A7%25E3%2581%25AB%25E8%25AA%25AD%25E3%2581%25BF%25E3%2581%259F%25E3%2581%2584%25E4%25B8%2596%25E7%2595%258C%25E5%2590%258D%25E4%25BD%259C-%25E5%2585%25A829%25E5%25B7%25BB/dp/B0977LP1KC)