Well, the end of the year draws near, so I thought it would be fun to share our favorite books among those we read this year. They do not need to have been published this year, mind you, just that you read them this year.
You may also say “there’s a full month left!”, but Booklive has already published their best (selling) ranking for 2024. I will follow their categories as well, but you don’t have to!
Best shonen/seinen manga
Well, best seinen has to be 東京ヒゴロ 1 | L28 for me.
I really enjoyed ダンジョン飯 14巻 | L29 (12th place on Booklive), but it feels kinda weird to put a last volume in here 
For shonen manga (already breaking the Booklive template), 事情を知らない転校生がグイグイくる。 1 | L21 was my absolute favorite, BUT honorable mention to ドッグスレッド 1 | L27 for the strong gay undertones typical of the author; I don’t really care about the sport itself and 葬送のフリーレン 1 | L27 (4th place on Booklive)
Best shojo/josei manga
For best josei, I would say 百鬼夜行抄 1 | L31. I loved the atmosphere. It felt similar to 蟲師 1 | L24, but josei (even I don’t think I make sense, don’t worry).
For best shojo, huh, none? Among new things, at least. I guess I will break my previous statement and say 神様はじめました 25 | L28. I did enjoy モブなのに過保護な公爵に溺愛されています 1巻 | L22, but it requires to be read in a braindead state.
LN
For 男性向け, I would say TRPGプレイヤーが異世界で最強ビルドを目指す 1 ~ヘンダーソン氏の福音を~ | L40 … well, the later half of the series, at least. There’s some pretty sus content in the earlier volumes, but I guess it makes sense since the main character is underage. In latter volumes, I liked the fact that the main character (1) did get in a relationship already, (2) is revealed to be bisexual and has actual love interests of both genders (which may be relevant, since the main character is also okay with polyamory). Also, the action scenes are pretty good. If only there wasn’t so much sus stuff in earlier volumes…
I wish I could put some 本好き in here, but the series is over 
Booklive has 薬屋のひとりごと | L38 has number 1… I still need to read the last published volume.
For 女性向け, easy pick: ループ7回目の悪役令嬢は、元敵国で自由気ままな花嫁生活を満喫する 1 f | L30 (4th place on Booklive). Fun fact, first place is 継母の心得 | L29. I thought it was okay (and bought volume 2 as well), but not ground breaking… I wonder if something happens later? I really liked 本好きの下剋上 ハンネローレの貴族院五年生1 | L29 as well (booklive… 16th place??? That’s way too low), but it’s content I have read recently online. The editing and extra content was nice to see, but not enough to make it first place (for me).
Interestingly, I know most of the series in the top 10 of booklive in that category, but have never heard of their number 2 恋した人は、妹の代わりに死んでくれと言った。 | L30?? I guess I should check it out at some point.
Novels/Literature
Due to some divergence in definition between what is or is not a light novel on Booklive and here, some stuff that would count for booklive are considered LN for Natively. But oh well.
My favorite “proper” novel this year was 麦ふみクーツェ | L34, which, despite the length, devoured in a single day. There’s been a few things I did enjoy quite a lot too, including ハンチバック | L33, 破局 | L32, and どこの家にも怖いものはいる | L32.
In terms of short story collections, I have been quite lucky this year. 嫌いなら呼ぶなよ | L36, 穴 | L36, 献灯使 | L39 were all pretty good.
Non fiction
Err, I haven’t really read much in that category. I would default to スマホはどこまで脳を壊すか | L26 since it is the only thing that is proper non fiction AND full length. Congrats on being first out of one.
“Adult” (by which Booklive means something else)
Well, I haven’t read anything 18+ aimed at men this year (or, you know, probably ever?), so that’s empty for me.
BL
Well, among the things that I can add to Natively, I would say 僕らの食卓 | L20 was the absolute best. Also, there’s no spicy content, so I would recommend it to literally anyone, regardless of your gender or sexuality.
TL
So, I don’t think I have added any TL on Natively this year. Fun fact, I did like その天才様は偽装彼女に執着する, but Booklive is not only telling me it’s josei, no TL, it is in fact the number one shojo/josei manga over there. It was fun, but I wouldn’t go that far. I guess 淡河かれんは甘噛みするPINK (a spin off of 淡河かれんは甘噛みする that is, err, PINK, as the title implies; you know) was nice too… AND is also considered “josei” by Booklive, but whatever. My rules.
So, that’s it for me. How about everyone?
I read the first 200-ish pages of this in one sitting.
romantic 
