The days are getting shorter over here, which means reading time will hopefully increase
Also, I have the 2025 Bingo on my stack, and although it might not be feasible to tick off every box, I will try my best to get as many squares covered as possible.
Especially the “Seeking Recommendations” square
Now my original plan with this year’s bingo was to read a lot of my 積読 which may or may have not worked well until now, but especially the “Seeking Recommendations” square should be a book I already own, is my thinking. Also, because I still need to fill many squares, I picked those books that are short and easy, and I would like to ask you which of these you especially recommend me to read
なぜ?どうして?科学のお話2年生 (L18)
都道府県のおはなし 低学年 おはなしドリル (L19)
源氏物語 時の姫君 いつか、めぐりあうまで (L22?)
とんこつQ&A - 今村 夏子 (L26)
木になった亜沙 - 今村 夏子 (L27)
あなたが口にしている使ってはいけない日本語 (L28)
チヨ子 - 宮部 みゆき (L28)
ホテル・アイリス - 小川 洋子 (L29)
0voters
Thank you so much for helping me make a dent in both my 積読 and in my Bingo Card!
Here are the Natively links if you would like to have a closer look at the options:
Doesn’t Natively’s Discourse have the option to quote a whole post?
I can’t seem to be able to select the text from your poll to look up the books and I can’t quote the post to grab the names from here. Sure I can use developer tools instead, but just wanted to let you know that it’s a bit tricky to do in case you have time to provide the Natively links or just the same list but in plain text under.
I personally don’t know any of the books so if I want to give an opinion anyway I’d like to look them up first (but maybe you prefer only option of people who have read the books)
Hm that’s a very good question! Over at WaniKani it is now possible to select from polls, but it seems that Natively’s Discourse is quite a bit older, so maybe it is still on a version that doesn’t have that feature yet.
Thank you for suggesting to add the links, that’s a very good idea!
I am happy for everybody and anybody to voice their opinions, based on whatever criteria they see fit, even if it’s things like “I like the cover” or “I like nonfiction” or anything
Based on the reviews both of 今村 夏子’s books sound pretty great. Plus, as a person still struggling to break into adult books I find the low Natively level very appealing.
I already read her Akutagawa-Prize-winning book むらさきのスカートの女 | L27 and loved it! Thus I’m very much looking forward to reading both of these. I’m also very happy about having good literature available at a low Natively level - even as a beginner one should be able to get exposure to good writing.
If you get around to reading one of her works, let me know what you think!
I will! I think I just committed myself to trying to finish 神様 | L32 before the end of this year, but after that I might try reading one of 今村’s in e-book format. I’m torn between あひる and とんこつQ&A, so if you have thoughts about either or both I’d love to hear them!
Thanks to everybody who helped me pick my “recommended” book! I wasn’t aware that we have such a large 今村 fan base here
Based on your recommendations I have decided to read 木になった亜沙 | L27 as my bingo book (simply because it is the shorter one of the two top ones )
There is also an informal reading club for it: 木になった亜紗 Informal Reading Club which I will make use of.
Haven’t read either of them so far, unfortunately, but maybe somebody else knows more?
I was thinking that we could maybe run a little informal book club on とんこつQ&A | L26 next year if there is enough interest. For those who plan to participate in the 2026 bingo, I’m sure we can find a bingo square to put it in
I’ve finally reached the level where I feel I can just read books, and even though I miss important stuff here and there, it feels amazing.
Problem is, I never really read books before I started learning Japanese, so I don’t really know what I like! So, I want to experiment with different genres and just see what strikes my fancy.
Are there any (light) novels you’d say are masterpieces in a genre, stand out within a genre or are just a good introductory book to a genre that’d you recommend me so I can add it to my (already considerably large) TBR pile? It can be of any genre (except BL and mystery). I currently only read things up to like lv 28-30 maximum, but I don’t mind getting recommendations above my level either, it just becomes an option later.
I’ll read books aimed at women or at men I don’t really care.
I’m assuming since it’s in parentheses you don’t mean “light novels” which are category of their own, so I suppose I need to clarify if by light you mean in themes? For example, きらきらひかる | L31 is a wonderful piece of writing around the level you’re looking at, but the themes may be a bit “heavy” for some as it touches on homophobia and depression.
Oh it’s so old it doesn’t have a kindle version
If I have to read it physically without instant lookups it’s going to be something for in a couple of years sadly.
Hmmm. Scrolling through my read list, I feel like there’s not a lot here I could recommend. Maybe 秋の牢獄 or 夜市 | L30? I don’t know if they’re masterpieces or stand out necessarily, but I enjoyed them and would recommend them to strangers. NO. 6 〔ナンバーシックス〕#1 | L31 as well, though it’s a bit above your listed level range.
かがみの孤城 | L29 - Coming of age story with light fantasy elements. My favorite Japanese novel.
コンビニ人間 | L29 - Maybe best described as a character piece? A modern classic.
僕が愛したすべての君へ | L29 - Parallel world sci-fi story. Perhaps a bit basic at points, but fun for me. There is a second novel that could arguably be read first, but there’s no official order. (They take place in different parallel worlds.)
サイレント・ウィッチ | L30 - Fantasy light novel series. I’m currently reading it and enjoying it.
本好きの下剋上 | L32 - Really long isekai fantasy series. It’s great, but be prepared to spend years reading it if you get hooked.
獣の奏者 | L34 - Really interesting fantasy world with a great main character. First two books can be read alone without reading the others.
As you can see, my suggestions are mostly fantasy. I strongly recommend the first two no matter what. The rest are take it or leave it depending on whether the premise interests you.
Already got it in my bookcase (though I’ll probably read it digitally anyway). But the physical book is stunning.
already on my TBR! I’m not entirely sure what so expect from it but amazon.jp listed it as the #1 selling book when I looked at it, so I figured there has to be something to it.
I think I’ll give this one a go.
This is series I’m already looking forward to a lot. I just think it’s a tad too difficult for me to enjoy thoroughly for now.
I read half the first book about ~8 months ago. I didn’t finish it, but now you mention it, I should give it a second chance. It was too hard for me at the time and felt a bit slow (but my reading speed was also abysmal at the time).
That seems very interesting. Not sure about it mostly because according to the written review on natively I’d have to read the first 2 books as a set, and they’re quite lengthy together. Still, that’s something that unlike things I’ve read so far. I’ll probably give it a go when my reading speed improves more.
Thanks for all your suggestions! Really appreciate it
Just very recently I recommended a bunch of books in another thread: 2025 Bingo Reading Challenge ✅ - #635 by nikoru and maybe you’d like to have a look there? Most of them are just hovering around L30 so they might also be good stepping stones for you. Plus, there are some book clubs either here or over at WaniKani where you can check previous questions and comments and even post yourself still, I’d expect.
thought learning more about prefectures looked interesting, and otherwise voted based on comments and reviews on Natively!
Thanks!
