FYI once you’re ready if you want to look into it there are some partial furigana books. It’s harder to find good ones but I maintain this list because I find them very helpful
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Hahaha, you’re right, the preview actually doesn’t show any of the actual book. I’ve taken some screenshots from my own copy of the first couple of pages so you can see them:
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There are 14 volumes as of end of last year, Natively just hasn’t updated it yet (I have tried but it hasn’t completed yet). I found the volume list through the Amazon.jp link
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You can browse amazon.co.jp with an English UI 
And there you could search for " 角川つばさ文庫". I just did and found https://amzn.asia/d/4XV4Mdz which is a new publication of a light novel that got the Furigana 角川つばさ文庫 treatment. Just saying there’s a lot out there!
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I do hope this isn’t too specific of a request, but does anyone know of any light novels that have the same kind of story/vibes as either ゆるキャン△ or 少女終末旅行? Both are manga series but I’m more of a light novel person so I’m trying to look for something similar. In terms of level, anything around the N2 levels on Natively are optimal, though I’m open to things a little higher or lower 
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I’m only familiar with ゆるキャン (the first volume, specifically), so I’ve got a follow-up question: are you looking for iyashikei LNs? Slice-of-life? Or are you going more for that vibe of cozy isolation?
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All of those sound amazing! Any that ticks one of those boxes (or possibly more) would be perfect
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I haven’t read much of any of those genres, sadly, so I don’t have much to offer. With the caveat that I haven’t read these, from what little I do know about them, they may be worth checking into:
I don’t have much for “cozy isolation”, sadly. Unless we start counting murder mysteries in isolated areas, I suppose. Curious to hear if anyone else has good suggestions!
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Probably not really what you’re looking for, but reading your post I immediately thought of
スライム倒して300年、知らないうちにレベルMAXになってました
Wait wtf why does this link lead to Another? That was of course not what I thought of 
I’ll just leave that link as is, it’s too hilarious to delete. I didn’t even visit the Another page lately though
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@eefara thank you for the recs, I appreciate that and I’ll look into them 
@9Sora2 that really cracked me up omg but in all seriousness, the book you actually recommended looks really fun. I’ve been getting into the isekai genre recently so I’ll definitely give that a read
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Cozy iyashikei it is not
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Any recommendations for modern-ish Japanese literary fiction for someone wanting to branch out from Murakami?
I’m currently reading my third Murakami book in a row, and feel really in the flow of understanding his writing.
However, I’d be interested in branching out, I don’t love some aspects of his work (anyone familiar with it may be able to guess what) - but generally like the writing level, writing style and settings of modern Japan.
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Is there any specific topic you would be interested in?
As general recommendations, I really liked
(Following is horror:)
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Which time period specifically would you be interested in? And are there aspects of Murakami’s novels that you do enjoy and would want more of from a different author? His writing style is pretty unique so it could be easier to recommend things that are thematically similar.
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Thanks - some of these recommendations look great.
I guess the thing about Murakami writing that has maybe been good is the “Western-ness” of his writing, but without having read a great deal of other stuff it’s difficult to say comparatively.
I think I have quite enjoyed the magical realist elements of the writing the most.
Apologies for the massive lack of direction, but I’m pretty open to reading most things! Any contemporary fiction people have enjoyed I’d be happy to add to my wishlist AKA Bookoff menu.
I guess I’m interested in contemporary writing that is critically acclaimed but doesn’t need N1 / N1+ levels of knowledge.
In terms of setting, anything set in Kyushu or Kansai would be really appealing.
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Thanks for the additional info! 
Hmm, ok…
Murakami was influenced by a lot of American authors including Raymond Carver & Raymond Chandler’s who were writing in the 40s and 50s, so sometimes when I read older Japanese stuff from the same time period it somehow scratches that same stylistic itch. Here is one idea:
https://learnnatively.com/search/jpn/books/?q=ビルマのたて
This is a children’s novel from the 50s set in Myanmar after the war ends that has a simple and straightforward writing style. I’m not sure if you’ve ever read ねじまき鳥クロニクル but it reminded me slightly of the WWII vignette scenes. There is a slight mystery and some slight fantastical things happening but I wouldn’t say it’s magical realism. Even though it’s for children it is the type of book that is very mature and positively expects lot from them, and despite being about the war it’s not super depressing. It’s a very famous and acclaimed post war novel and does not require N1+!
Another rec that is more on the magical realism/surreal side:
今村夏子 is a critically acclaimed contemporary author and 芥川賞 winner, and all her books happen to be on the easier side to read! This one in particular has the most magical realism happening kind of in the way Murakami’s novels do. If you don’t mind a bit of surrealism and enjoy absurd metaphors maybe you’ll like this? There was a book club on the forums too, so there is the added benefit of being able to look at people’s discussion posts and add your thoughts.
Another rec from 今村夏子:
This is also fun! It isn’t magical realism, but rather something like absurdist horror. The first short story has a bit of 関西弁 if you’re interested in that (but it’s not set there).
Now something very far away from Murakami:
This is a contemporary novel that won the 文藝 magazines prize set deeeep in the 田舎 in 北九州. The characters all speak intense 九州弁. The plot is kind of like a coming of age story of a ヤンキーliving in the middle of nowhere, so I would recommend it if you’re into that. It’s the hardest choice out of all of the recommendations since it had a lot of modern slang and dialect, but it was deeper than I expected and a good read.
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I would love to hear about everyone’s favorite books they read in Japanese. I still haven’t found any that really got me hooked. I quite liked お探し物は図書室まで, especially toward the end, コンビニ人間 and 変な家. Other than that, I’ve read a lot that were just OK. I’m struggling to stay motivated to read in Japanese because I can’t find content I love, and there are so many books that I read in English and French that I am just immersed in and will read for 1-2 hours in a sitting.
I do like some adult manga, particularly loved ひらやすみ 1 and 凪のお暇 1. I’m not really into romance, usually, and really not into coming of age or anything about high school/college.
Looking for L28-31
The ones mentioned above look good too so I might check those out.
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I’ve had the same problem with Japanese novels. I’ve gotten into a couple long LN series which has kept me busy, but most regular novels have been bad to just okay for me. My absolute favorite is かがみの孤城. I also enjoyed 獣の奏者 (first two volumes) and 僕が愛したすべての君へ. The latter is a bit basic in some ways, but I liked it.
Is there any genre or theme you’re interested in trying out? Admittedly, a very large portion of my manga reading is romance, coming of age, or high school setting, but I’m sure I still have some good suggestions if you’re looking for anything specific.
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I was going to say I really liked かがみの孤城 as well when I was reading it. I love magical realism, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction (but I am not there yet with Japanese), and regular novels about regular people with issues that I can relate to?
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Alright, I do have some manga suggestions for you then.
Here are probably my top suggestions:
- シャドーハウス | L23 - this is a mystery/supernatural manga about a shadow girl and her servant, trying to figure out this strange world they’re in. Probably my strongest suggestion as it’s a really good long running series.
- 神さまがまちガえる | L22 - a weird fantasy series where the world changes in weird ways every day, following a woman who researches these phenomena and her assistant.
- 夜の名前を呼んで | L21 - a fantasy about a girl who suffers from a magical ailment and her physician.
If you want to try a manga that isn’t fantasy, I’d recommend クプルムの花嫁 | L26. It’s about a coppersmith and his fiancée. It’s basically just a slice of life story about coppersmithing and their relationship (but it’s not heavy on romance).
If you want significantly more challenging and out of left field options, there’s:
- うらら迷路帖 | L32 - about girls learning divination in a strange town.
- 此花亭奇譚 新装版 | L31 / このはな綺譚 | L31 - about some fox girls working at a traditional inn. It’s very episodic.
- 宝石の国 | L29 - about these humanoid gems being hunted by otherworldly beings. The story is quite interesting, though I didn’t read past the first volume since the artwork is pretty bland (contrasted with the anime which has beautiful animation).
- 紡ぐ乙女と大正の月 | L30 - about a girl who timeslips to the Taishou era. It does partially take place in high school, but I figure maybe you’d be interested based on the historical setting.
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