(2016-01-26, 12:16 pm)poiprotocol Wrote: Have any of you tried the Level 4 Graded Readers or any Magic Tree House books? I find them good practice.
The Magic Tree House books (translations of American kids books actually) are really well written and interesting enough for adults. They push me vocab and grammar wise, but I can still get 90% of what's going on. And they don't give the visual crutch of pictures to the extent that manga do.
I've also bought a used copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone . It's definitely a step higher than the things I mention above. But it has copious furigana and is still within reach.
I have read four or five of the magic tree house books. I'd read many of these with my kids when they were younger, and being so familiar with the stories and characters made the books an easy way to break into reading for me. I got pretty bored of the formulaic structure of them by the last one I read though, so I have a couple more on the shelf I may or may not get around to reading.