I did the JLPT2 and I am confident to pass. Now I am looking to break away from cramming boring word lists and grammar into my head and reading something thought provoking or a good story. In short I want something good.

It could be manga, but to be honest I haven't been captured by the medium yet.

I have done KO book 1 and will finish 2 shortly (all SRSerized), but I don't feel ready to tackle something written for native adult speakers, or at least nothing too complex.

I tried reading harry potter in Japanese, but at the time I didn't have enough time to look up words I didn't know and didn't understand it terribly well. I might go back and try again, but in truth I bought it more because the level is good than because I actually want to read it.

An interesting website or blog would also be great.

What about light novels?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_light_novels

http://ponytail.jpn.org/lightnovel/ - Dunno if this is a good site.

Manga doesn't interest me much, so I looked into reading some light novels.
I even picked up a copy of 「このライトノベルがすごい！2009」to see what is popular these days. It has listed the following titles:

1. 文学女性
2. とらドラ！
3. バカとテスト召喚獣
4. とある魔術の禁書目録
5. 狼と香辛科

文学女性 looks a little interesting - maybe I will find it in the bookstore.
Meanwhile, I browsed through Book-Off and found 3 non-fiction books that look interesting (to me):

働くということ
性格分析
国語のできる子どもを育てる

I guess I thought it could be fun to learn something (besides Japanese) while I'm reading. The 3 books cost me 315 Yen.

I'm beginning to feel that it is almost impossible to suggest reading materials, because everyone's interests and reading levels are so different. It might be best to go to a Book-Off and find what you like yourself!

i think that anyone who is confident he can pass jlpt2 and did not capture manga yet is probaly bound to conclude it is not his thing.

there is sure a genre you like, so you should look for japanese books from that genre, translated or original.
in mine opinion japanese science fiction/fantasy sucks, but horror fans should have a lot of good choices.
makes me think, i want japenese dubbed star trek television series for a long time, but maybe star trek books are also translated.

kfmfe04 Wrote:The 3 books cost me 315 Yen.

That's really cheap.

zodiac Wrote:

kfmfe04 Wrote:The 3 books cost me 315 Yen.

That's really cheap.

Yes, 105Yen per volume: I am buying books for the contents, not to collect, so I don't mind buying used books.

Recently, my two favorite sources for books are Book-Off (because it's cheap and I can browse) and http://www.amazon.co.jp (for speed of delivery).

I ordered this book last night via regular mail:
徹底分析 日本語能力試験 文字・語彙1級

and it was in my mailbox by the time I got home tonight.

I wish I had some sort of book-off here...

Book-off is heaven on earth.

phauna Wrote:Book-off is heaven on earth.

They have one in NYC -- pretty close to me. I was able to get a giant backpack full of like 20 or so volumes of manga for a little less than $30.

http://lightnovels.blog51.fc2.com/

blog for light novels

chamcham Wrote:http://lightnovels.blog51.fc2.com/

blog for light novels

Excellent! Bookmarked!

kfmfe04 Wrote:Manga doesn't interest me much, so I looked into reading some light novels.
I even picked up a copy of 「このライトノベルがすごい！2009」to see what is popular these days. It has listed the following titles:

1. 文学女性
2. とらドラ！
3. バカとテスト召喚獣
4. とある魔術の禁書目録
5. 狼と香辛科

文学女性 looks a little interesting - maybe I will find it in the bookstore.
Meanwhile, I browsed through Book-Off and found 3 non-fiction books that look interesting (to me):

働くということ
性格分析
国語のできる子どもを育てる

I guess I thought it could be fun to learn something (besides Japanese) while I'm reading. The 3 books cost me 315 Yen.

I'm beginning to feel that it is almost impossible to suggest reading materials, because everyone's interests and reading levels are so different. It might be best to go to a Book-Off and find what you like yourself!

I LUV とらドラ！ i've already bought the manga and im thinking to buy the novels as well but im not confident enough that i can read it

http://omosirogazoublog.blog21.fc2.com/

Here's a blog that has funny pictures, many with which you can practice your Japanese. There are, for example, mini comics, funny signs, and every entry has a Japanese title.



Just the title in combination with the picture is hilarious