Any general thoughts on the year in Light Novels + Novels + Manga (2016)?

Terrence

So yeah, 2016 is close to a close, so I figured I'd list what I read, what I really liked, and maybe even my favorite characters + publishers. Feel free to share your thoughts too.

My highest rated LNs of the year:
Baccano
My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World
The Devil is a Part Timer V3
Welcome to the NHK (if that counts)

My Highest Rated Manga:
Goodnight Punpun Vol 1
Nijigahara Holograph

Highest Rated Book Overall by Other Users in my "read" collection:
Goodnight Punpun Vol 3

Least Popular book I read this year according to Goodreads (kind of unfair to it since it isn't properly out yet):
Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension

If you're a member of Goodreads, check out this link to see a list of titles in your "read" list, along with additional statistics (like shortest book, longest book, highest rated, most popular, least popular):
https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2016

Here were my results on Goodreads:
https://t.co/Kr2N7r8RIy

Overall, pretty happy with the year. Have a host of LN I need to get to still. Looking forward to 2017, my most anticipated book being Rokka no Yuusha LN series, specifically volume 2 where the story continues from the ending. Also anticipating Your Name and a few others.

Rahul Balaggan

To me this was a big year with Vertical releasing Kizumonogatari, and part 1 of Bakemonogatari as well as licensing the series through nisemonogatari.

I have read a lot of light novels in 2016 (but I am sure everyone else here isn't into that, wink face)

My favorite ongoing series is still Is It Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon.

My favorite series licensed and also released this year is Goblin Slayer

And I wanna give a huge shout out to Re:Zero, I really wanted to watch the anime on this but since the light novel is being released I will wait. So I am powering through the books as soon as Yen On puts them out and when it finally catches up I will be able to watch the anime.

Manga wise my personal top 10 list has not changed at all this year

However I am really glad the Black Clover manga is being released in print, I have been reading the manga through WSJ since 2015 and I couldn't be more excited to own it in print.

If I had to pick something to be my favorite book release of the year I would actually choose a hentai Tankōbon released by FAKKU, After School Vanilla by Key.

Terrence

@Rahul-Balaggan Getting Goblin Slayer soon. I haven't touched the manga since I want to read the first novel without really much if any info.

I'm finishing Overlord volume 1 tonight. Can't say I was a huge fan of this volume, and some of the organizations I got a little bogged down in, but it's picking up a bit at the end of the volume. The art is amazing though. Last LN I finish before the New Year might be Faraway Paladin. Either that, or work through more of the Japanese novel Goth.

Finding Text to Speech functionality has helped my reading habits a lot. =)

erictbar

I read and listened to so many books this year. Counting manga, biographies and audio lectures (which aren't really books, but I don't feel like adjusting the number) I read/listened to 336 books this year. Being able to listen to audiobooks/text-to-speech at work, and manga being such quick reads, really helped towards that number, admittedly.

This year was year of sports manga for English reading fans. Really loved Yowamushi Pedal and Haikyu! Was also pleasantly surprised by "The Emperor and I" which you can read for free (legally) on viz.com.

For light novels, I really enjoyed Danmachi (Is It Wrong to Try to Pickup Girls In a Dungeon?) Vol. 6, the first one to take place after the anime. Also loved reading the Phantom Bullet arc of SAO. Skipped the Fairy Dance arc which I really didn't like in the anime. I look forward to reading Welcome to the NHK (which I bought awhile ago) and more SisKan in the new year.

Rahul Balaggan

@Terrence Speaking as someone who has started reading the manga of Goblin Slayer (I couldn't wait any longer and bought all the chapters) when I first started the light novel I was still blown away. I don't wanna overhype the book but when I read the same scenes in the novel from the manga I still felt that edge of my seat rush I felt when I read the manga. The only times I felt like that with novels is Danmachi, The Isolator, Overlord, and most recently How a Realistic Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom.

Regarding Overlord, to me it's the same story as with Re:Zero I wanna read all the novels before I see the anime, luckily I only have to read 3 novels and that covers the whole anime. I can say this...it gets a lot better. The latter half of Volume 1 was the real intense stuff, and all of Volume 2 was gold in my opinion.

Also fun fact The manga version of Overlord Volume 1 contains all of the material presented in Volume 1 of the light novel. I kinda take that to mean they trimmed a lot of fat and were able to, "fit", it all in one manga Volume.

Terrence

I picked up some new volumes before the year is out, Psycome Vol 1, Devil is a Part Timer 6 (haven't read 5 yet though), and this weird Tokyo Guide to Zombies book that has text instructions for surviving the zombie apocalypse that go on for pages like an LN mixed in with manga sections in between.

Goblin Slayer v 1 also arrived. Now I have some real decisions to make about what to start 2017 with. Overlord V2 in the mix too.

I read a decent amount of the novel Goth today, but I don't think I'll finish that or The Faraway Paladin tonight.

Eins

2016 was pretty good for LNs.

Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon got past where the anime left off and the story just got better. Vol 6 might be the best in the series.

The latest arc in Accel World seems to never end, but it's been good. So long as I don't think of the game they're playing as software, but as magic.

J Novel club let me read a bunch of novels for a lot cheaper than I normally would've been able to. That was a godsend when I was traveling a lot last month and had multiple layovers and train rides.

I haven't gotten to Grimgar yet (plan on it), but I've enjoyed every series I've read from J Novel Club. Grimgar and My Little Sister Can Read Kanji got me to sign up, but The Faraway Paladin is the one that's really impressed me. It reads like a cross between an LN and a western fantasy novel. I'm curious where it's going to go.

Also, the Mixed Bathing in an Alternate Dimension surprised me. I was expecting stupid wish fulfillment in another dimension but got the beginnings of a hero.