suggestions for a novel to read?

LeiMiko

So far I've been reading like a daily life, fantasy/isekai not harem and not to heavy fighting/dark novels here.
So far I've been reading:

Looks like a job for maid...
one last hurrah...
another world with household spells
dahlia in bloom
campfire cooking (mainly because of Sui)
a late start tamer...

I've been crashed and burned several times with some series that starts up good them coughs harem... sorry I'm easily turned off to read the series.
Thank you very much for any/all suggestions
<(_ _)>

kuali

@LeiMiko I suppose the big question would be: Are you looking for more daily life style series, or happy to branch out so long as the new series is not too dark and doesn't turn into a harem?

Kurzaa

I would rank Accursed Chef and his Beast Girl Foodies on par with Looks Like a Job for a Maid. Though I am not sure if volume 1 is still readable.

SomeOldGuy

@LeiMiko And are you limiting your choices to "whole novels", "partial novels", "first chapter to get a feel for the book", or ???

Lily Garden

Have you read the Dahlia spinoff Lucia and the Loom?

Given you like fantasy Slow life you may want to check out Frontier Lord begins with zero subjects (kingdom building +fantasy slow life), the Retired Demon of the Maxed Out Village (similar to Last Hurrah), Dimension Wave (similar to Late start tamer)

Serah

@LeiMiko

the best feel good light novel in my opinion - but harem:

I Got Caught Up in a Hero Summons, but the Other World Was at Peace!

Second to that, no harem:

Let's Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World

Resembles a lot Farming Life in Another World but is by leagues better

Worth your look

Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole
Pens Down, Swords Up: Throw Your Studies to the Wind
I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!
Dragon Daddy Diaries: A Girl Grows to Greatness

And so many more which are without harem - but then it depends what you actually like, whether you want daily life stuff or just a good read in general.

Aka whether you want more suggestions like Another or I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level

LeiMiko

@kuali yes. I've finished ascendance (from ur links?)

LeiMiko

@Kurzaa I'm reading this one but x^^; sadly after vol 1 I lost interest sorry and thank you

LeiMiko

@SomeOldGuy whole and partial? As long as it's not dropped and yes feel tho sometimes the first chapter feels nice then it's just ramblings to me. Tho I really try to read the first vol and then from there I'll see if the story seemed interesting ^^; thank you!

LeiMiko

@Lily-Garden I'm looking into dimension wave atm. Looks very interesting and reminds me of that manhwa too about that guy who just log in to sleep... thank you!

@Serah I'm already reading half of your list, I'll look into the others. Thank you!

Again thank you folks! Imma look up all your suggestions... except the harem and super dark ones. @_@ just that work is already dark and stressful, at least these one help me balance out.thank you again

SomeOldGuy

@LeiMiko OK, then I'd suggest perusing JNC's list. There are over 460 titles in their library, many of which are available with "whole" volumes in their reader library.

Quality varies, of course, and applicability to your tastes can be close or not close. Some skate around the harem tag (like My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World), some grew into it (How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom) over time, some died before they were finished (How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord). But there are a LOT of choices available with your subscription here.

The above were all from the first couple of pages.

Of course, you didn't mention whether or not choices were limited to JNC...

kuali

@LeiMiko From the ones I've read in whole or in part, and in order from oldest to newest:

Series with a canonical love interest:
- Cooking with Wild Game - Half a cooking drama and half a really slowly paced romance.
- Tearmoon Empire - The cute girls pretending to be competent version of a political thriller, where an incompetent princess, having been executed in the fantasy equivalent of the French Revolution, finds herself waking up in her 11-year-old body and determined to avoid a series of catastrophes only she knows are coming...
- The Tales of Marielle Clarac - A romance author's romance (literally, Marielle writes romance books) with a stern soldier from the upper nobility. Intrigue (sometimes international) ensues.
- Housekeeping Mage from Another World - The first novel does get dark (and gory) in a couple of places, but the rest of the series sounds to your liking.
- The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent - A comedy about a witch who's hilariously inept at her potentially lucrative side business - helping couples break up.
- Young Lady Albert is Courting Disaster - A comedy of errors (and croquettes), as a reincarnated woman tries to guide an Otome Heroine to one of her good endings... despite having reincarnated as the villainess.
- Villainess Level 99 - Another Isekai comedy about a woman reincarnated as a villainess in an Otome game... except this one spent so much time grinding she hit the level cap before the game even started, and is far and away the strongest thing in her world! (Warning: gets very silly after the first book ends.)
- Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time - Op Isekai, but with a MC that's interested in anything but fighting and outright rejects most people's attempts to court her.
Has a Harem, but as a setting rather than a plot:
- The Apothecary Diaries. The MC starts the series as a maidservant tending to the Imperial Harem, but is not, herself, one of the consorts or romantically involved with the Emperor. It is mostly a case-of-the-chapter mystery/politics series. (This one's also in my signature, but putting the reference in latin was probably not the best way to advertise it...)

I will also second Lily's suggestion of the Dahlia spinoff Lucia and the Loom, and in case you haven't read them, there are also some side stories for Ascendance of a Bookworm - The Short Story Collections, Royal Academy Stories, and the sequel series Hannelore's Fifth Year.

wanderer_1204

@LeiMiko I see that the others have many good suggestions already. But, no one has suggested Long story short, I am living in the mountains yet. It is set in modern Japan with a little bit of wacky elements. It is daily life and even calming I would say. I enjoy reading it once a week. Do check it out.

I also enjoyed Culinary chronicles of the court flower although it has a harem setting. The focus is more on cooking and solving mysteries in the court rather than harem drama. It is also available in readers library.

Serah

@LeiMiko said in suggestions for a novel to read?:

@Lily-Garden I'm looking into dimension wave atm. Looks very interesting and reminds me of that manhwa too about that guy who just log in to sleep... thank you!

@Serah I'm already reading half of your list, I'll look into the others. Thank you!

Again thank you folks! Imma look up all your suggestions... except the harem and super dark ones. @_@ just that work is already dark and stressful, at least these one help me balance out.thank you again

So definitely no Goblin Slayer nor 86 for you...

Should it be more on the easy / slow-life calming side like If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord or are you fine with stuff like the Kingdom Hearts or Violet Evergarden light novels? Depending on the point of view those can be considered quite dark too.

Humour like Combatants Will Be Dispatched! or more something for the long run like Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear?

Or mayhaps something romantic like 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!

In the meanwhile maybe Heroine? Saint? No, I'm an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)!

Lex

Chillin' Ina other world with level 2 cheat powers has polygamy but the protagonist himself is monogamous with zero hints he's going to change.