Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World


Keiichi Sigsawa - 2000
    Kino wanders around the world on the back of Hermes, her unusual motorcycle. During their adventures, they find happiness, sadness, pain, decadence, violence, beauty, and wisdom. But through it all, they never lose their sense of freedom. This work tells the tale of one girl and her bike and the road ahead.

Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!, Vol. 1 (light novel): Megumin's Turn


Natsume Akatsuki - 2014
    Ever since a life-changing encounter in her youth, the young wizard has dedicated her every waking moment to the pursuit of the ultimate offensive magic, Explosion! (Well...every moment not spent hustling food from her self-proclaimed rival.) And while the big sister's away, the little one will play. On a routine trip into the woods, Megumin's little sister, Komekko, finds a strange black kitten. Little does she know that this cat plays a key role in unsealing a Dark God's tomb...

Spice & Wolf, Vol. 01


Isuna Hasekura - 2006
    Wandering from town to town with just his horse, cart, and whatever wares have come his way, the peddler has pretty well settled into his routine-that is, until the night Lawrence finds a wolf goddess asleep in his cart. Taking the form of a fetching girl with wolf ears and a tail, Holo has wearied of tending to harvests in the countryside and strikes up a bargain with the merchant to lend him the cunning of "Holo the Wisewolf" to increase his profits in exchange for taking her along on his travels. What kind of businessman could turn down such an offer? Lawrence soon learns, though, that having an ancient goddess as a traveling companion can be a bit of a mixed blessing. Will this wolf girl turn out to be too wild to tame?

A Tale of the Secret Saint (Light Novel) Vol. 1


Touya - 2021
    But a brush with death awakens memories of her past life as a Saint–a woman who wields rare, powerful healing and protection magic–along with the ability to use that magic herself! The downside is that Fia also remembers her past life’s untimely death, and the danger she will be in if anyone finds out what she really is. She vows to stay on her knighthood path and keep her powers a secret forever! But how can she resist using her newfound powers when they’re just so useful?

The Buried Giant


Kazuo Ishiguro - 2015
    But it's time now to think on it anew. There's a journey we must go on, and no more delay..."The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in nearly a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge, and war.Included on TIME Magazine's "THE 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME"

86—EIGHTY-SIX, Vol. 1


Asato Asato - 2017
    Against this onslaught, the Republic has also deployed similar weapons, narrowly avoiding great loss of life and impending disaster-or at least that's how it seemed.The truth is that it has never been possible to have no casualties. Young men and women drawn from the Republic's supposedly non-existent 86th district are organized into the "86 unit" and then ordered to pilot the "unmanned weapons" before heading to battle.

Weathering With You


Makoto Shinkai - 2019
    As rain falls for days on end and Hodaka struggles to adjust, he meets a girl named Hina who holds a mysterious power: With a single prayer, she can part the clouds and bring back the sun. But her power comes at a price, and as the weather spirals further and further out of control, they must choose what future they truly want for themselves. Written concurrently with production of the 2019 film Weathering With You, this novel comes straight from director Makoto Shinkai, the mind behind 2016's hit your name.!

Sword Art Online: Progressive, Vol. 1


Reki Kawahara - 2012
    The only difference is when and where you die..."One month has passed since Akihiko Kayaba's deadly game began, and the body count continues to rise. Two thousand players are already dead.Kirito and Asuna are two very different people, but they both desire to fight alone. Nonetheless, they find themselves drawn together to face challenges from both within and without. Given that the entire virtual world they now live in has been created as a deathtrap, the surviving players of Sword Art Online are starting to get desperate, and desperation makes them dangerous to loners like Kirito and Asuna. As it becomes clear that solitude equals suicide, will the two be able to overcome their differences to find the strength to believe in each other, and in so doing survive?Sword Art Online: Progressive is a new version of the Sword Art Online tale that starts at the beginning of Kirito and Asuna's epic adventure--on the very first level of the deadly world of Aincrad!

Kamikaze Girls


Novala Takemoto - 2002
    The only scion of a drunken interlude between a cowardly yakuza and an inebriated bar-hostess, Momoko's mom has since split the scene, and, after various ill-fated scams that involve imitation brand name merchandise, Momoko's dad relocates them to the boondocks of rural Ibaraki prefecture. To escape her humdrum existence, Momoko fanaticizes about French rococo, dreams of living in the palace of Versailles, and buys all her extremely lacy clothes from an expensive Tokyo boutique. Meet Ichiko, a tough-talking motorcycle grrrl (on a tricked-out moped) who leads a ladies-only biker gang known as the Ponytails. Together, this unlikeliest of duos strike out on a quest to find a legendary embroiderer, a journey on which they encounter conniving pachinko parlor managers, legendary street-punks, and anemic costumers. Who knows, they might just make it big...if only Ichiko would stop head butting Momoko in the forehead. Novala Takemoto's break-though novel KAMIKAZE GIRLS, already a cult-classic in Japan, is more than a wry coming-of-age picaresque, it's a new way of life.

Dawn


Yoshiki Tanaka - 1982
    He seeks to overthrow the old order and become a truly absolute—yet benevolent—dictator. His rival, the humble Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance, wishes to preserve democracy even if he must sacrifice his political ideals to defeat the Empire. Their political and military battles play out over a galactic chessboard in an epic saga fifteen centuries in the making!

Outbreak Company: Volume 1


Ichirou Sakaki - 2011
    The government sees a great chance to make a profit, if they can keep the secret long enough to corner the market on exports to the Holy Eldant Empire, their point of first contact with this new land.The people of the Eldant Empire, though, only have eyes for one of Japan’s traditional exports: pop culture. When it quickly becomes evident that government bureaucrats and “Japanimation” don’t really mix, the bigwigs realize they’re going to need help bringing “otaku culture” to the Eldant masses.Enter Amutech, a purveyor of “general entertainment” that’s secretly run by the Japanese government. Shinichi lands a job as the company’s general manager, whereupon he learns the state’s biggest secret. Now he finally has a chance to put his nerd know-how to good use spreading the otaku gospel in the Eldant Empire. And wait... he has to work with a half-elf maid, an empress, AND a female soldier to get the job done?

The Travelling Cat Chronicles


Hiro Arikawa - 2012
    He is not sure where he's going or why, but it means that he gets to sit in the front seat of a silver van with his beloved owner, Satoru. Side by side, they cruise around Japan through the changing seasons, visiting Satoru's old friends. He meets Yoshimine, the brusque and unsentimental farmer for whom cats are just ratters; Sugi and Chikako, the warm-hearted couple who run a pet-friendly B&B; and Kosuke, the mournful husband whose cat-loving wife has just left him. There's even a very special dog who forces Nana to reassess his disdain for the canine species. But what is the purpose of this road trip? And why is everyone so interested in Nana? Nana does not know and Satoru won't say. But when Nana finally works it out, his small heart will break...

Three Days of Happiness


Sugaru Miaki - 2013
    Ostracized as a child, he held on to a belief that a good life was waiting for him in the years ahead. Now approaching the age of twenty, he's a completely mediocre college student with no motivation, no dreams, and no money. After learning he can sell his remaining years-and just how little they're worth-he chooses to divest himself of all but his last three months. Has Kusunoki truly destroyed his last chance to find happiness...or has he somehow found it?

My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World: The World's Strongest Little Brother?!


Tsuyoshi Fujitaka - 2016
    It turns out to be the ability to see people's true natures, which he names... Soul Reader! (Actually, his big sister names it that.) The next thing he knows, he's surrounded by people with bizarre labels like "Zombie" "Vampire" and "Witch." And before he can figure out what to do about that, he finds himself threatened by a beautiful girl, Natsuki, whose label is "Serial Killer"! Fortunately, Yuichi is not unprepared. His big sister has been training him for this kind of thing all his life. The battle is about to unfold between the bloodthirsty killing machine... and the world's strongest little brother!

Bibliophile Princess: Volume 1


Yui - 2020
    The prince has someone he truly loves, which means the annulment of their engagement is both inevitable and fast-approaching. What she doesn’t realize is that this is merely a surface ripple—one of many where the truth runs deep, in a conspiracy surpassing her imagination!