魔女の宅急便 1

This was the first Light Novel that I ever read in Japanese. This version has quite a bit of kanji, but also many words in katakana that would have been in kanji for adult readers. I essentially machine translated and looked up vocabulary and grammar for every sentence of the first 5 chapters, then looked us words in the next 3 chapters, then just read the last 4 chapters (without really caring for full detail, but to be finished). It was very educational. I read with WaniKani Book Club and used the Vocabulary list. Every Chapter has more than 100 new words for me, even in the final Chapters. I got the audiobook at the same time. Together, it was an excellent combination for extended ear training. I did several of the vocabulary words in the Anki deck made by a book club member, but quit after a month because it was too much Anki with my other studies. It is a good book to go back to and re-listen to and re-read months later. I was able to observe my increased Japanese reading/listening ability. I did this as an N4-type person, but it's easier if you are N3. I think it was a nice work project for getting to N3. For me. Once I finish WaniKani, I will likely go back and do the Anki from this book, then re-read.