hey japanese langblr I bought some light books to reas and i wanna know what the best way to learn from those would be and also how to help my vocab retention / size cause I struggle with that a lot. thanks
If you are looking to learn vocabulary from books, I was told a while ago that you don't need to learn every new word you encounter in a novel/book. Not all of them are used frequently, and some of them are mostly used in literature. I've tried sentence mining from books, but it can be a long and tedious process, so try it out and see if it's for you, if vocabulary is your goal. Just be aware that it makes the process of reading a lot longer.
If you want to read for pleasure (and learn on the way), I would avoid sentence mining, and start simply reading. You can try reading a sentence and see if you know all of the words in it. If you come to a word you don't know, you can try to guess from the context of the sentence. If you cannot guess, you can try looking it up. At this point you can note it down or just continue reading. You can also note down words that come up often, and make a short list of vocabulary to learn.
If you find there are lots of words you don't know and you are having difficulty with the meaning of what you are reading, try taking a break. The book might be above your level, which makes the reading process harder. Or you might not be used to the process of reading in Japanese. Either way, after the break come back and see if it's any better. Break it up into small chunks so that you aren't overwhelmed. Even one page or one paragraph a day is a good goal when you are starting out reading. Try to get into the flow of reading and hopefully things will begin to come together.
If you try a few times and you just aren't into it, maybe put it aside for a longer break. Try coming back in a month and see if it feels more comfortable for you.
I hope these tips help! I wasn't great at reading right away, and I couldn't read everything I tried easily right away. I found reading for vocabulary mining was not at all the thing for me. Find what is right for you and good luck!