Leaf's berry good reads

When you need a break from training, I recommend you read a light novel or two. Light novels are literature for the folks who aren't bookworms. The paragraphs are generally one-liners. They come with pretty pictures. A downside is that they're translated from Japanese, so once in a while something gets lost in translation and is hard to understand, however, being Japanese means most of these light novels include cute characters, especially girls, and science fiction or fantasy, and sometimes a combination of these. Often, an anime or comic version of these stories is thought to have no plot, but when read as a light novel, you may find there is a plot worth the time it takes to read. Here are a few I recommend:

Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju, otherwise known as Idiots, Tests, and Summoned Beasts
There's a school system that encourages students to study hard by placing them in classes according to their entrance exam scores. Class A has a state of the art classroom with a personal computer for each student, while Class F is a mouldy shack where students sit on worn-out straw mats and write on cracked tables. The school is an experiment of technology that allows students to summon miniature versions of themselves to fight with one another; the relative strength of these creatures is based on the students' test scores. If volume one doesn't interest you, try volume two before you give up on the series; I liked volume two better.

Infinite Stratos
Apparently Buizel and Fircoal have seen parts of the anime, so you should have a good idea of the story. According to certain critics, it's a bunch of ecchi and Gundam (super robot) wannabe stuff. According to yours truly, it's a story worth reading.

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, otherwise known as The Secret of Haruka Nogizaka
Nogizaka Haruka is the school idol, perfect in every way, from looks, to academics, to music, to karate, to wealth. You name it, she's got it. Unfortunately, she hides a secret, which if discovered, would radically change everyone's opinion of her. Then one day, an ordinary young fellow does discover Haruka's secret. Does he expose her? What happens to her reputation of perfection? This is top-tier. It's my favorite light novel yet. It's highly recommended.

PuiPui
This one's just silly. I haven't finished the first volume yet, but so far, so good. That is what one says before everything blows up in one's face. Araki Jin is an archaeologist and the son of an archaeologist. Jin's folks are out on an expedition in the Middle East, but they've left him with a whole bunch of their junk, including many aged tomes, a bunch of broken pottery, and a few ancient artifacts, including an old lamp. When Jin is cleaning his room, he polishes the lamp, and poof, the wealthiest man in town and his daughter appear.

These light novels, with summaries that give away more of their plots, can be found on Baka-tsuki. Huh? Stupid moon? What's that supposed to mean?

http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php