>I'm going to be in the city for work the next week and there's a few comic stores with manga and light novels in them, should I get thrifty?
It's silly to buy physical manga/LNs unless you're importing the Japanese originals because they're overpriced in the west, and most of the money is going to ((( trannylation ))) companies instead of the original author.
>What manga/light novels do you recommend to someone who has barely gotten into them.
Hard to say, I haven't read that many either (although I have watched quite a few anime and a lot are based on manga).
You can explore imageboards where they are discussed and see if anything seems interesting. You can also browse websites such as MyAnimeList and MangaUpdates to see manga that are similar to the ones you liked, or whatever.
I like CGDCT and Slice of Life kind of stuff, but I guess if you're actually paying for it, something with more of a story may be more worth it.
I like Higurashi and I partially read the manga adaptation, which is good. It's a horror/mystery set in an 80's countryside obsessed with their local god. It's also where Rika comes from, one of my favorite 2D girls (which I made a banner of for this board). Nipaa~
Darwin's Game is about a death game kind of thing with super powers. I haven't finished reading it (because new chapters were still being released when I read it, and I stopped when I read all there was), but it got pretty crazy.
I also read and liked Happy Sugar Life a lot, which is about a former whore protecting her newfound true love (a little girl she kidnapped) from the harsh society at any costs.
In terms of LNs the ones I've heard are good and am interested in are Boogiepop, No Game No Life, Haruhi.
>This is in one of them and looks interesting.
Not a manga, it's gook shit.
>Normally I only get digital but want to get back into hard copies as there are no distractions and being able to feel pages with my hands is very appealing to me
You can get an e-reader, which are tablets specifically for reading, which have e-ink screens (which look like paper rather than an LCD screen), very long battery life, and no distractions. Brands other than Amazon Kindle allow for easily loading your own e-book files (manga or LNs in your case). You can get a decent one for around 200 bucks (so, you would be "profiting" if you read more than ~20 volumes on it).
But if you're really set on physical, unless you have a lot of money to spare, LNs are more logical since each volume obviously takes longer to get through. Also shorter series make more sense so you get more series out of your money.