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Showing posts from September, 2025

I've started the Savior's Book Cafe manga series!

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This was a part of the 12 books 12 friends challenge and was recommended by @onceuponatbr over on Instagram. The actual title for this series is really long! It's full title is The Savior's Book Cafe Story in Another World . The author is Kyoka Izumi . This first volume begins with Tsukina, a 30 year old woman with a stable career who is one day randomly asked by "God" (in the form a sphere) to become the savior of another world called Othel. She is unsure of it at first, but when she uses her newfound magic to open up a book cafe, she grows to like it. The most frequent visitor to her book cafe is the captain of the royal guards. His name is Il (capital I, lowercase L!). The two grow close very quickly, bonding over books and food.  Tsukina also finds out that one of the reasons she was sent to Othel was to deal with the previous chosen one. The previous chosen one is a snobby rich girl who cares more about wooing the prince of the land than actually learning magic t...

Unpopular Opinions Book Tag, 2025 Edition

Today we will start with sharing my unpopular opinions for 2025.  Here are my answers from the last several years: 2022 , 2023 , and 2024 . As usual, feel free to do this tag, too! 1.  A popular book or series you didn't like.  I actually DNF'd this book back in June. It was She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen . I found the MC Scottie to be really unlikable, and I also found her relationship with the other girl Irene to be pretty toxic.  2.  A book/series a lot of people don't like, but you liked.  Maybe Funny Story by Emily Henry ? Henry's books in general are pretty divided. Funny Story is my favorite book from her so far! 3.  A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person didn’t want them to end up with/an OTP that you don’t like. I don't have an answer for this year!  4.  A popular genre you hardly reach for. Still horror. But so far I have read the first two books of the Blight Harbor series by Lora Senf and I've...

Blog Update!

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  I think this post I made in Canva (also posted over on my Instagram) speaks for itself:  

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop Review

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This book is a part of the 12 books 12 friends challenge, and was recommended to me by @yosoy_shin on Instagram.   Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagasawa is a literary fiction book originally published in Japanese. It follows 25 year old Takako, who quit her job after she finds her coworker/boyfriend cheating on her. She ends up settling in with her uncle Satoru above his used bookstore. While staying there, she enters a new world full of books, book lovers, coffee, and learning things about her uncle that she never knew.  In the second half of the story, Takako also ends up rekindling her relationship with her aunt Momoko, Satoru's ex-wife. Satoru himself ends up rekindling his relationship with her, too, much to his reluctance. Takako finds out why Momoko left Satoru several years earlier.  It's such a short book, but it really packed an emotional punch! I love reading books liked these, especially if they are set in and around a bookstore. I gave this book...

I FINALLY READ THE NIGHT CIRCUS!

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I am briefly coming out of my semi hiatus to post all this week and part of next week. Anyway! You know I had to read this book after reading and liking The Starless Sea by the same author. You can read the review for that book here . The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a historical fantasy book about a mysterious traveling circus that only appears to visitors at nighttime. The book follows several characters that are responsible for running the circus (to name a few): Celia, Marco, Chandresh, Tsukiko, siblings Poppet and Widget, and many others. There are also some chapters following a devoted circus visitor named Bailey.  It's a very whimsical book, but the circus does have a rather sinister secret behind it, and it mostly involves Celia and Marco. I love the way this author writes, it is so atmospheric! I like how everyone's stories come together at the end, and all of the twists, too.  I gave this book 5 stars . It's a new favorite! 

Wanted! + One Piece Heroines Volume 1

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  As a One Piece fan, I had to pick these up. This is not going to be like my typical reviews since there isn't much to say about these two books. I also can't get too into them because I know not everyone here has read or watched One Piece. Wanted! is just a compilation of random comic stories that creator Eichiro Oda wrote before he officially started One Piece. The last comic, Romance Dawn, is basically a rough draft for One Piece! i gave it 4 stars . One Piece Heroines Volume 1 is a light novel of stand alone stories set in the world of One Piece following four of the female characters: Nami, Robin, Vivi, and Perona. They are pretty lighthearted, so they're great for reading if you want a break from the intensity of the main One Piece storyline.  Or if you're in the mood for something more chill. I gave it 5 stars .

In the Name of the Mermaid Princess Vol 1 Review

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Yeah, I know I've gotten this habit of picking up manga series that are new to me on a whim when I already got a ton of other series going on. But it's worth it! In the Name of the Mermaid Princess by Yoshino Fumikawa and Miya Tashiro  is a shojo manga set in a world where people can be born with appearances and abilities of fantastical creatures. Unfortunately, these people are highly discriminated against, and they are called "Unhumans". Our MC Princess Mio was born a mermaid, but her father, the king, wants her to keep this a secret. That's because he wants her to marry the human prince of a neighboring kingdom, Prince Chika.  Mio is constantly given pills to temporarily turn her human.  Eventually, Mio gets a tutor named Yuri who helps educate her on Chika and his kingdom before she is set off to meet him. The two end up becoming friends as Yuri encourages Mio to be herself. He also supports her beliefs in making the kingdom a better place for "Unhumans...