Candy Bunny Reader

  I finally got around to reading this graphic novel memoir!   Almost American Girl by Robin Ha is the story of the author growing up in 80s and 90s in South Korea, then in Alabama, then in Virginia. She faces family drama, language barriers, racism, and feeling like she fits in nowhere. One of the things that keeps her going is her love of art. In particular, her love of comics. She eventually comes to accept herself in her early college years as a Korean-American.   I don't know what else to say except that this memoir was great! I gave it 5 stars . I saw myself a lot in Robin, even though my background is slightly different from hers. I also moved twice when I was a kid to two different states, and had the same growing pains as her. I also loved (and still love) drawing and comics, and that also kept me afloat as I was growing up!

  I finally read this and it was wonderful! The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen is a story about a boy named Tien and his parents, that learn to connect with each other through fairy tales. These stories help Tien come out to his mother as gay, and his mother also comes to terms with her past with leaving Vietnam.  Aside from the beautifully woven story, the pictures in this book were really beautiful! I especially loved the illustrations that accompanied the fairy tale portions of the book. They were so detailed. They reminded me a little of the manga Witch Hat Atelier.  I gave The Magic Fish 5 stars. A great book not just for Pride Month, but anytime of the year.  

    Wow! My favorite Ann Liang book so far! I am Not Jessica Chen follows Jenna Chen, an average student who is envious of her seemingly perfect, valedictorian cousin, Jessica. One night, Jenna secretly wishes that she actually was Jessica. The next morning she wakes up and is in Jessica's body! For the next few days she has to pretend to be Jessica, but it isn't always easy. Jenna at first likes her new life as Jessica, but she quickly learns being Jessica is not all sunshine and rainbows. Jenna soon misses her old, simple, life, and she tries to find ways to go back to normal. Even worse, people are starting to forget that the real Jenna even existed. The only one who seems to remember and help her out is Jenna's longtime friend and crush, Aaron.  This book really had me on the edge of my seat! Ann Liang really knows how to captivate her readers. The story was so emotional, heartfelt, and had so many relatable moments ranging from not always feeling your best to the st...

  A Banh Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen follows two girls: Lan and Vivi. Lan spends her days working at her family's banh mi stall, and also has a popular blog. It's all about food and food stalls in Sai Gon, the city where she lives. But she hasn't felt inspired to write anything in a long time. At the same time, Vivi has come to Viet Nam via study abroad with her university. Her main goal is actually to track down her mother's side of the family, whom she's never met and find out why her mother lost contact with them a long time ago. Her only clues are some old photographs of her mother, aunt, and grandmother. Vivi is also a huge fan of Lan's blog.  The two girls meet on accident in a public park. Things start out rocky at first, but when Vivi gushes to Lan about how much she loves her blog, the two become best friends. Vivi convinces Lan to enter a writing contest, and Lan agrees to help Vivi track down her mother's side of the family. The two also gush a ...

  Welcome back to another part of my Favorite Authors series! Here is another one that's a little more recent. The first book I read from Lyla Lee was I'll Be the One back in 2022. I absolutely loved it! Whenever I recommend people a book about K Pop, Korean rep, plus-sized rep, and queer rep, I recommend this one! I then read Flip the Script later in the same year. Also a masterpiece! This one is about K-Dramas and also features plenty of queer representation. Earlier this year I read the first book in her new middle grade series, Gigi Shin is Not a Nerd, and I also had a blast with it! I can't wait for the next book to come out.  I know she has a long running early chapter books series called Mindy Kim. I might read them one day. I heard they are kind of like the Junie B Jones series. As of writing this, Lyla Lee has two new books coming out! One will be an YA romance novel called The Cuffing Game, and the other is her first adult romance novel called Love in Focus. I a...

 TW: D3ath of a parent and Latin for crab disease mentioned.  My second Jen Wang book for this year! Stargazing is about a girl named Moon who moves in next door to a girl named Christine, and they become friends and bond over their love of the arts, especially K Pop.  Moon is a social outcast due to her strange behavior and her and single mom not having a lot of money.  Christine has her own problems of feeling pressure to be perfect and she sometimes gets jealous of Moon.  But they both really want to dance to K pop songs in school's talent show.  Unfortunately, an emergency happens that changes everything.  This was a very relatable and emotional story. It had great Chinese representation and there are characters who are vegetarian and vegan. I gave it 4.5 stars. There is a d3ath of a parent mentioned in a flashback and another character gets the disease that shares its name with a zodiac sign. Luckily they are treated for it and they live at the ...

(Pic was found on Google Images)   Another great book by one of my favorite authors, Lyla Lee ! Gigi Shin is Not a Nerd follows Gigi, a preteen girl who loves art and wants to work in some sort of artistic field. She finds out through her art teacher about a summer art program that will feature one of her favorite artists, Christiania Moon, but it costs a lot of money. Gigi knows her parents will probably not want to pay for it, as they want her to study something more "practical", aka something not art-related.  Luckily, Gigi finds a way to earn money. After helping her younger brother Tommy with his math homework, Gigi decides to form a tutoring club called the Ace Squad with her best friends, Carolina and Zeina. A fourth girl named Emma eventually joins them. Their tutoring sessions at the library aren't always smooth, but by tutoring elementary school students, they know they will eventually get enough money to all go to the expensive art camp! This was such a fun boo...

  Yeah, I know I'm late to the party with this one. And I unfortunately didn't like it!  To All the Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han is about Lara Jean, who has developed crushes on 5 boys over the years, one of them being her childhood friend Peter and another being her next door neighbor, Josh. She has written letters to the boys she has had crushes on, but never mailed them--until one day then somehow get mailed and Lara Jean gets caught up in a crazy love triangle between Peter and Josh.  I've seen so much praise for this book (and the series overall) for years and I finally got around to reading it, but this was just not for me! The main issue I had were the characters. They were all so unlikable! Except for Lara Jean's sisters Margot and Kitty. They were cool. The romance between Lara Jean and Peter was also so badly done, in my opinion. Most of the time they felt like coworkers who barely tolerated each other. I know they were fake dating for most of the book, b...

My second book from this author! The first book I read from her was Where the Mountain Meets the Moon , which was the very first book I did I review on this blog. Read my review on it here ! Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin is about Rendi, who has run away from home. He ends up at an inn that's located in a semi-abandoned village, and starts working there. Lots of unusual things happen at this inn and at the village as a whole. The moon is also not in the sky, and the lack of the moon makes Rendi wonder if that is what is affecting the village negatively. As the story goes on and Rendi gets to know the people at the inn more, he hears many stories based in Chinese folklore, and he begins to tell some stories himself. The folktales end up being a key to solving the mystery of the village's downfall.  This book has a similar setup to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon where our young protagonist has a mission and magical folktales are intertwined in the story. It is super c...

 TW: Mentions of pandemics, queerphobia, racism, and cancer Now I am in the mood for White Rabbit candies!  Messy Roots by Laura Gao is a graphic novel memoir of the author's experience growing up Chinese-American, struggling with their identity, and other typical experiences of growing up. She and her family also happen to be from Wuhan--which would make international headlines in 2020 as that is where the Covid-19 pandemic began. But the pandemic part of the story is quite minimal--the real focus is on Laura tells us their own story on how she came to accept and celebrate every part of themselves.  This was a great memoir! The artwork is one of my favorite aspects of this book. I am not an immigrant myself but I do have immigrant parents, and I related heavily to a lot of the experiences Laura had, especially with her parents. Laura Gao is queer, too, and they briefly talks about it.  I gave it 4.5 stars . I had to take off half a point for some triggering subject...

  Another perfect Sapphic romance book! If You Still Recognize Me by Cynthia So is about Elsie--an 18 year old young woman who gets the most unexpected summer of her life before college. She has a crush on a friend  that she met online  who is a fanfiction writer of her favorite comic series--Eden Recoiling. The friend's name is Ada, and Elsie wants to confess her feelings for her, but she doesn't know how.  Ada also tells Elsie a story of a woman named Theresa Bennett that her (Ada's) grandmother named Rebecca knew when she still lived in the UK. Apparently, the two women were really close friends, and Rebecca developed some romantic feelings for her, but then Rebecca moved to the US after getting married to Ada's grandfather. The two women still communicated through letters, but one day, the letters stopped coming. Rebecca still thinks about Theresa from time to time, and would like to reunite with her. Ada sends Elsie Rebecca's letters from Theresa, and decides ...

All the books I read in February! I read a total of 7 books.  I've been reading mostly sequels lately, but they were all really good! Links to certain books will be provided if applicable. I hope your reading month went well, too! 1. One Piece Volumes 19, 20, and 21 by Eichiro Oda. 4 stars, 5 stars, and 5 stars, respectively. 2. Serafina and the Twisted Staff, and Serafina and the Splintered Heart, both by Robert Beatty. Both 4.5 stars. 3. Prarie Lotus by Linda Sue Park. A middle grade historical fiction book about the half-Chinese Hanna and her father going to live in a small new town in South Dakota. Hanna faces a new school, opening a new dress shop with her father, and some racism. Full review here .  4 stars.  4. They Called us Enemy by George Takei. A graphic novel memoir of actor George Takei's experience in the Japanese internment camps during WW2. Full review here .  5 stars.

  I finally got around to reading this! They Called us Enemy by George Takei is a graphic novel memoir of actor George Takei. It recounts experience as a child in a Japanese internment camp during WW2. He showcases his feelings as a kid experiencing something where he didn't always understand what was going on, but he knew it was something terrible. Growing up, he learned more about what it was being a victim of racism in the United States. He also teaches the audience things they might have not known about the internment camps and how they were able to end them after WW2. He also talks about the aftermath and his overall identity as a Japanese-American, and briefly his time about becoming and actor and being on the critically-acclaimed show, Star Trek.  I loved this book so much! I learned so much about what it was like being in an internment camp from someone who experienced it firsthand, and I also learned more about George Takei in general. I think everyone needs to read t...

  Another book I wanted to read for a long time that I finally got around to reading! Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park is a historical fiction middle grade novel about a half-white, half-Chinese girl named Hanna who moves with her father to LaForge, South Dakota (not a real town). There she goes to school and is able to graduate. Then she and her father set up a boutique and try to find ways to get customers to come. It's not always easy. A lot of it stems from Hanna herself experiencing racism. But with the help of her new friends in her new community, she is able to achieve her goals.  Well, this was a perfect example of "I liked it but I didn't love it". I think part of it was because the book is pretty short, so everything is resolved pretty quickly. But it was still a great book! The writing is very beautiful and atmospheric, and the characters are all very well-rounded. Plus a happy ending. So I gave it 4 stars. Trigger warnings include death of a parent and so...

The PERFECT romance book! Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee is about Dylan, a teenage boy who works at his Aunt Jade's Singaporean Chinese takeout shop. His family has been struggling financially, and they are worried they won't be able to keep the shop open. Dylan finds out about a mooncake making contest run by a celebrity chef named Lawrence Lim. The winner will get their restaurant showcased on Lim's TV show. Dylan decides to enter the contest, thinking if the shop makes some publicity, they might get more customers.  Then, one day Dylan accidentally gets the order wrong of a rich customer named Adrian, and Adrian makes a big deal out of it. Adrien's equally rich friend Theo, who was there when the incident happened, makes up for it by visiting and eating at the takeout shop. Eventually Theo and Dylan become friends, and Theo decides to make a donation to Dylan's aunt Jade to keep the shop afloat for much longer. Dylan's family is very happy about it. Th...

  I think I found a new favorite manga series! Akane-Banashi by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue is about Akane, a teenage girl who grew up watching her father practice and perform rakugo. Rakugo is a traditional Japanese art where a sole performer tells a short story and plays all of the characters, usually while seated. While she was in elementary school, Akane's father and a bunch of other candidates took an exam to rise up in the rankings of rakugo performers, but for some reason the judge proctoring the exam decided to expel all of them. Akane's father gets a job in construction work, and Akane decides to take his place in being a rakugo performer to showcase that rakugo can be a real job. Over the years she starts taking secret lessons from her dad's old instructor, and during her teen years she slowly makes herself known among his other pupils and rakugo fans, all while trying to perfect her craft.  I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this! I saw this manga...

  Uh oh, (semi) unpopular opinion alert... This Time It's Real by Ann Liang is about Eliza Lin, who goes to an international school in Beijing. One day, an article she writes for a class assignment somehow goes viral. The article was about her relationship with her boyfriend. Only here's the thing: Eliza has never had a boyfriend. Yup, she made up the whole thing. So now she feels that has to convince the whole world she is dating someone. She chooses to fake-date the most popular boy at her school: Caz Song, who also happens to be a popular C-drama star. Eliza's viral article ends up also getting her an internship at Craneswift: a popular publishing company. Her main assignment as an intern is to write blog posts about the dates she and Caz go on. With all of this going on, Eliza isn't sure if her relationship with Caz could ever become real, especially since she has trouble getting close to people. Her mother's job requires her to travel a lot, and Eliza has neve...

Now, I can't guarantee I will finish all of the series or get around to all of these books this year, but I will do whatever I can. I'm human too. I got a life outside of reading as well. I am also a huge mood reader. With that out of the way, here are the books and series I need to finish/start from this point on! Series:  Witch Hat Atelier -this manga series is still ongoing. When the next few volumes come out in English, I will read them. Talli: Daughter of the Moon -this manga-inspired graphic novel series is still ongoing. When the next few volumes come out in English, I'll read them.  The Mary series -written by the same women who wrote the Jane series. The first book is My Contrary Mary.  Spy x Family - this series is still going on but as of the making of this post I have only read volume 1. I need to read the rest of the volumes that are already out in English. Moomins series - I read the first three original books. As of the making of this post I have 6 left. Co...

  It feels like this book was written just for me! Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan is a fantasy novel inspired by Chinese folklore. Xingyin is the daughter of the moon goddess, Chang'e, and she grew up in isolation with her mother and her maid Ping'er in the Pure Light Palace (the moon). Her mother is being held prisoner by the Celestial Emperor and Empress for drinking an elixer that was actually for Xingyin's father, a mortal who slayed a bunch a sunbirds. One day when Xingyin's magical powers awaken and she uses them, the Celestial royals sense her magic and come to her house wondering what is going on. Luckily they don't see Xingyin, but her mother Chang'e tells her it's not safe for her to stay in her own house and has to go out into the world.  Xingyin then finds herself in the Celestial Kingdom for the first time, and develops the goal of freeing her mother from imprisonment. She then goes on a long journey where meets both many wonderfu...

  @bookdragon_24 tagged me once again (yay!) in another tag. Today I will be giving you a list of things I love (book and non-book related). So I'm just a person who loves... The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Coraline by Neil Gaiman Amelia's Notebook series by Marissa Moss Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park Ramona series by Beverly Cleary Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix Running out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee Flip the Script by Lyla Lee Where the Mountain meets the Moon by Grace Lin A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger Heartstopper by Alice Oseman Loveless by Alice Oseman Sleeping Around by Morgan Vega Witch Hat Atelier manga series by Kamome Shirahama Bone series by Jeff Smith The Moomins by Tove Jansson Cardcaptor Sakura Special A Revolutionary Girl Utena Lovely Complex Studi...