Candy Bunny Reader

  ...the movie was better. I gave the book version of Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones 3 stars . Honestly one of the main reasons I even read the book was just to compare it to the movie. I can say now this is a rare case where the movie is way better than the book.  But here are some things I actually did like about the book: Sophie's sisters play a bigger role in the story We actually get some context as to why Sophie ran away from the hat shop without telling anyone (her stepmother was exploiting her as a worker) We get to see Michael/Markl's backstory on how he came to live with Howl. (Michael is his name in the book, his name is Markl in the movie) We get to see Howl's family, and they live in Wales Now here's everything I didn't like which is why I gave it a low rating: I could not stand Sophie and Howl's relationship in this book, it was sooo toxic!  Howl is such a bossy manchild and Sophie is really grumpy and cynical.  They also real...

  Welcome back! Today we will talk about bestselling author Kate DiCamillo! The first book I read from her was The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane , way back when I was in third grade. This book was sooo beautiful, it instantly became an all time favorite, and it's still my favorite DiCamillo book. The second book I read from her when I was in fourth grade was the popular Because of Winn-Dixie . I actually watched the movie years earlier and enjoyed it, and I liked the book, too.  But I didn't pick up another DiCamillo book until I became an adult. The book I picked up was The Magician's Elephant, which I reviewed back in 2023 (link here ). I loved it, too! I plan on watching the movie sometime. I then read The Puppets of Spelhorst , which was also fun (link to review here ). A sequel for it came out recently, and I have it on my TBR. Unfortunately, I DNF The Tiger Rising . It was too sad for me. Now the rest of her books are on my TBR. I did actually watch the movie fo...

  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...

Yup, sometimes the adaptations of popular books are better than the books themselves. Here are some adaptations of books I thought were better than their source material. And why. 1. The Princess Diaries- y'all know I didn't like the book for this one! This movie with Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews is much more family-friendly. Plus, the characters are way more likable.  2. Mary Poppins- I tried reading the book a few years ago and I DNF'd it because book Mary Poppins was so snooty and condescending for no good reason. The movie with Julie Andrews makes her a much more fun and nice nanny.  3. Kiki's Delivery Service- well, the book for this one was still good, but I liked the simplicity and themes of the movie way more. Plus, my favorite character of the artist girl Ursula has a bigger role in the movie than in the book.  4. The Last Unicorn- the book is still pretty good, but I didn't like Prince Lir! He's very pushy and obsessed with the unicorn/Lady Amalthea...

  I think Nina Lacour is becoming a new favorite author of mine! I don't know why it took me so long to read another book from her, because her writing is awesome. The first Nina Lacour book I read was We Are Okay back in 2022. You can read the review here . Everything Leads to You by Nina Lacour is about Emi, an 18 year old young woman who got a summer internship in movie set designing thanks to her older brother Toby. One day she and her best friend Charlotte are invited to look through the estate of a really famous movie star that just died, named Clyde Jones. While looking though there to see what they can use for the set of an upcoming movie, they come across a record player with a hidden letter inside. In the letter, they learned that Clyde Jones actually left some money for his daughter Caroline to inherit. The girls find out that Caroline died a long time ago, but she had a daughter named Ava who is still alive and is around their age. After several roadblocks, they reac...

  So I was able to finish two books on the same day. They are: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle and Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.   I'll try to keep it as short as possible. I actually watched The Last Unicorn movie first, way back when I was a kid. I'm glad to report that the movie is 99% just like the book! The Last Unicorn is a fantasy novel that follows a unicorn who, for a long time, did not know she was the last unicorn on Earth. All the other unicorns were driven out by a monster named the Red Bull, for reasons the unicorn will later find out. With the help of a magician named Schmendrick and a cook named Molly, the unicorn goes on an adventure to find out what happened to her kind and bring them back. An evil king named Haggard and his kindly son Lir also get involved in the unicorn's mission.  This was such a magical and thoughtful book! Peter S. Beagle is a writer with great, lyrical prose. If you liked the movie, you'll also l...