Candy Bunny Reader

Another masterpiece by Grace Lin! The Gate, The Girl, and the Dragon is basically a modern-day fairy tale. After a failed game of zuqiu ball, the lion cub spirit Jin accidentally kicks the Sacred Sphere outside the gate of the spirit world and into the human world. He chases after it, but gets stuck in the human world! The Sacred Sphere ends up getting stolen by a mysterious Sculptor, and Jin teams up with girl named Lulu who can talk to him to get the Sphere back, or else his world will disappear. They are later joined by a worm who says he is actually a dragon.  The story was so magical, and very emotional! Just like her other middle grade books, Grace Lin loves to weave folktales into the story, and they all end up being true and being intertwined with each other. I gave it 5 stars ! Also, aren't the sprayed edges on the book super cool?   

  I have no idea who originally made this tag. I just saw this over at zeezeewithbooks.wordpress.com and thought it looked fun!  Feel free to do this tag, too!  1. Chocolate Cake: A dark book you absolutely love I'm gonna go with a more recent favorite! Nightbooks and the sequel Gravebooks by JA White. It's a great middle grade horror duology!  2. Vanilla Cake: A light read.  I got two! A Sign of Affection and Yotsuba&! are two lighthearted manga series. 3.  Red Velvet: A book that gave you mixed emotions Definitely the Kyoshi duology of the Avatar: The Last Airbender novels. The story itself overall wasn't too bad--I just found the books hard to get through because I didn't like the author's writing style!  4. Cheesecake: A book you would recommend to anyone. Confessions from the Group Chat by Jodi Meadows. It's about a middle school girl who deals with a toxic group of friends but eventually finds better friends. I think we've all been though so...

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicholl is a middle grade book about Addie, who is autistic. At school, she learns about how historically, in her small town in Scotland, they used to execute women they considered witches. They weren't actually witches--they were women who were "different". Probably autistic like Addie! She and her new friend Audrey (and with some help from Addie's older sister, Keedie, who is also autistic) all try to raise money to implement a memorial to the victims, but it isn't easy. Addie also has to deal with a bully teacher, a bully in her class named Emily (who is now friends with her ex-friend Jenna) and her other sister Nina, who actually has a good heart but frequently misunderstands Addie and Keedie.  It's a very short and simple story, but it had so many moments that made me emotional! If you didn't already know, I am autistic, too. Addie was so relatable. Overall, reading this was very cathartic to me.  I gave it 5 stars . I want ...

  A part 2 to my favorite romance novels from two weeks ago.  These are just some random romance graphic novels and manga that I love, and I hope you love, too! 1. Girl From the Sea by Lee Ostertag 2. The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang 3. Chef's Kiss by Jarrett Melendez 4. Cheer Up by Crystal Frasier 5. The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz 6.  If You'll Have Me by Eunnie 7. Basil and Oregano by Melissa Capriglione 8. Leap by Simina Popescu 9. Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton (The rest of these are all manga series)  10. A Sign of Affection by Suu Morishita 11. Sakura, Saku by Io Sakisaka  12. Kilala Princess by Rika Tanaka 13. Donuts Under a Crescent Moon by Shio Usui 14. In the Name of the Mermaid Princess by Yoshino Fumikawa 15. Our Not So Lonely Planet Travel Guide by Mone Sorai 16. Gokinjo Monogatari by Ai Yazawa

  Every year I read and recommend so many books with queer representation in them! Here are some more books that I love and I hope you love, too: 1. Unfamiliar duology by Haley Newsome 2. Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything by Justine Winans 3. The Witch Boy Trilogy by Molly Ostertag 4. Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour 5. The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz 6. Monk and Robot duology by Becky Chambers  7. Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar 8. The Moth Keeper by Kay O'Neill 9. The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught 10. Felix Ever After by Kacen Callendar 11. Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar 12. Aquicorn Cove by Kay O'Neill 13. The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett 14. Witch Hat Atelier series by Kamome Shirahama 15.  Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott 16. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver 17. Princess Princess Ever After by Kay O'Neill 18. Stars in their Eyes by Jessica Walton 19. Speak U...

TW: Mention of parents dying  This is the first book I read from Jodi Meadows that she wrote herself. Before this I read The Lady Janies series and The Mary series that she co-wrote with Cynthia Hand and Brodi Ashton.  Bye Forever I Guess is about 13 year old Ingrid Ant, who lives with her grandmother, who taught her how to knit and has her own knitting channel on YouTube (her grandma, not Ingrid). Ingrid also likes gaming, and she became friends with a girl named Lorren who is also her age through an virtual massive role player game. Lorren and Ingrid also bond over their favorite book series, Essa Starlight . Ingrid got into the series as a source of comfort after losing her parents in a car accident. Ingrid has a Scrollr (like Tumblr) account where she posts texts conversations she has with wrong numbers. It's called "Bye Forever I Guess" because the first wrong number text she got was from someone who ended the conversation with "bye forever I guess" afte...

  I think I have found Kate DiCamillo 's most underrated book! Ferris is about Emma Phineas, or "Ferris" as she is nicknamed because she was born at a fair near the Ferris wheel. She is about to have the most unforgettable summers of her life before fifth grade. Ranging from her Uncle Ted's mysterious art project, to her little sister Pinky wanting to be a thief, and her grandmother Charisse's conversation with a ghost. All of these seemingly random events actually do come together gracefully and unexpectedly.  This book is different from most of Kate DiCamillo's books because it's more on the contemporary, slice-of-life side, even though there is a magical realism element with the ghost only Ferris's grandmother can see and talk to. It's a great story about all kinds of love--from family love, to friendship love, to romantic love.  I gave it 5 stars ! So far I've read two Kate DiCamillo books this month that I love! I am very lucky.

  My second attempt at something written by Io Sakisaka . A couple of years ago I tried watching the anime of Ao Haru Ride but I couldn't get into it. But I decided to give another one of her series a chance, so I picked up Sakura, Saku . So far I am liking it! I am thinking about going back and giving Ao Haru Ride another chance.  This series is about a girl named Saku who is helped out by a mysterious stranger named Ryosuke Sakura on the train to school one day when she feels dizzy and almost loses her schoolbag. But she didn't see how he looked like, and she wanted to find him to thank him, since the phone number he left her doesn't work. And ever since that one day, she's wanted to help people out every chance she gets. Saku finds out a guy in her class named Haruki Sakura has an older brother named Ryosuke, and she thinks that's the guy she was looking for. She asks him to connect her with his brother, but Haruki is reluctant because he thinks Saku is another o...

😬 Time to ruffle some feathers! This is a new series where I just briefly talk about some random books I didn't like. Let's see if you can relate. Note: These are not books I've read this year. This is just a list of some  books I've read in my life so far that I didn't like or even despised (so 2 star and 1 star books). I also read all of them in their entirety, so no DNFs on here, either. This will be the case for all the books in this series of posts. 1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. 1 star. Summary from Goodreads here . I found this book to be chock-full of pure mean-spirited, misogynistic, ableist garbage!  2. 1984 by George Orwell. 1 star. Summary from Goodreads here . Same reasoning as Brave New World.  3. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. 1 star.  S ummary from Goodreads here . Same reasoning as Brave New World and 1984.  4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 2 stars. Summary from Goodreads here . The book's premise seemed interesting but th...

 TW: Mentioning of murder Whoa! Where do I begin? Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans is about Bianca, a nonbinary lesbian teenager who has a long list of fears. They spend a lot of their free time either secretly observing and making up stories about their neighbors, watching anime with their best friend Anderson, and birdwatching. But one day, Bianca witnesses something terrible happen to one of their neighbors: a guy they call Mr. Conspiracy. He gets murdered by a mysterious person wearing a bird mask. Bianca, Anderson, and later a girl Bianca has a crush on named Elaine all work together to solve the murder mystery.  This book got me hooked from page 1! And it might seem a bit odd, because I don't usually vibe with murder mysteries, but this author and this story made it work for me! The mystery part of it was cool. I think what I liked the most was the characters. They were all so likable and so relatable (well, the good guys, definitely not th...

My third favorite Sharon Creech book, after Bloomability and Ruby Holler ! Granny Torrelli Makes Soup is about Rosie, who recently had a misunderstanding with her best friend, Bailey (a boy). Rosie's grandmother, whom she calls Granny Torrelli, helps Rosie with her problem by having Rosie help her cook some soup, while she tells her a story of a similar situation that happened to her back when she lived in Italy. The second half of the book, after  Rosie and Bailey make up,  follows another dilemma, with  Rosie and Bailey meeting a new girl name Janine and thinking their friendship will fall apart. This time, Granny Torrelli has them help her make spaghetti and meatballs. She tells them another similar story from her youth, and then a pasta party happens.  It's a short book, but it really packs an emotional punch. What else did you expect from Sharon Creech? The food descriptions really had me thinking the food was delicious. I'm in the mood for soup and pasta, to...

  Aka the best books of this year, along with their respective reviews. Tell me your best books of the year! Here are mine... Among the Brave by Margaret Peterson Haddix Heartstopper Volume 4  by Alice Oseman Heartstopper Yearbook by Alice Oseman Legends and Lattes  by Travis Baldree Sleeping Around  by Morgan Vega Talli: Daughter of the Moon  by Sulhya Among the Enemy by Margaret Peterson Haddix Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix Bone Volumes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 by Jeff Smith Milk and Honey  by Rupi Kaur Nancy Drew and the Bungalow Mystery  by Carolyn Keene Witch Hat Atelier Volumes 1 , 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and 10 by Kamome Shirahama Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Lilac Inn  by Carolyn Keene Garlic and the Vampire  by Bree Paulsen Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen Laziness Does Not Exist  by Devon Price Chef's Kiss  by Jarrett Melendez The Doll People set Sail by Ann M. Martin How to be Ace  by Rebecca Burgess One Pi...

  TW: Mentioning of toxic relations, cyberbullying, underage drinking, and mild discussions of sex Man, I have some really mixed feelings about this one. Radio Silence by Alice Oseman is a YA contemporary book about Frances Janvier. It is her last year of high school and she is aiming to go to Cambridge University. She doesn't seem to care about anything else except being top of the class and Universe City, a podcast series. Frances considers herself a shy geeky girl and doesn't let anyone see the real her at school. As a result, she has a lot of "fake" friends. As in friends who only like her studious side. One day the creator of Universe City reaches out to her on social media and asks her to do official art for the podcast after seeing her fanart of the series on Tumblr. At first she is reluctant, but then she eventually finds out the creator of Universe City is a student at her school, a guy named Aled Last (if you read Heartstopper, this is the same guy!). They ...

  Another great book by Anne-Sophie Johanneau ! French Kissing in New York is a YA contemporary romance book about 18-year-old Margot who is a beginner chef and moves to New York City from a small village in France to fulfill her dream of working at the restaurant of a celebrity chef that her mother personally knew. She begins living in a tiny apartment with her father and his fiancé Miguel and her step-cousin Luz. Margot's father and stepfather are also planning to get married.  Margot also moves to New York City for another reason: to find Zach, an American boy she met one summer day while taking a cooking course at Le Tablier, a famous cooking school in France. However, even though they planned a date and everything ahead of time, Margot does not find Zach at where and when they promised to meet, and while working at Nutrio (the restaurant owned by her celebrity chef family friend), she meets and becomes fast friends with another chef there named Ben, and realize...

Oh boy...how am I gonna talk about this... Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman is a novella of the characters Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson whom we all know and love from Heartstopper. This novella is set in Charlie's second to last year of high school and Nick's last year before going to university. The gist is that Charlie worries that he and Nick won't be able to maintain a long-distance relationship, and that's what kicks off the conflict for the story. There is not much to say about this book because it is a novella so the story is short and is everything is resolved pretty quickly. Nick and Charlie have an argument and avoid each other for a while but then they get back together really sweetly towards the end. Pretty predictable.  To be honest, there were a lot of things about this novella I didn't like. I found Charlie in particular to be a lot more short tempered and whinier here compared to his graphic novel counterpart. I also felt very uncomfortable readin...

TW: Mentioning of suicide and toxic relationships Pictured above are just the first 6 volumes! As of writing this I have not yet found and read volumes 7 and 8 (there are 8 volumes total), but I will eventually! Fun fact: I watched the anime for Given back in 2018 when it came out, but the anime does not cover the whole story. I decided to read the manga to get the rest of the story, but since it was a while since I watched the anime, I started to read the manga from volume 1. So far me revisiting Given has been wonderful! Given by Natsuki Kizu  is a manga series about a teenage boy named Uenoyama who is part of a new and upcoming band with two college students named Akihiko and Haruki. One day while at school he finds another student named Mafuyu hanging out at his secret location on the stairs, holding a guitar. Mafuyu asks Uenoyama to fix his guitar and teach him how to play. Uenoyama initally finds Mafuyu to be odd and frustrating, but after hearing him sing a song he wrote in ...

  Hi there! I haven't posted in a while.  So I decided to start posting book/anime/cartoon fanart every Saturday now, starting with today. Below is my picture of Mia and Louis from Kisses and Croissants by Anne-Sophie Johanneau . What do you think?

  This book is proof Lyla Lee is one of my favorite authors ever! Flip the Script is a YA Contemporary book about a Korean-American girl named Hana who lives in South Korea. She is an actress debuting in a new K-Drama called Fated Destiny alongside a teenage K-pop sensation named Bryan. As the show starts airing on TV, it isn't doing so hot on ratings, so the company president makes a decision for Hana and Bryan to start fake-dating, thinking it will boost viewership if fans see the actors "dating". Hana and Bryan aren't too sure about it, but they want their acting careers to take off, so they initially agree to do it. However, Hana has a secret: she's bi, and she has had a long time crush on her best friend and veteran K-Drama actress Minjee. Things start to get intense when a decision is made to cast Minjee as the love rival character in the show. Now Hana, Bryan, and Minjee all start trying to achieve their individual goals when it comes to their love lives ...

Time for unpopular opinions! This tag was originally created by Nicole and Her Books over on YouTube.  As always, feel free to do this tag if you see it! 1. A popular book you have no interest in reading. Honestly I have so many answers for this one. To give you a single answer, I'm going to have to go with Sadie by Courtney Summers . I remember so many people hyping this book up when it came out a few years ago, and I'm just not interested because I am simply not a fan of murder mystery stories. I was also told the book deals with some other really heavy stuff I wouldn't be able to stomach. So yeah, no Sadie for me. 🤷 2. A classic book or author you have no interest in reading. Again, too many answers, despite being a classics lover, but this time I'll have to go with War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy . I heard it's a really long book that takes a ton of effort to read, and the story itself is kind of boring. I do want to still read Anna Karenina though! 3. An author ...

  This book, People we Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry , only came out last year, but ever since it did, the bookish community has been obsessed with it. And I finally read it a while ago! Funnily enough, I started reading it a little bit after it was announced it was getting a movie. What a coincidence. This is a Adult Contemporary Romance book. It's about a young woman named Poppy who likes traveling with her best friend, the stoic but kind English teacher Alex.  Unfortunately, Poppy and Alex had a falling out in their friendship when something happened to the two of them when they went to Croatia several years earlier, and Poppy, feeling unfulfilled with her life working as a journalist for a travel magazine in New York City, decides to rekindle her friendship with Alex through a new trip. She decided that they go to Palm Springs, California. At the same time, it's a business trip for Poppy to write about Palm Springs for the upcoming issue of the magazine she works fo...