Candy Bunny Reader

The second book I read for Middle Grade March ! Nightbooks by J.A. White is a middle grade horror novel. The main character, Alex, is a kid who loves all things horror, but has been having a hard time at school because of it. He decides one night to burn all of his "nightbooks" (notebooks that has scary stories he has written) in the boiler room of his apartment complex. But the night he tries to set out to do it, he instead gets lured into a mysterious and magical apartment unit instead. It is owned by a witch named Natacha.  Natacha imprisons Alex and makes him read a scary story to her every night. At the same time, Alex forms a bond (althought they did butt heads at first) with another girl imprisoned in the apartment: a baseball-loving girl named Yasmin. Yasmin's job is to tend to the plants that Natacha makes her essential oils with. Together, Alex and Yasmin figure out a way to escape, and they find out so many more shocking truths about the apartment and Natacha ...

Trigger Warnings: child dying, family members dying, toxic relationships, body horror The Deep Dark by Lee Ostertag  is a YA graphic novel set in southern California. It is a mixture of different genres: urban fantasy, mystery, and horror. The story follows Magdelena (or "Mags" for short) as she struggles dealing with her mental health after an incident that ended with a childhood friend dying. Mags felt that it was all her fault. She also is trying to rekindle her friendship with her other childhood friend, Nessa. Nessa also seems to be harboring some struggles of her own. The characters' struggles seem to mostly come from an unusual creature that lives in Mags's basement... I gave this book 4 stars . It was a great book, but surprisingly darker than the previous books of the author's that I have read before. All of the trigger warnings are listed above. I think the mental health rep, Latine rep, and queer rep were done really well!

  I do this every year! Approxiamately halfway through the year I just answer these question about the books I've read so far.  You can check out past year's answers here in my site's Navigation Page, if you're interested.  And you can do this tag too! Here's one of the books I mentioned here. I haven't read it yet but I will sometime before the end of this year: 1. Best book of the year so far? I am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang 2. Best sequel(s) you read so far? So many of them! Here are a few: The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity volumes 2-6 by Saki Mikami Yotsuba&! volumes 9-15 by Kiyohiko Azuma A Sign of Affection volumes 7-10 by Suu Morishita Witch Hat Atelier volume 13 and Witch Hat Kitchen volumes 4 and 5 by Kamome Shirahama Call the Name of the Night volumes 4 and 5 by Tama Mistuboshi  A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows 3. New releases you haven't read yet but want to. Sil...

  I need to read more middle grade horror books after this!  The Clackity by Lora Senf is about 12 year old Evie, who lives with her aunt Desdemona is a reportedly haunted town called Blight Harbor. One day, her aunt goes missing after investigating a strange phenomenon in an old abandoned slaughterhouse. Evie tries to get her aunt back, but she does so by making a deal with a creepy creature called the Clackity. The Clackity wants Evie to bring back the ghost of a notorious criminal named John Jeffery Pope. So Evie goes on this quest through 7 mysterious, magical houses to find her aunt--and the malicious John Jeffery Pope.  Whoa, this book had me on the edge of my seat! I like that was scary but not too scary. It was more mysterious and even a little whimsical at times. I can't wait to read the next book in this series! I gave this first book 5 stars .

I hope I am not too late to this book tag! I actually did this same one way back in 2022 a little after I started my page (you can view that year's edition here ) I saw @spacey_ghost over on Instagram do this back in June of this year, and it rekindled my interest to do it again.  Here are my answers for this year! As usual, anyone is free to do this tag. The questions are a bit different this time. 1. 5 books I love:  Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix Kisses and Croissants by Anne-Sophie Johanneau The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley 2. 4 books on my TBR: Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers 3. 3 books I recommend: Running out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsen...

So this is just a snapshot of the books I plan on reading and series I want to finish/catch up on in 2024. As always, the list is subject to change. This is just what I am currently in the mood for and can see myself reading/finishing/catching up with at least in the first half of 2024. Tell me your reading plans for 2024! Witch Hat Atelier Volume 11 by Kamome Shirahama Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townscend Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty Cosmoknights Volume 2 by Hannah Templar A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf The Story Girl by LM Montgomery Little Women by Louisa May Alcott The Trumpet of the Swan by EB White   North and South by Elizabeth Gaskill Unbowed by Wangari Mathai Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Holes by Louis Sachar Piranesi by Susana Clark Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes If You still Recognize Me by Cynthia So Ellie Engle Saves Herself...

Over on my Instagram page I was tagged by @bookdragon_24 to list some popular books I haven't read yet. Thank you, Ellie! Here is my list: The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Dracula by Bram Stoker To All the Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han Piranesi by Susanna Clarke The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Bouley Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner There is way more but this is what I will mention for now. That's why I have my reels of samples of my TBR over on my Instagram page for you to see what I plan on reading sometime in the future!

  I saw this tag also over a month ago at @paperbacksandicedcoffee 's Instagram page, and I decided to finally do it! The books in the picture above are other books that happen to be on my TBR list, but I did not have them as answers to the questions. They are (from top to bottom): King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry , Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan , and The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.   1. Next on my TBR: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle . I hope I love the book as much as I loved the movie. 2. Most recent addition: For my overall TBR? That would be Word by Word by Kory Stamper . It's a nonfiction book all about the history of the dictionary.  3. Most hyped: Overall? Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan.   4. From your favorite genre: Flip the Script by Lyla Lee . I really loved her book I'll Be the One, and I hope I'll also love this one! 5. From your least favorite genre: it's not that I don't like this genre per se; I just don...