Candy Bunny Reader

  A cute graphic novel I picked up on a whim.  Fae and the Moon by Franco and Catherine and Sarah Satrun is set in a fantasy world. The main character, Fae, is a girl living all by herself after her magical witch mother mysteriously disappeared. She spends most of her days tending to her mother's moon garden and feeding the animals near her house. She sometimes talks to a talking rabbit named Percival.  One day Fae thinks she is one step closer to finding her mother because of her connection to the moon. Fae takes the moon from the sky (literally) because she thinks if her mom doesn't see the moon in the sky, she might come back. Unfortunately, the moon is stolen by a huge colony of mice living underneath her house. At the same time, a dragon appears and seems to attack Fae, but he was really trying to protect her from someone or something.  Fae eventually learns why the mice stole the moon, and where her mother went, and the mystery of the dragon that suddenly appe...

  As the title says. I picked out these books based on their vibes.  

A cool reimagining of Pinocchio! This is the second book I have read from John Claude Bemis ! The first one was The Prince Who Fell from the Sky , which I read and reviewed last year. You can read that review here .  The Wooden Prince is set in a world like ours, but where magic, magical creatures, and alchemy exists. The story is about a mysterious automa (basically a humanoid robot, but powered by alchemy) named Pinocchio. He was serving the doge (the leader) of Venetian Empire, but is one day locked in a trunk and sent away to a new master: a wanted alchemist named Geppetto. Pinocchio, unlike most automa, seems to be experiencing more human-like thoughts and emotions, and slowly over time is turning into a human boy. Geppetto wonders if his long-time friend, Prester John (and the king of a rival kingdom named Abaton) has something to do with it.  But as they are trying to figure out what's up with Pinocchio and find and rescue Prester John, they get separated, and Pinocchi...

      I was looking for this book by Margaret Peterson Haddix for so long, and I was so happy when my local library system started carrying it and the other two books in the series (which I will be reading after this). So what did I think? Children of Exile is about a twelve year old girl named Rosi. She and her little brother Bobo grew up in a peaceful, utopian town called Fredtown. Everybody in her town are raised by foster parents called "Freds".  But one day, the Freds tell everyone that they will be sent home to their birth parents whom they've never met. When Rosi and the rest of the children are sent home, they quickly see how dystopian and unsafe it is. Their birth parents (well, all the parents in the community) also seem to be on edge the whole time for some reason.  Rosi and Edwy, a boy she recently rekindled her friendship with, end up uncovering a huge conspiracy about the town, and why all of the children went to live in Fredtown the first several...

This book is the prequel to the Blight Harbor series, which consists of: The Clackity, The Nighthouse Keeper, and The Loneliest Place . You can read the review for the first book here ! Pennies by Lora Senf is set in the 1920s and is about a group of friends consisting of: Mae Von Rath (the great-great aunt of Evie from the original trilogy), Lark (whom we meet in the original second book as a ghost), Claret, and Brigid. The friends love to go exploring around their town, and one day a door to the Dark Sun side suddenly appears in the woods near their clubhouse.  The girls are told not to go near it, but one day several people in their town go missing, including Brigid's cousin, Emilia. The girls suspect an unusual boy named John Jeffrey Pope (usually called Johnny) must have done it, except everyone else doesn't think so. At the same time, Lark's aunt Meredith starts acting strange, too.  The girls find out that Emilia was taken to the Dark Sun side by Johnny, and he and...

This is the prequel to A Kind of Spark , which I read and reviewed earlier this year! You can read the review here . A Glimmer of Change by Elle McNicoll follows Keedie, who is the older sister of Addie from the first book A Kind of Spark . This story takes place during Keedie's middle school (or secondary school as they call it in Britain) days, and Addie is 6 years old here. Keedie, like Addie, is autistic, and has a history of getting bullied and no one standing up for her. After she defends her best friend Bonnie (who is also autistic) and gets in trouble for it, Keedie decides to start a little business of her own where she defends her classmates who are victims of bullying. She ends up helping a lot of people, but the school (well, mostly the principal/headmaster) doesn't like what she is doing because they claim they already have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to bullying. Keedie thinks that claim is very flimsy, especially when they reward the top bullies (who ha...

    So many twists and turns! (Pun intended, since the characters spend most of their time in the Labyrinth). And so many more emotional moments. I think this is my new favorite so far, more than the previous book!

  I saw one of my followers on Instagram do this tag and I thought I should do it too! I tagged some people over on Instagram, but anyone is free to do it. 1. A classic you've been meaning to read And Both Were Young by Madeline L'Engle ! I bought it at a thrift store last year and still haven't cracked it open. 2. A book on your shelf that you haven't read yet  I got two! They are part of a series: The Pumpkin Spice Cafe and The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore , both by Laurie Gilmore 3.  A recent purchase that you haven't read. The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech. 4. A Book You've Had Forever But Haven't Read I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai ! I bought this way back in 2015. No kidding! 5.   A Recommendation From a Friend You Haven't Read Disney High by Ashley Spencer  (it's a nonfiction book about Disney Channel) 6. A Book You're Procrastinating I got a few... The Secrets of Winterhouse by Ben Gutterson,  Pennies by Lora Senf,  and  Mistress Pat by ...

    This one made me more emotional than usual! 😭

  Aka all the 5 stars books! Shadow's House Volumes 1-9 by Somato Witches of Eden Volumes 5 and 6 by Yumeji Winterhouse by Ben Gutterson Sakura Saku Volume 9 by Io Sakisaka One Piece: Law's Story by Eichiro Oda and Sakagami Shusei Pet (and Bitter) by Akwaeke Emezi When it All Syncs Up (and Under All the Lights) by Maya Ameyaw The Witch Who Chases the Sun by Dawn Chen She Loves to Cook Volumes 1-5 by Sakaomi Yuzaki Monster High Comics Volume 1 by several authors Under their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix Nightbooks (and Gravebooks) by JA White Witchlings book 1 by Claribel Ortega Linus and Etta Could Use a Win by Caroline Huntoon Nicola Traveling Around the Demon's Realm Volumes 1-4 by Asaya Miyanagi A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay Bone: Roses Story by Jeff Smith  The Gate Girl and Dragon by Grace Lin The Lightning Thief (and the Sea of Monsters) by Rick Riordan  Sheeta's Little Big World Volume 1 by Yuki Kamba The Best We Could Do...

  I do this tag every year sometime in June.  Check out my answers for the previous years on the Navigation page! 1. Best book you read so far this year? I've got two: The Witch Who Chases the Sun by Dawn Chen and Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura   2. Best sequel you read so far this year? Amari and the Metalwork Menace  by BB Alston and Under All the Lights by Maya Ameyaw.   3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.  Smash or Pass by Birdie Schae 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year. This is actually a revised edition of a book originally published in 2009, but The Diaries of Emily the Strange: The Lost Days is coming out in September 2026.   Another one is the second book of the Kiki's Delivery Service series (yes, it's a whole series) titled Kiki and the New Magic . The author is Eiko Kadono.  The book was originally published in Japanese back in 1993 and getting an English release i...

   ...and also drawing in general. It's been a while since I read something from Raina Telgemeier ! I read Smile, Sisters , and Drama way back before I started my blog. So how is this newer book of hers that she wrote with Scott McCloud ? The Cartoonists Club is about a group of friends: Mikayla, Howard, Art, and Lynda that form a club at their school dedicated to writing, drawing, and sharing comics. Each friend has some sort of struggle when it comes to writing and drawing their stories. Mikayla has a lot of ideas but usually doesn't know how to get started. Howard often times gets in trouble for focusing too much on comics and not enough on his schoolwork. Art just likes using their hands and creating things in general, and wants to hone their skills. Lynda is very shy to share what she draws because she thinks she's either not good enough or what she draws is too personal.  Luckily, with the help of their school librarian, Ms. Fatima (yes, that's her name!), the ...

    I feel like I will do this with the rest of the series, since it's a popular one. I am still waiting for my hold of book 3 to come in from my local library. 

  And guess who loved book 1 (as in gave it 5 stars ) and will continue reading the series?! Funny story: my first exposure to Percy Jackson was actually the 2010 film based off of this first book that I watched back in middle school. Since I didn't read the books back then, I thought the movie was okay, but my friends who have read the books all said the movie was a terrible adaptation of the first book. Now that I finally read the original Lightning Thief , I 100% agree with my friends and all longtime Percy Jackson fans. (I haven't watched the more recent Disney+ series because I don't have a subscription, so I can't make comparisons to the show, either.) I don't think I need to explain the plot because I think most of us know what the story is already about. What stood out to me was how surprisingly dark the story can get at times while still being family-friendly (think Avatar the Last Airbender). But I think those are the best kinds of kids' books. I like ...

  I was not tagged, I saw one of my followers do this tag over on Instagram and thought it looked cool! I tagged some people over on Instagram, but as usual, anyone is free to do this tag, too. 1.  Green Tea: Your favorite green book. Here's a recent favorite: The Gate, Girl, and Dragon by Grace Lin. 2. Earl Grey: A book that will never get old. Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix 3. Chai: A spicy romance. I don't read a lot of spicy romance, but all 3 of Emily Henry's books that I like so far (People We Meet on Vacation. Book Lovers, and Funny Story) do have some spice in them.  4. Chamomile: A relaxing read The Story Girl  duology  (The Story Girl and its sequel, The Golden Road) by LM Montgomery is pretty relaxing! 5. Matcha: A book you didn't think you were going to like The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. It's actually super good! 6.  Ice Tea: A summer book on your TBR. Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno  7. Milk tea/boba: a trending booksta book ...

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?   

  This is not a typical review. It's just that I read the entire Bone series by Jeff Smith a few years ago when I first started my blog, and it was epic! I need to reread the series sometime, and the rest of the supplemental material. This book is the prequel about the character Thorn's grandmother, and the events of what led to the conflict that we see in Bone (if you know, you know). I gave it 5 stars !

  I want to get back in the groove of posting another part of this series once a month. Let's see how it goes. 1. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls -okay, this one is actually kind of popular in memoir circles! This is the story of author and journalist Jeannette Walls and her life growing up in an unconventional and dysfunctional family, and how she escaped and changed her life for the better while acknowledging you can never truly escape your past.  2. Aquicorn Cove by K. O'Neill -another whimsical book from author K. O'Neill all about protecting the environment to protect the animals--including magical ones!  3. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei -you know what, this memoir is quite popular, too! This is a graphic novel memoir about popular actor George Takei's experience as a victim of the Japanese internment camps during WW2, and a little bit on how he became an actor as an adult.  4. Sylvia Doe and the 100 Year Flood by Robert Beatty -a middle grade novel a...

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 ...

The best reading month so far! So many 5 stars! I read a total of 12 books and DNF 3 .  Links to reviews if applicable.    5 star books   Shadows House Volume 9 by Somato The Witch Who Chases the Sun by Dawn Chen She Loves to Cook Volumes 1 and 2 by Sakaomi Yuzaki Monster High: New Scaremester Volume 1 by several authors Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix Nightbooks (and the sequel Gravebooks) by JA White Witchlings 1 by Claribel Ortega Linus and Etta Could Use a Win by Caroline Huntoon Eden of Witches Volume 6 by Yumeji   4.5 Stars  Monster High: New Scaremester Volume 2 by several authors   DNFs  These two were bad:  A Condition Called Love Volume 1 by Megumi Morino Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay   This was just boring:  A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff