Candy Bunny Reader

    This is the third book in the Norendy  Tales series by Kate DiCamillo . Each book is a standalone story, but all set in the same world. You can read the reviews of the the first two books in this series here: (one is The Puppets of Spelhorst , the second is The Hotel Balzaar .) Lost Evangeline is the tale of a shoemaker who dreams of being a sailor. One day he finds a tiny girl (tiny like Thumbelina!) in a boot, and he decides to adopt her and name her Evangeline. The shoemaker loves telling stories about the sea to Evangeline. Evangeline also likes to sings and play games with her father. All is well at first, but... One day the servant of a sickly rich woman hears Evangeline singing, and he decides to trade the shoemaker's wife for her, thinking her singing will cure the sick Madame. He offers hundreds of gold coins. Evangeline's mother, the shoemaker's wife, jumps at the chance to send her tiny daughter away while she is asleep, as she believed Evangeline brought a...

    Because this is only three manga volumes long. I Want to be A Wall by Honomi Shirono is a slice of life manga series about a newlywed couple. The wife is named Yuriko and she is asexual. The husband is named Gaku and he is a closeted gay guy  (well, to everyone else except Yuriko)  with an unrequited crush on his childhood friend Sousuke (who is also their gardener). Neither one of them is actually in love with each other, but they still support each other platonically.  Along the way, we end up learning more about Yuriko and Gaku's past as well as more about their respective families and friends. They all end up making really big decisions about their futures.  This series was so heartfelt and emotional, and pretty funny at times, too. It had great commentaries on people marrying for different reasons. It's not always for romantic love, and that's totally valid! There's plenty of great queer representation, too. As an asexual person myself, I related ...

This book is a part of the 12 books 12 friends challenge, and was recommended to me by @yosoy_shin on Instagram.   Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagasawa is a literary fiction book originally published in Japanese. It follows 25 year old Takako, who quit her job after she finds her coworker/boyfriend cheating on her. She ends up settling in with her uncle Satoru above his used bookstore. While staying there, she enters a new world full of books, book lovers, coffee, and learning things about her uncle that she never knew.  In the second half of the story, Takako also ends up rekindling her relationship with her aunt Momoko, Satoru's ex-wife. Satoru himself ends up rekindling his relationship with her, too, much to his reluctance. Takako finds out why Momoko left Satoru several years earlier.  It's such a short book, but it really packed an emotional punch! I love reading books liked these, especially if they are set in and around a bookstore. I gave this book...

  As a One Piece fan, I had to pick these up. This is not going to be like my typical reviews since there isn't much to say about these two books. I also can't get too into them because I know not everyone here has read or watched One Piece. Wanted! is just a compilation of random comic stories that creator Eichiro Oda wrote before he officially started One Piece. The last comic, Romance Dawn, is basically a rough draft for One Piece! i gave it 4 stars . One Piece Heroines Volume 1 is a light novel of stand alone stories set in the world of One Piece following four of the female characters: Nami, Robin, Vivi, and Perona. They are pretty lighthearted, so they're great for reading if you want a break from the intensity of the main One Piece storyline.  Or if you're in the mood for something more chill. I gave it 5 stars .

  Another emotional Sharon Creech book! Saving Winslow is about Louie, who takes care of a sickly young donkey whom he names Winslow. He got the donkey from Uncle Pete, a family friend who lives on a farm. Everybody in Louie's social circle thinks Winslow won't survive, but with the right tools and care, Louie proves them wrong.  But taking care of a donkey isn't always easy! Luckily, Louie has a new friend name Nora who helps him out the most.  It is such a short book, but from page 1, it grabbed me with its themes! If you're in the mood for an emotional story of a kid and their pet with a happy ending, check this out! I gave it 4 stars , but that's just because some of the thematic matter might be heavy for some readers. But like all of Sharon Creech's books, they're written really well. 

                                                  (Made in Canva by me. Photo of book found on Google Images) Note: this is the second book in the Norendy Tales series, the first book being The Puppets of Spelhorst, which I read and reviewed last year. You can read that review here . Yes, another great Kate DiCamillo book! The Hotel Balzaar is set in a hotel and follows a girl named Marta and her mother, who is a worker at the hotel. Marta's mother always tells her to stay out of trouble and stay of of sight. Marta usually entertains herself talking to the doorman, looking at a painting of an angel, and watching a grandfather clock with a cat chasing a mouse on it. All the while, she wonders when her father will return from the war going on in the background.  One day, a mysterious old woman and her pet parrot come to stay at the h...

Another great book by Kate DiCamillo ! The Puppets of Spelhorst is about 5 sentient puppets: a boy, a girl, a king, an owl, and a wolf. They get bought by an old sailor with the last name Spelhorst. After the sailor dies, the box gets donated, bought, and gifted to two young rich sisters--Emma and Martha. They decide to write a play for the puppets that they can perform, but before they can, the puppets get into some mishaps in and around the girls' house. Eventually the play is performed, and the puppets find out what their true purpose is. I love the whimsical style the story was written in. It felt like a modern day fairy tale. I'd say this book is like a mixture of DiCamillo's two other most popular books: The Magician's Elephant and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. They are both short books with a huge emotional impact, and they are both about sentient toys.  Apparently this is also the first in a series. I can't wait to read more! It is a pure 5 star ...

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...

  So you are a reader. You have so many books you want to read. But you feel like you don't have enough time to read, or you just can't find the time. You are also super picky when it comes to books and maybe haven't found a book you loved or at least liked in a long time. I've been there before, and this phenomenon still happens to me occasionally. But, I always find myself getting back into the groove of things.  Here are my tips on how to find time to read, or just read more books! Schedule a certain time during the day. At what time to you find you're more in the mood to read? The morning? The evening? For me, I find I am more in the mood to read between 10 am and 12 pm. So, I almost always read at or around 11 am. If you work or have a family to take care of, find a time where you are not working and have a break from the family, but have energy to read. You don't have to even read for a full hour. Even just 30 or 15 minutes is okay. Plan on how many chapt...

  My third Kate DiCamillo book (the first two I read were Because of Winn-Dixie and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane waaaay back when I was elementary school. This one was also great! The Magician's Elephant is about Peter, an orphan living with an elderly soldier named Vilnia Lutz, finds out his little sister Adele is still alive after hearing it from a fortune teller. The fortune teller tells Peter that an elephant will lead him to his sister, but Peter doesn't know where to find this elephant.  Meanwhile, Adele (yes, she's alive!), is living in an orphanage, and she keeps having dreams of an elephant visiting her.   At the same time, a magician is in the city and he performs a magic trick at one of his shows that goes wrong. Instead of summoning a bouquet  of lilies, his accidentally summons an elephant. The elephant lands on a noblewoman named Madama LaVaughn, leaving her paralyzed. The magician is put in jail for destruction of property. The eleph...

TW: Spanking as a punishment (including threats), Racial Stereotypes, Eating Disorders I read the first book of the classic middle grade series Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald during these last few days. It's a short, quick, simple little book. There are only eight chapters. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is an eccentric and friendly woman who likes kids. She invites the kids in her neighborhood for tea parties and just to play. Not only do the kids like her, but their parents do, too. That's because she seems to understand how kids are and gives them unique "cures" to their bad behavior when the parents don't know how to deal with them when they act naughty.  Except for the first chapter where we are introduced to Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, every chapter is strictly formulaic: some kid is misbehaving, the parents phone Mrs. Piggle Wiggle on their problem, then Mrs. Piggle Wiggle gives them advice or objects that will get the kid to realize their bad behavior, and by the last...