Candy Bunny Reader

I. Loved. This. Book. Words. Cannot. Express. It! 😍 😍 😍 The Neverending Story by Michael Ende follows Bastian Balthasar Bux, a boy who is very unpopular at school and whose life hasn't been the same since he lost his mother. One day at a bookstore he finds a mysterious book called "The Neverending Story". Instead of going to classes, he decides to hide out in the attic of his school and read the book.  The book containing the story titled "The Neverending Story" is set in a magical world called Fantastica where every (mostly fantasy) story ever has ever existed. The creator of the world is this goddess-like character named the Childlike Empress. But she has fallen ill, and Fantastica is slowly starting to disappear into The Nothing. A boy named Atreyu has been chosen to help save the Childlike Empress so Fantastica can be saved. Atreyu goes on a long-winded adventure where he meets new foes and friends along the way. He becomes best friends with a luckdragon...

  Well, did you know this movie is based off a book by Eiko Kadono ? Or have you ever read the book after watching the movie version? The book follows the similar premise of a 13 year old witch named Kiki who comes from a long line of witches. She also leaves on a full moon night with her talking black cat Jiji to a city by the sea, stays with a baker named Osono and her husband, and also runs a delivery service.  Other similarities include Kiki meeting an aviation-loving boy named Tombo, becoming friends with an artist lady who lives in the woods, making a delivery for an elderly woman, and becoming popular in her community.  The similarities end there. There are many things the book has that were not in the movie, or were changed for the movie.  For one, book Kiki has waaay more deliveries. There is one delivery at least every chapter after she arrives in the city. Some smaller ones are not even explained in great detail. In the movie, I think she only had 3 or 4 ...

  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...

  I think I found a new favorite manga series! Akane-Banashi by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue is about Akane, a teenage girl who grew up watching her father practice and perform rakugo. Rakugo is a traditional Japanese art where a sole performer tells a short story and plays all of the characters, usually while seated. While she was in elementary school, Akane's father and a bunch of other candidates took an exam to rise up in the rankings of rakugo performers, but for some reason the judge proctoring the exam decided to expel all of them. Akane's father gets a job in construction work, and Akane decides to take his place in being a rakugo performer to showcase that rakugo can be a real job. Over the years she starts taking secret lessons from her dad's old instructor, and during her teen years she slowly makes herself known among his other pupils and rakugo fans, all while trying to perfect her craft.  I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this! I saw this manga...

OMG.  This is a new all-time favorite! Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa is about Sentaro, an ex-convict who is paying off debt he owes by working at a small dorayaki shop. One day an elderly woman named Tokue comes in and notices the "now hiring" sign, and she asks Sentaro if she could work there. Sentaro notices that her fingers are all crooked, too, and he wonders if it's a good idea to hire her. After Tokue has him her try her own sweet bean paste recipe for the dorayaki, Sentaro loves it and hires her. More and more people start to drop by the shop and business is booming. One customer who visits frequently is a teenager named Wakana, who doesn't have a good relationship with her parents but eventually becomes friends with Sentaro and Tokue. Sentaro is happy that the shop is doing well thanks to Tokue, but the owner (his boss) finds out about Tokue and her crooked fingers, and she tells Sentaro she found out that Tokue came from a sanatorium that housed people...

An underrated manga by THE Hayao Miyazaki . It's only one volume long! It was actually published back in the 1980s but it didn't get an English translation until now (well, 2022). Shuna's Journey follows Shuna, who is the prince of a small valley in the mountains which is experiencing a famine. One day Shuna meets a traveler who has some small golden seeds that are unable to be planted, but the traveler tells Shuna that he can find a giant field where golden grain grows to feed his people. The field is in the far west where the moon resides.  On his journey he runs into some slave traders, and rescues two girls from them. One is named Thea and the other girl is her sister. They are supposedly fallen princesses. Shuna tells Thea his plan, and she is happy for him and tells him if he succeeds, she should meet him in a village in the north.  But Shuna then hears from another traveler that the place Shuna needs to get to so he can find the all the golden grain is hard to rea...

I found out about this book because there is a CGI Studio Ghibli series of the same name directed by Goro Miyazaki (Hayao Miyazaki's son). I might or might not watch it sometime. The book is also by Astrid Lindgren, who is most well known for writing the Pippi Longstocking series. I could never get into the Pippi series (shocker, I know!), but this stand alone novel worked for me! Ronia the Robber's Daughter is about, well, Ronia, who is the daughter of Matt. Matt is the leader of a band of thieves who live somewhere in a big forest. Matt has a rivalry against Borka, who is the leader of another gang of thieves in the same forest. One day while hanging out outside, Ronia meets Borka's son Birk, who is around her age. They argue a lot at first, but then they soon become friends behind their fathers' backs. Eventually their fathers' find out and the two gangs get into a fight over it. It ends up with Ronia and Birk running away to live in a cave together. They enjoy ...

  (Pic was found on Google Images) I listened to the 2nd Moomins book by Tove Jansson on audiobook a while ago!  Comet in Moominland picks right up where the very first book, Moomins and the Great Flood , left off (review for that here ). The Moomins and Sniff are living in their iconic blue house, and go on many adventures and meet new friends along the way. These new friends are actually the rest of the iconic Moomin characters: Snufkin, Little My, the Snorkmaiden, the Snork, etc. Yes, they all make their very first appearances in this book. The overarching plot is that there are rumors of a prediction that a comet is going to come to Moominland and destroy everything, and everyone is really scared! But since it's the Moomins, you know it will have a happy ending. The comet does fly through the sky and everyone sees it, but it doesn't land in Moominland. Everything is fine, obviously. Just like the other two Moomin books I read, this was a beautiful, heartfelt, masterpiece....

(Pic was found on Google Images) A while ago I listened to the very first Moomin book ever by Tove Jansson on audiobook .  It is called The Moomins and the Great Flood .  In this very first book we follow Moomintroll and Moominmamma as they go on a journey to find Moominpappa, as he went away with the creatures called the Hattifatteners, and they are all looking for a new place to live. Along the way they meet "a little creature" (who is really the character of Sniff) who joins them on their journey and Tulipa, a fairy from a tulip flower that protected them from a giant serpent. They also encounter a strange old man, a scary ant-lion, more Hattifatteners, and a red-haired boy who lives in a lighthouse and who briefly met Moominpappa and knows which way he went.  As they all search for Moominpappa, a huge rainstorm happens which causes a flood. When the rain stops the team finds a message in a bottle from Moominpappa saying he is safe and he built a new house for the fam...

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 ...

  Well, I finally read one the Moomin books in its entirety!  My history with the Moomins has been interesting up until this point: I remember in elementary school one of my teachers read one of the chapters of one the books out loud to us (can't remember which chapter and what book 🤷), then I didn't encounter them again until years later when I  unexpectedly  came across some clips of the anime adaptation on YouTube, and then saw some candy of it at an Asian food store and bought it (pictured above next to the book--yes I kept the tin after eating all the candy!). I also found out there is a theme park of it in Finland, which is where the franchise is originally from (Finland is the author's native country). I finally got around to reading one of the books just now!  Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson follows the Moomins and their friends in a series of loosely connected chapters over the course of one year. Each chapter is it's own story, but they all ha...

  T alli: Daughter of the Moon is the first book of an currently ongoing graphic novel series inspired by Japanese manga written and illustrated by French-Laotian author Sourya Sihachakr, and originally published in French. His Instagram is @_sulhya_ . This is a high fantasy story taking place in a medieval European-inspired fantasy setting where the MC, Talli, is torn away from her home and her adoptive father, Lord Borin, after an attack lead by Lord Ulric, who wants to capture Talli. Escaping with her bodyguard Alan, they are trying to get to a place called Blue Whale Port and find a woman named Dame Sybelle who can help them. Along the way, the form a bond with a merchant named Pavel and his grandson Lelo, who is a sword user. Another character named captain Nina is also on the group's heels because she knows about Talli's secret: Talli is a descendant of the moon goddess, and she has divine powers. There are still people in their world that worship and follow the goddess...

Did you know I also like to read manga?  Well, to be honest, I watch more anime than read manga. The last manga series I remember reading in it's entirety was Kitchen Princess back in middle school , which was more than a decade ago. For the last decade or so of my life I've only consumed manga-original stories through their anime adaptations. Sometimes the anime adaptations don't even cover the entire manga. They're more like advertisements to get you to go buy the manga (clever marketing, huh?) Additionally, there are probably hundreds of manga out there that have no anime adaptation attached to it. Go figure.  But I've decided to start reading actual manga again, and last week I finished the very first volume of  My Love Mix -Up by Wataru Hinekure.   In American marketing terms, this a YA contemporary romance manga series about three teenage friends (two guys and a girl, in this order): Aoki, Ida, and Hashimoto. Aoki has a crush on Hashimoto, but he's too shy...