We finally got Vol 10 of this high school and now college Japanese story. The two are so cute together. I’ve missed then and it was good to catch up wWe finally got Vol 10 of this high school and now college Japanese story. The two are so cute together. I’ve missed then and it was good to catch up with them. Miyano is in his senior year of high school while Sasaki is in his Freshman year in college. They still see each other.
Finally, in this volume, a few more people are beginning to know they are a couple. Sasaki’s mom figures it out even. We don’t really see much about it. The story goes very fast.
The back half of the story is Miyano being busy running the cultural festival. Sasaki comes to that and we see Hiryano there as well. There are some super sweet moments.
Sasaki is growing up and he even took out some earrings. The two are growing older and it seems like their relationship should grow as well. They only ever kiss and Miyano is still embarrassed doing that. It feels like their relationship is stalled out, I suppose.
This is not the end. There will be a volume 11, so I’ll read that too. ...more
This story is speeding along and they skip over many details. They shorten scenes and drop dialogue. We see Wei Ying back at Lotus pier after defeatinThis story is speeding along and they skip over many details. They shorten scenes and drop dialogue. We see Wei Ying back at Lotus pier after defeating Xuanwu. All the Jiang Clan drama happens with his parents.
Then, bang, the Wen Clan invaded Lotus Pier and it’s all death and dying. Xie Jie isn’t even around anywhere. All this happens and then Cheng is rescued and taking to Wen Qing for healing.
Bang, they go see Baoshan Sanren and , Bang Wei Ying is kidnapped by the Wen Clan. They skip the beating and just dump him in the Yiling mounds.
Boom, now it’s three months later and Wei Ying is getting his ghostly revenge. I mean, this thing just zips through all of this. It’s disorienting how quickly it skips through time.
Bang, the flashback is over and Wen Chao is dead and Wei Ying is back at Gusu. They find the music that Meng Yao is using to curse Clan leader Nie. Here’s is something. IN the book Lan Xichen finally tells Wei Ying about Lan Zhan’s past and what he did for Wei Ying. He basically tells him, he loves Wei Ying. This skips it.
The volume ends with them stopping at a farmhouse.
I feel like this is combining the book material with the TV material. They are leaving out all the good moments between Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. I doubt they are going to do the extra chapters. Those are too graphic for this story.
I was hoping this would be the complete story. It looks to be abridged. Such a shame. ...more
I love the library and I love reading. This book is marvelous. A girl also loves her books. She carries all of them around with her everywhere she goeI love the library and I love reading. This book is marvelous. A girl also loves her books. She carries all of them around with her everywhere she goes. She doesn’t lend them out either. They start to weigh her down the more she collects. She loves them all and read all over them more than once.
One day, she takes a spill and it starts to rain. A librarian helps her into the dry library where she sees the magic of all the books. She is awed by the potential stories. She gets a library card and the rest is history.
The artwork is fabulous. The artist seems to love books also. The library is beautiful, cozy and the read wants to visit just to read there among all the cozy readers. She used pencil, watercolor and digital for the art.
It’s all comes together to make a perfect story. This is a new favorite.
Any kid who loves cute animals or books will love this one. ...more
Let’s start with the artwork. It was created digitally. It is amazing. The artwork is a whole creative universe of imagination. I jusI love this book.
Let’s start with the artwork. It was created digitally. It is amazing. The artwork is a whole creative universe of imagination. I just love it.
We see two people, a girl and a monster looking tiger playing together. The text talks about how much fun they had and that the person was real to me. We know we are in imaginary friend territory. It’s such a wonderful little story.
The one person left is so sad and missing their friend. Why did they go away? There was so much fun. Why did it come to an end?
Kids who love imagination and fantastic stories will love this. It’s a ground breaking work. This is one of my favorite books of the year and I would put it on Caldecott watch.
Spoilers:
So, the neat thing about this book is that there is a twist. We aren’t following the girl, we are following the imaginary friend. We see how lonely the friend is and it doesn’t understand why the girl left. It meets other imaginary friends at the end to be friends with, but it’s not the same thing. He always wonders what his girl is up to.
Let’s start with the artwork here. Wow! This artwork is special. It’s digital and yet the details are spectacular. The play of light and dark reminds Let’s start with the artwork here. Wow! This artwork is special. It’s digital and yet the details are spectacular. The play of light and dark reminds me of Thomas Kincaid. All that glowing gold is so warm and cozy. It’s perfect before bed. Once we get to the bakery, you mouth starts to water at the golden loaves. Just stunning. I love this. I want to own this. We meet a baby dragon. Like all dragons, it likes gold, but all the gold belongs to the adults. He see how they get it stealing from the townspeople. The little dragon decides to do the same. It ends up at night in the city with no gold in front of a window at the bakery full of golden bread loaves. As it begins raining, the owner sees the dragon and takes pity. She has the dragon help make the bread.
That’s all it takes for the dragon to be hooked on the smell and taste of bread. What we learn is that eating gold is much better than hoarding gold. Of course this experience changes the town. Turns out dragons love bread.
I think any child will adore this book. It will win them over. It’s cute and cozy and it’s about dragons. I highly recommend this story. ...more
This really is one of the sweetest romances out there. This is volume 8 of the Japanese high school romance. So many sugar moments. We get a kiss or tThis really is one of the sweetest romances out there. This is volume 8 of the Japanese high school romance. So many sugar moments. We get a kiss or two in this volume as well.
This is a great volume. Yamato and Kakeru decide to tell their friends about their relationship. It mostly goes well. Still, some issues need to be ironed our. Fujino has a lot in this story and we still have yet to meet his girlfriend.
They seem to graduate. Yamato is giving a graduation speech for the third years and then they go camping as a group and it’s calling them second years, so I’m confused if it was their graduation or not.
The camping trip had some funny stuff going on. The tension between the two is palpable. This is really one of the best series out there. The TV show is on Netflix and it’s such a joy to watch. I’m so glad we have this story. I need to do a re-read. It’s that good....more
This book was a joy. It’s written by Julie Andrews and her daughter. This is about who notating music began. I learned so much from this book I didn’tThis book was a joy. It’s written by Julie Andrews and her daughter. This is about who notating music began. I learned so much from this book I didn’t know and the joy of the song in the book always makes me smile.
I loved ‘the sound of music’ as a child. I watched it yearly on TV whenever it ran. Our whole family would watch it and sing along. We rented it over and over as well. The story held so much joy.
This uses that as a way to talk about musical notation. Over a thousand years ago, there was no way to write down music. People had to memorize it by ear. It was easy to change music based on memory.
We meet a monk called Guido in a Benedictine monastery who loved music. He kept thinking there had to be a way to notate music in some way. He came up with five notes from the song ‘Ut queant laxis that became solfege. With these five notes, he could write music down and learn it easily.
His notes were squares. My days as a music major, I did see many text from the medieval and Renaissance period that used the square notes. Over time they became round and held time values.
Guido was recognized by the pope for his work. He taught music using his fingers for each tone.
The end of the book does illustrate the Do, Re, Mi song from the movie with Guido. The song lifts me every time. At the end of the book we have facts about his life and the song and Rogers and Hammerstein.
The artwork is mixed media. It hits just the right notes. It is cheerful and sort of sores like the song. There is lovely patterns one finds in a cathedral. What a fantastic book.
Anyone interested in the history of music or the song will love this. There is so much here and Julie is a wonderful author. ...more
What an original idea. This was such a fun story. I had a blast with this one. One day two roommates who seem to hate each other grab hands and they aWhat an original idea. This was such a fun story. I had a blast with this one. One day two roommates who seem to hate each other grab hands and they are stuck together and can’t let go no matter what they do. One roommate fell over and the other went to help him and bam, they couldn’t let go no matter how they tried. So they did find a way to unstick later.
Someone, each day they end of getting stuck together, over and over and they have to go through the one thing that will release them.
The artwork is great. The character work is nice too. Kuga is annoying. He hates his roommate and he’s a slob. He does grow on you after some time. Igarashi is the roommate and he is a quiet type. He’s also a neat freak and he keeps the dorm room from falling into utter chaos. It looks like he is sort of finding ways to touch Kuga and make this happen.
I have to say how pleased I am by this volume. It’s so wonderful. I just had so much enjoyment reading the story. I couldn’t put it down. What a great idea. I would love it if this becomes a new trope like Omegaverse and we got a lot of stories like this. How fun.
Spoilers ahead: e
So, we find out there is a cupid like god who has thrown this curse on these two. The problem comes when Kuga starts to want to touch Igarashi. Then, they are repelled and they can’t touch. It’s only after a declaration of love from both that the spell is undone and they can touch again. ...more
Such a simple book, straight forward and it hits the heart. This is the sweetest little boy. Everyone around him is losing something. His brother loseSuch a simple book, straight forward and it hits the heart. This is the sweetest little boy. Everyone around him is losing something. His brother loses a cactus, the school teacher looses the pet hamster, etc. The boy tries to make them feel better. His brother, he draws a card with the cactus on it and tells him I’m sorry. The boy says, that’s not what I want, I want a joke. Each person wants something else. He uses what the last person said, but that isn’t what the next person wants.
I love the ending. This is a book about lose and how to help someone you care about through that feeling. It’s done just brilliant, brilliant.
The artwork is digital. It is simple and confident. It tells the story. I love that this boy keeps trying to comfort people. The people look interesting. We don’t see a whole lot of emotion in the artwork. The story is confident enough to let the reader feel their own feels. It’s nice.
In high school, I knew some childhood friends from grade school that were twins that lived close to us. One of the twins died in her sleep. I went with my dad over while they were grieving. I had no idea what to say. I did my best to comfort. All I knew at the time were the trite things people say around death, so I’m sure I said all the wrong things, but I did my best with what I knew. This book could be helpful to young kids to see all the different ways you can help someone and the best thing to do is ask what they need.
I flew through this book in two days. It was so good. Yesterday I read 250 pages in one day.
This is a transmigration story. A character is reading anI flew through this book in two days. It was so good. Yesterday I read 250 pages in one day.
This is a transmigration story. A character is reading an online novel and interacts with the author online. He is a CEO in modern day China. He gets sick and dies. He wakes up inside the novel as the villain of the story. He changes immediately as to try and avoid his horrible death. There is a lot of humor seeing him as a 21st century person way in the past. No one knows what to make of him. There are lots of lighthearted comedic moments here.
This is also a historical drama. There are some serious things going on and the ending is tough on the emotions. We are certainly left on a cliff hanger. There are some beautiful moments in here. It's a great read.
I love our two main leads. I love how clueless Xiao Yu'an is to what's going on. He knows the old plot, but he changed things so the whole story changed. He doesn't see who the people really are. Of course, the other man lead was in the story and he was the lead in a stallion novel, so women threw themselves at him. He keeps expecting Yan Heqing to fall in love with his wife, he has more than one and it doesn't happen. Xiao Yu'an is clueless on the changes taking place.
I do love how Xiao Yu'an knows character backgrounds and who betrays who and so he can easily guess so much of what's going on. It's lovely. He tries to avert one death, but someone still has to die at several points. Things look bleak at the end.
I can't wait to read Vol. 2. I have it ordered and I hope it will get here sooner than the 4 months it took to get this volume.
This is another great Danmei and I love how deep this genre really is. There seem to be endless good stories in it. ...more
So here is what I thought of Aesop's fables. I thought they were written in England back in the 1500s or something. I had no idea they were 2500 yearsSo here is what I thought of Aesop's fables. I thought they were written in England back in the 1500s or something. I had no idea they were 2500 years old. I learned quite a bit today. Everything we know about Aesop is oral. There are no records, nothing to confirm the truth, so this could all be some sort of story as well.
The story is that Aesop was born a slave. They learned to talk in code so as not to be caught speaking against the master. Aesop was very smart. He used these story to show how people with no power can exist in a world full of power hungry people. Aesop was sold from one master to another. Eventually, he was freed. He told many many stories. They were so powerful, that people told them from generation to generation for 1500 years before being written down. So you know they were changed over time. People loved him as he was a man of the people and not one of the powerful people.
This story also tells him most famous stories in the middle. Aesop was a Greek slave in 500 BC. I learned so much. I didn't realize I was so ignorant of this subject. Now, I want to read all his fables again with some fresh eyes.
The artwork is wonderful. There are lovely scenes mixed with abstract artwork. They use color nicely. The stories told are acrylics on wood panels while the biography section was watercolors. It's a fun style.
I think children will enjoy learning more about these marvelous stories. His story is pretty great all on his own....more
Here is my first real find of 2025. Wow! I love this story. The artwork was outstanding. It's so rich with colors and emotions and beauty. The backgroHere is my first real find of 2025. Wow! I love this story. The artwork was outstanding. It's so rich with colors and emotions and beauty. The background was like a tie-dyed dream. The artwork was mixed media. What a work of beauty.
I read Moon Goddess a few years ago and loved it. This is a new take on this myth of the Chinese Moon Goddess Chang'e. It's a love story. She and Hou Yi are very much in love. They love the people and Earth. One day 10 suns appear in the sky and Earth is dying. Hou Yi shoots 9 of them down and the Heavenly empress rewards him with one bottle of elixir to be a god. They both can't do it. Anyway, this is where this story comes up with it's variation.
Some myth show Chang'e as selfish and some as heroic. This is a heroic version.
The story is fast paced and exciting. I love her rabbit companion. The artwork is scrumptious. I love this story. What a beauty.
Any kid interested in mythology or how to do a really good picture book would love this.
This appears to be a series and I can't wait to read more!!!...more
This is just my kind of story. I love this one. I love Moose and putting one on the Sleigh is brilliant.
Elmore the Moose has a dream, he dreams of beiThis is just my kind of story. I love this one. I love Moose and putting one on the Sleigh is brilliant.
Elmore the Moose has a dream, he dreams of being one of Santa's Reindeer. Prancer can make Christmas this year, so Santa needs a new reindeer. So be it. Elmore writes and he goes back and forth to the North Pole. At first people were surprised he was a Moose and then sadly, they found out he couldn't fly.
You know something, Elmore could bake. That's right, Elmore the baking moose. There you go.
The artwork does look digital. The artwork has that Christmas magic about it. I find this to be a new classic. The night is such a rich purple.
Spoiler ahead:
OMG! My favorite part of this is Abner the flying Walrus. That is amazing. Yes, we need a flying Walrus. How brilliant. That trilled me to no end. I would have loved to see a moose, but the walrus did the trick....more
Wu Xingzi reminds me a little bit of myself. He's a little bit clueless and not fit for politics or dealing with other people's politics. He doesn't fWu Xingzi reminds me a little bit of myself. He's a little bit clueless and not fit for politics or dealing with other people's politics. He doesn't fit in and he's sort of aloof. He's happy gardening and just living a simple life. I sort of love him.
This book has gotten funnier and funnier. I love how these people plot around Wu xingzi and he gives earnest answers and they think he's somehow this genius smacking them down. Their own thoughts are defeating him. I love that.
General Guan Shanjin doesn't seem to have loyalty to any one person, but by the end of the book, I think it's obvious that he does have feelings for Wu Xingzi. Bless his heart.
I love the ending of this. I tell you what. All these people thought they were going to use Guan Shanjin and he certainly showed them. Never make this man your enemy. He will destroy you.
This silly thing makes me laugh and just makes me happy. I love this silly story. It's the spiciest story I've read since Anne Rice's Beauty series. It is spicy and that's nice to have something like that.
Again, I say, she really understand gay people. This is like talking with my gay friends in college again. I love it....more
I love the Xuanwu of Slaughter arc. It's one of my favorite. It's where the story really takes off in the show. In the book, it's toward the end and wI love the Xuanwu of Slaughter arc. It's one of my favorite. It's where the story really takes off in the show. In the book, it's toward the end and we see that this is where Lan Zhan finally let's Wei Ying in. This is the moment that Lan Zhan lets him in. I just love it. So wonderful. I still say, this is the greatest story every told. I think of it constantly.
This starts out finishing up the empathy with Chiefin-zun. It's needed, but not my favorite part at all. They are chased away from Golden Tower. One of my favorite lines is after all the escape. I'll paraphrase. Wuxian says to Lan Zhan, when everyone loved me, you disapproved of me, and when everyone turned their back on me, you stood by my side.
It gets me in the heart every single time. Lan Zhan is really amazing. I just love these two.
The artwork is just as amazing as it has been. We get to see Wuxian in Empathy with his past self and that is interesting. I enjoy that bit. I find the action hard to follow at times when there is a lot going on, but it mostly does well and it moves the story forward quickly.
I love how each incarnation has it's own way of telling the story. We have the novel version, the TV, the animation and now the Manhua or manga. Each of them have the beats there and they tell the story with their own point of view. It keeps the story alive. I enjoy it
We are getting to the best parts. I just can't wait. At this point in the story, I can't put it down and I usually finish it in one sitting from here on out. It's so good....more
This artwork is spot-on perfect. I just love it. The colors so vibrant and evocative. All these layers and somehow it all just works. It looks like waThis artwork is spot-on perfect. I just love it. The colors so vibrant and evocative. All these layers and somehow it all just works. It looks like waterolors and it's probably lots of other mixed media. This is a UK book published in the US this year. I don't know if it's eligible for Caldecott being UK, but it should be. This is great artwork. It knocked my socks off.
The story is about a child with a love letter from the Earth. The Earth will take care of you and you need to take care of the Earth. A simple idea. It's so well done. I simply love this.
I'm not sure if kids would enjoy this, but it's my kind of story. I know my niece and nephew would have been bored by this back then. It's not funny or action packed. Still, I love it. A beautiful idea....more
I'm so glad I was able to read this book this year. I love it. I love all the orange books that stand out in this store.
The artwork is fabulous. TherI'm so glad I was able to read this book this year. I love it. I love all the orange books that stand out in this store.
The artwork is fabulous. There are all the normal Halloween monsters around looking for books. We are in some sort of Halloween town and the artwork is magical. It's spooky and safe at the same time. You can almost feel the cobwebs.
We see a kid who stumbles into the local book store after finding a key. The owner tells the kid, there is a book for everyone. The kid wants to find his book, but first he helps all the customers find their books. One book loses a dragon on the store. That's handled and then it's storytime.
Such a warm and welcoming book. I just loved it. I think every kid can find something they love in this. Plus, it's about a library and books. Any book lover is going to cherish this story. It's strange, books about books and reading are the best....more
Wow, let's talk about this artwork. Amazing! The art was digital and it doesn't look digital. The art has so much energy and passion in it. The colorsWow, let's talk about this artwork. Amazing! The art was digital and it doesn't look digital. The art has so much energy and passion in it. The colors are so rich and vibrant. The art is alive and it invites one in to explore this new world. There are dark colors for anxiety and fear, and there are sunny colors that are hopeful and urge people to do something.
This story is based on Nikkolas Smith. He made a painting that went viral one day. This is about a boy who sees all these things in the world that need changing. He feels overwhelmed by them. He loves painting, so one day, he decides to do something about it. He makes art about things going on in the world and the change we are looking for.
It's a story about getting involved in your community. The book is about connections to people and you feel that in this book. I just read 'Maybe' and it's about similar ideas, but that book was set in a vacuum. There were no other people. It was just one person and it didn't feel the same as this book that is set in community. Here, you feel the connections to people.
I think kids will love the artwork and the knowledge that they aren't helpless. They have a voice and they can do something about it.
This is a book you should experience yourself! What a marvelous find. I love this one. I'm so glad I stumbled into this.
The artwork is so cool. OliverThis is a book you should experience yourself! What a marvelous find. I love this one. I'm so glad I stumbled into this.
The artwork is so cool. Oliver takes photos of old houses and rooms in them. The front lists all the places he was. They all look like rooms from old English manors and whatnot. There is a page with a picture of the room and a weird green Frankenstein sort of girl drawn into the room. She lives in this house. There is a clear film page that you turn. The other page is blank with an item that might be in the room, like a lamp in the lower right corner.
The idea is simple and works so well. The girl is looking for ghost in her house. We explores the whole house looking for them and never finds them. When you turn the clear page, we see the ghosts in the room. They like to hide from the girl.
The book is such a surprise and so different. It is pure joy to read this thing. I recommend this book to everyone for Halloween. It's great for any age. It really is a fun book.
A wonderful story about is it real or not. We start out hearing the Japanese fairytale about the crane and the woodcutter. The crane is trapped in a nA wonderful story about is it real or not. We start out hearing the Japanese fairytale about the crane and the woodcutter. The crane is trapped in a net and the woodcutter saves her. It's a beautiful story. Stephen King told a similar story about Gargoyles. The tale has magic.
The story begins with a father and son going to visit a very wealthy man with lots of unique gardens and expensive things. The men talk and the boy wanders out in the garden. He sees a crane and he is sneaking up on it. He realizes it is a bronze statue when both men are laughing at him. He runs embarrassed to an old house on the property that is just like the woodcutters home. Strange things happen there. He meets a woman who the boy knows is a crane.
The artwork is so lovely. He takes time on every stone. The gardens look wonderful. I just want to visit and see them in person. The artwork has a slight magical pull on reality. What is real? What isn't?
Spoilers:
The story ends with the boy thinking he really is with the crane woman like the story. Then his father wakes him up. He was asleep in the little house. The men laugh at him again. Was all that just a dream, or was it real?
Great story. I love that open question. How easy it is to say, the kid just fell asleep. Who knows, maybe the crane woman was there. haha...more
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