Book Bunnies

Caramel reviews Ultimate Star Wars: New Edition

Caramel is a big Star Wars fan. In fact, he has already reviewed two books related to it (see his reviews of 5-Minute Star Wars Stories by LucasFilm Press and A Jedi You Will Be by Preeti Chhibber and Mike Deas). Today he revisits this imagined universe and talks about Ultimate Star Wars: New Edition, written by Adam Bray, Cole Horton, Patricia Barr, Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham, and Matt Jones, and published in 2019. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I can see you are once again in one of your Star Wars stages.

Caramel: Yes. Actually I am always in that stage.

S: I guess you are right. You always liked anything Star Wars related. So this book, Ultimate Star Wars: New Edition, you have had this for a while, no?

C: Yes but I just realized we have not reviewed it. So we have to!

S: I understand. What Star Wars related show are you watching these days?

C: I just finished the first season of The Bad Batch. So I am not watching anything, just reading and rereading my book.

S: I guess that makes sense. You love that universe, so you want to be connected to it. So tell me a bit about this book. What is in it?

C: There are a lot of pictures, from the movies, all the way up to and including The Rise of Skywalker. That was the ninth movie. They also have a lot of photos from The Clone Wars, which is the series before The Bad Batch, but we have not seen it yet. Hint hint.

S: Well, I like the nine movies and I thought The Bad Batch looked interesting, but there are so many other Star Wars movies and series that I am losing track. Maybe we will take a look at The Clone Wars some day. But let us get back to the book. So there are lots of photos from the movies and so on, but I saw lots of text, too. What are those about?

C: Well, there are sections on characters–

S: And you know there are a lot of them–

C: Yes, of course. And many of them have a little bit about them. And then there are sections about all the different kinds of droids, all the different ships, and so on. There are specific pages for the places that you see in the movies and the series, and basically, it is the ultimate guide to Star Wars.

S: And thus the title, I suppose.

C: Yep.

Caramel is reading Ultimate Star Wars: New Edition, written by Adam Bray, Cole Horton, Patricia Barr, Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham, and Matt Jones. — Caramel is reading *Ultimate Star Wars: New Edition*, written by Adam Bray, Cole Horton, Patricia Barr, Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham, and Matt Jones.

S: So tell me about your favorite droids then.

C: I like ID9 Seeker Droid. It is on page 274.

S: What movie does it show up in?

C: It shows up in one of the series, called Rebels.

S: How about the classic guys? C3P-O? R2-D2?

C: Yes, they are all in here, and I like them a lot too.

S: Did you notice that the book has a foreword written by Anthony Daniels, who is the actor who was C3P-O?

C: Well, I immediately dove into the book but then looked at the foreword once you told me it was C3P-O. I did know it was a real person inside C3P-O but I had not learned his name before.

S: Apparently he is also a mime actor, which makes sense to be so expressive with his body.

C: Yes, I agree.

S: So let us talk more about the book. I’m guessing it is full of Star Wars facts and trivia. Can you tell me something interesting you learned from it?

C: There is so much! I could say “I learned everything I know about Star Wars from this book. It is my Qui-Gon Jinn, it is my Yoda.” But I won’t. I did know a lot about Star Wars before, or I could say “I was already as knowledgeable as Sith Palpatine”, but I won’t. Still I did know a lot.

S: Okay, I think I get the point. So you learned nothing?

C: No, that is not what I am saying. I learned a lot actually. It helped me learn the connections between all the series and the movies, and the universe makes more sense now.

S: That’s really cool. Because I am quite confused actually.

C: Well, you can read the book from the beginning to the end then. Or like me, you can simply keep skipping around and reading whatever appeals to you whenever you want.

S: I think that means you are giving this book a very strong endorsement. Is that correct?

C: Yes. I think it is a pretty awesome Star Wars book. Any bunny who loves Star Wars would love it, too.

S: I can see that! So describe it to me in three words then.

C: Star Wars facts. But that is not enough to describe all the awesomeness of the book.

S: Okay, how about “Star Wars awesomeness” then?

C: Sure, that works.

S: Okay Caramel, I think this is already a long enough review, and I can see you are itching to go back to reading your book, so let us wrap it up. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loves reading and rereading Ultimate Star Wars: New Edition, written by Adam Bray, Cole Horton, Patricia Barr, Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham, and Matt Jones, and recommends it to all other Star Wars fans, young and young-at-heart. — Caramel loves reading and rereading *Ultimate Star Wars: New Edition*, written by Adam Bray, Cole Horton, Patricia Barr, Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham, and Matt Jones, and recommends it to all other Star Wars fans, young and young-at-heart.

Marshmallow reviews Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Marshmallow has reviewed the first two books of the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs. (Her review of the first book is here: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, and here is her review of the second one: Hollow City.) Today she reviews the third book published in 2015: Library of Souls.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about magic and friendship, and if you enjoyed the first two books of the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): First off, let me say that the story in this book starts where the second book, Hollow City, ended. And that book was a direct continuation of the first book: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. So you need to have read those two books (or at least read my reviews of them) before reading any further. Once you are ready, please do read on.

Jacob Portman recently discovered that he can not only see the monsters that have been plaguing him and his peculiar friends, but also track, control, and talk to them. These evil monsters (called hollows) consume the souls of peculiar children to transform into wights who look human except that they have all-white eyeballs. Both hollows and wights have been working to steal the souls of peculiar children for a long time, to regain their own humanity which they lost in a failed experiment for immortality. Leading his friends on a quest to save the peculiar people from those trying to destroy them, Jacob must first rescue their caretaker Miss Peregrine.

With the help of his friend / love interest, Emma Bloom, Jacob learns that the monsters are trying to break into the legendary Library of Souls. This supposedly non-existent place was rumored to be where the souls of peculiars went after death. Rather like a library, a peculiar would “check out” a soul when they were born, and give it back when they died. But if someone entered this library, they could potentially take the souls and gain more power.

Clearly the stakes are much higher than they realized. Jacob must rescue his friends and reunite with allies if they wish to defeat these monsters.

Marshmallow is reading Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. — Marshmallow is reading *Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children* by Ransom Riggs.

Marshmallow’s Review: Taking the peculiar world to a new level of weird, Ransom Riggs introduces new nuances in this book. I really liked how much Library of Souls added to the world of peculiardom. With these new details, the world of peculiar children felt much more realistic. The characters also developed more.

This seems to have been written as the final book of a trilogy, though I believe the author has written three more in this same world. I felt a little unsatisfied by the ending and felt that this wasn’t exactly an end. The main storyline resolves well, but in terms of character development, it did not feel completely finished. The relationship between the protagonist and Emma Bloom in particular is not settled, and there is still a need for continuation. So I wouldn’t say that this is a final end to the series, rather the end of a part of the story.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading Library of Souls and look forward to reading the next books in the series.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 96%.

Marshmallow rates Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 96%. — Marshmallow rates *Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children* by Ransom Riggs 96%.

Caramel reviews 5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals) by National Geographic Kids

Caramel loves facts about robots, space ships, and science. He also loves facts about animals. Today he reviews a beautiful book published by National Geographic Kids: 5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals). As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I see you are rereading 5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals).

Caramel: Yes. You know five thousand is a big number.

S: So are there really that many facts in the book?

C: Yes.

S: And have you really read them all already?

C: Yes.

S: So why are you rereading then?

C: Because I like rereading. These are all really cool facts.

S: Really? So tell me one from that page you are looking at now.

C: This page is called “75 Facts about Coral Reef Animals”. And here is a neat fact: Sea horses don’t have stomachs! It’s so weird!

S: How do they eat then?

C: I don’t know. The book doesn’t tell.

S: Well, let’s see. This National Geographic for Kids website says “Seahorses use their tube-shaped snouts like powerful vacuums to scoop up hundreds of tiny meals in a single day. These fish don’t have true stomachs, just a digestive tube, so they need to eat all day to get their nutrients.”

C: Oh, that explains it, very interesting!

S: So I guess the book tells you neat tidbits, but you might need to look elsewhere for more explanations.

C: Yes, but these are really cool tidbits. Here is another one: some moray eels have two sets of jaws. The second one is hidden inside their throats.

S: That is weird!

C: Yes. It’s kind of like they have a second mouth in their throats.

S: So it seems like the facts are organized into groups. And each two-page spread is about a particular group of animals. Right?

C: More or less. But the groups are not always types of animals. Sometimes it is about where they live, like those 75 facts about coral reef animals. And then there are 35 facts about gorillas, and you took my photo when I was looking at that page.

S: Yes, let me post that photo right here:

Caramel is reading 5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals) by National Geographic Kids. — Caramel is reading *5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals)* by National Geographic Kids.

C: There are fact collections about animals living in the Himalayas, about dogs, about animals in books and movies. And so on. It is all pretty awesome!

S: I guess the title makes sense then.

C: Yes.

S: Did you see on the back cover that there are a couple other volumes in this same series called 5000 Awesome Facts?

C: Yes, there is a book called 5000 Awesome Facts About Everything, another called 5000 Awesome Facts About Everything 2, and there is a third one: 5000 Awesome Facts About Everything 3.

S: Those sound neat too. But I know you really like animals and books about animal facts.

C: Yep. And I already reviewed many such books. Maybe you can put a link to some of them?

S: Sure. Here are some: The Magnificent Book of Animals by Val Walerczuk and Tom Jackson, The Magnificent Book of Ocean Creatures by Val Walerczuk and Tom Jackson, Pangolins by Lisa Fanton, Sea Bunnies by Kelly Hargrave, Glow Animals by K.C. Kelley. And then there are a couple books you reviewed about dinosaurs. But then you already know quite a lot about animals. I’m surprised you found new things in this book.

C: Yes. Actually almost all of them were things I did not know.

S: That makes sense Caramel. You know a lot, but the world is so much bigger, so there is always more to learn.

C: Yep.

S: So how would you describe this book in three words?

C: Colorful, factful, animalful.

S: Hmm, not sure that last one is a real word, but I’ll let it be. What do you want to tell our readers as we wrap this review up?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loves reading 5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals) by National Geographic Kids and will continue to enjoy this beautiful book for many years to come. — Caramel loves reading *5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals)* by National Geographic Kids and will continue to enjoy this beautiful book for many years to come.

Marshmallow reviews Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

Marshmallow enjoys reading fiction and most often reviews works of fiction for our blog. But this week she decided to write about Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities, first written in 2004 and then republished with a new foreword and an afterword in 2016.

Marshmallow reviews Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit. — Marshmallow reviews *Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities* by Rebecca Solnit.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like nonfiction books that discuss current events, or if you are worried about the future because of said current events, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Rebecca Solnit goes over several depressing events of the recent years with a new perspective. She defines hope, not as optimism, but as the acknowledgment of possibilities for a better world. The author carefully analyzes the past and the present to demonstrate how hope is intertwined with action. Her rousing book encourages readers to keep sight of a brighter future, within reason. Diverging from the common conceptions of hope, this book presents a stronger, newer perspective:

Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act.

Simply put, hope is not naive optimism but rather the ability to see the possibilities in the uncertainties that surround us and the capacity to act accordingly.

Citing recent events, famous people, and writers of old, Rebecca Solnit builds her case as to why hope is so relevant and important to our modern world. In each of her twenty-one short chapters, she focuses on a different aspect of hope and how we should nurture it. In the end, she builds a solid argument for why there is always hope, even in the darkest times.

Marshmallow is reading Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit. — Marshmallow is reading *Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities* by Rebecca Solnit.

Marshmallow’s Review: In these deeply troubled times, hope is difficult to find. This book is refreshing to read as it does not offer any easy solutions or fake comfort; rather it states clearly that things are not going to work out the way we want them to unless we start making changes. With clear evidence and reasoning, the author proves with finality that we are not inevitably doomed (the key word being “inevitably”).

This is a book that we should all read, though it might be a little advanced or confusing for younger bunnies. The clarity with which the author presents her position helps the reader engage effectively with her ideas. The flow of thought is easy to follow, and the chapters all have several ideas and concrete examples relevant to the main topic (hope).

Originally, I read this book for a project concerning hope. This book not only proved itself to be an invaluable resource for evidence, quotes, and ideas for my project, but also was a source of inspiration more broadly for life in a dark world. I found it wise that the author, Rebecca Solnit, never says it will get better. This specifically, I felt, was not just a sound decision, but also a main theme throughout the course of the book. If anything, I found this book to be a call to action— what this action must be, however, is more difficult to perceive. Yet, this book was extremely helpful to read, as it served as a reminder that we have the potential and opportunity to improve our world.

In this short book review, I hope I have done more than just inform you about a book I have read. I hope that I have also pointed you towards a refreshing idea, a new perspective, that I think can be both informative and beneficial for everyone.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 99%.

Marshmallow rates Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit 99%. — Marshmallow rates *Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities* by Rebecca Solnit 99%.