Tag: recap

For the last couple years, at the end of the year, we have been doing a New-Year-ish thing of talking about all the books we have read through that year. (You can find our recap of 2022 here, and here is our recap of 2023.) This year, we continue this new tradition and take a look at our reviews for 2024.

[2024 saw the bunnies read and review many books, both new and classic. You can find a full list here.]

Sprinkles: So maybe this year, we can start with Marshmallow.

Marshmallow: Sure. I have reviewed many, many books this year. I liked all of them, but there are a couple that I really, really, really liked. But maybe we can begin with the series I read and enjoyed.

S: Makes sense to me.

M: The first series I started this year was the famous Hunger Games series. Here are my reviews of the three main books:  The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. And here is my review of The Hunger Games: The Illustrated Edition. I had never read these books before and quickly learned exactly why they are so revered. I was also shocked by how deep some of the themes were (family and friendship of course, but also lessons about the impacts of war, greed, violence, trauma, and poverty). This is an amazing series (I love it!) I would recommend to all reasonably mature bunnies (maybe like 12 and up?)

S: Yes, I remember how much you were affected by those books.

S: What about the other series you started this year?

M: Another series I began to read this year was the Powerless series. Here is my review of the first book: Powerless. And here is my review of the second one: Reckless. Unfortunately, not all of the books are out yet, so I am looking forward to reading and reviewing the last (?) book of this series next year. This is hands-down my favorite YA fantasy-romance series. I generally find this genre to lean too much into romance, but this series maintains the perfect balance. I would 100% recommend this book to all interested readers (YA probably), especially those who have been wronged by the ridiculous amount of romance infiltrating the YA fantasy section.

S: I still have not gotten around to reading those books, but I know you have really enjoyed them. So maybe they should go on my 2025 reading list.

M: Maybe they should! The third series I have begun this year is the Enola Holmes series. I originally presumed these books to be easy and basic because the cover was not what I would characterize as a serious, intriguing mystery would look like. However, these books really take you to an entirely new time period, and the adventures of Enola Holmes never fail to excite, delight, and inspire.

S: You have only read and reviewed three of the books though, right?

M: Yes. So far, I have only read and reviewed The Case of the Missing Marquess, The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, and The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets.

S: So you might be reading and reviewing a few more in 2025?

M: Yes, I sure hope so.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, maybe you can tell us a bit about your favorite series from this year.

Caramel: Why not? I read more Spy School books this year and finished that series. So I read Spy School Project X, Spy School Goes North, and the last one in the series, Spy School Goes Wild, which was published this year. I also read the graphic novel version of the third book: Evil Spy School: The Graphic Novel. And I loved them all!

S: That is neat! So you have continued with a well-loved series this year. But you also discovered and read a couple other series this year, too.

C: Yes, I read all the Artemis Fowl books! Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code, Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception, Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox, Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex, and Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian.

S: I think you really enjoyed reading about this evil boy genius and his adventures!

C: Yes, but he is no longer evil, remember?

S: Oh, yes, I do remember that.

C: I also read the Tristan Strong books: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky,  Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching. I also read  the graphic novel adaptation of the first book.

S: I remember those.

C: But I think my most favorite recent series is the Nathan Hale books! I did not finish those. I only reviewed One Dead Spy, Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, and The Underground Abductor. And I loved them all.

S: Because they put together a few things you like. History, graphic novel format, humor-

C: Yes, what is there not to like? But there are many more books in the series, and I really hope to continue with those in 2025. And of course you know that my all-time favorite series is still Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire?

S: How can I forget?

C: I got to read and review two books from that series too, this year. I reviewed the graphic novel version of Winter Turning (Book Seven of Wings of Fire) and Wings of Fire: A Guide to the Dragon World. And I am still hoping she will write more books for the series some day…

S: I know. One can only hope.

C: And let us not forget that I also read Narwhal’s Sweet Tooth by Ben Clanton this year. That is also a book from a series I love.

S: Yes, that is true. and you loved that one, too!

C: Yep.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, you have read many other books this year. Maybe you can tell us about the highlights. Maybe we can begin with the fiction?

Marshmallow: Sure. I read a lot of fiction this year, as always. And some of the books I read were really good. I really liked Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, for example. I also really liked Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng though I think I still am taken more by Our Missing Hearts from the same author, which I had read last year. And I think the most impactful one for me was the classic, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

S: You have also read several graphic novels this year. What can you tell me about those?

M: I found Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman to be very compelling. It tells of a harrowing time in recent history, and the book is really impactful. I also read Evil Eyes Sea by Özge Samancı a few graphic novel adaptations of various myths, for example, The Iliad: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, The Odyssey: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, and Beowulf: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, all by Gareth Hinds. But I think besides Maus, the graphic novel I read this year that I liked most was Sapiens – A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, David Vandermeulen, and Daniel Casanave.

Sprinkles: So Caramel how about you? Which books of fiction did you enjoy reading most this year, other than those that belong to the series we talked about already?

Caramel: Well, we forgot to talk about The One and Only Ruby and The One and Only Family, both by Katherine Applegate. Those are good books I read and they belong to a series but maybe we can mention them now?

S: Sure. I agree. Those were lovely books.

C: I also really liked Watership Down: The Graphic Novel by Richard Adams, James Sturm, and Joe Sutphin.

S: That was s more recent one, and I know you are still rereading that.

C: Yup. And I also read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and that was fun, too.

S: Yes, I think those books are really funny.

Sprinkles: You have also read many nonfiction books this year, right, Caramel?

Caramel: Yup. I read Warhammer 40000: Core Book and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Core Rulebook for example. And you know I liked them!

Sprinkles: Of course! And Marshmallow, how about you?

Marshmallow: Yes. I read Slow Productivity by Cal Newport, The Illustrated Happiness Trap by Russ Harris and Bev Aisbett, Guinness World Records 2024, We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, How to Speak Emoji by Fred Benenson, Philographics: Big Ideas in Simple Shapes by Genís Carreras, and An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi.

S: This might be the most nonfiction you have reviewed, Marshmallow!

M: True. And I have to say I appreciated all of them. I in particular enjoyed Slow Productivity, Guinness World Records 2024, We Should All Be Feminists, and How to Speak Emoji.

Sprinkles: We also all read many books of, or about poetry. Right?

Marshmallow: Actually, I read only The Lost Words: A Spell Book by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, but I really loved it. It is a beautiful book! And the poems in it are poignant and touching.

Caramel: I think I also only read one poetry book, and it was This is a Poem That Heals Fish by Jean-Pierre Siméon and Olivier Tallec. I did really like it though. But wait. I also read The Red Book by Barbara Lehman, which was kind of like poetry, except that it had no words!

S: You are right! Maybe I read more poetry this year, and that is what I was thinking. And among all those I read, I only reviewed one book, a family favorite: A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson and Tasha Tudor.

Sprinkles: I also read and reviewed several children’s books about puberty. There were so many and those were all split between girl books and boy books, that I needed to have two reviews for them.

Marshmallow: We read most of those books, too, but I am glad you were the one who ended up reviewing them.

Caramel: I did peek into some of them, but I agree with Marshmallow, that it was good that you were the one who had to review them.

S: But all in all, we all read quite a lot of good, fun, and informative books this year, right?

M: And thought-provoking!

C: Yep. And I think we will be reading a lot more books next year!

M: But first, we have our month off!

S: Yes, we will take the month of January off.

C: And we are all really happy about that!

S: Well, we will continue to read, and we will get back to reviewing them in a month. And till then we just take a short break.

C: We deserve it!

M: Everyone deserves a break. And we are lucky to get one!

S: True. Okay, so what do you want to tell our readers Marshmallow?

M: I want to say: Happy new year everyone! We wish you a happy hoppy new year in 2025!

S: With lots of good books and many friends, old and new!

C: Yes! And stay tuned for more book bunny reviews, coming to you in February 2025!

At the end of last year, we decided to try something new and New-Year-ish and talk about all the books we had read through 2022. This year, we continue this new tradition and take a look at our reviews for 2023.

[2023 saw the bunnies read and review many books, both new and classic. You can find a full list here.]

Sprinkles: Again, it is probably easiest for me to go over my reviews first, because as usual, I reviewed much fewer books than the two of you. I did enjoy all the books I reviewed though.

First, in October, I reviewed two children’s books about the mathematician Emmy Noether. This was right after the time I saw the one-woman play about her life, so I was very excited to talk about Noether and her life. I think my favorite among the two was Emmy Noether: The Most Important Mathematician You’ve Never Heard Of, written by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Kari Rust, and published in 2020. Rust’s illustrations are cute and sharp at the same time, and the cartoonish detractors of Noether are shown humorously while the severity of Noether’s challenges is not minimized. The math and physics connections of her work are explained with precise terms in what is still a totally comprehensible language, and the illustrations support these descriptions. All in all, I thought this was a neat book to introduce young people to Noether and her life.

Then in November, I reviewed Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and Susan Jeffers, a beautiful picture book that takes the reader along for a ride through the woods of Robert Frost’s famous poem. I love this book and I love the poem, so it all worked out.

By the way I’d love to review more poetry books for young bunnies, so if any of our readers know of any, please send us your suggestions.

Finally in late 2023, I also reviewed a book called My Unfurling by Lisa May Bennett. This was a different kind of book, engaging with rather adult themes, so I felt it would not necessarily fit our blog, but Nicole Pyles was kind enough to have me write a guest post for her blog, World of My Imagination.

Marshmallow: I also reviewed a book with some mature content this year. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel is a graphic novel, a growing-up story of sorts, but it deals with a lot of challenging issues, more so than your average growing-up story.

S: True. I also just finished reading this book, and you are right, I agree, the book has a lot of mature content. You also read a handful of books directed at students older than yourself.

M: Yes, true. I reread How to Be a High School Superstar and How to Become a Straight-A Student, both by Cal Newport. I thought maybe I could get some good ideas as the new school year got going.

S: Makes sense to me. Caramel, you also read about school this year.

Caramel: Well, but mine is all fiction. I began to read the Spy School books.

M: Those are great books!

C: Yes, they are.

S: You have gone through the series rather fast, haven’t you?

C: Yep.

S: I know there are two more books in the series that you need to review, but so far, you reviewed all of the first nine books. Which one is your favorite?

C: It is hard to say. They are all so good!

S: Say you were traveling and needed to take only one with you. Which one would you take?

C: I’m not sure. Can Marshmallow take one too?

S: Sure.

C: Then I’d take Evil Spy School and Spy School At Sea. Wait, no. I’d take Spy School: British Invasion and Spy School Revolution.

S: I can see it is not easy to decide.

C: No, it is not.

S: So was Spy School the most fun series you read this year?

C: Well, I did not really read a lot of other series this year. But I did read the Wayside School books, and those were fun too. Still Spy School books might be more fun.

S: I see. What else did you read this year that you liked?

C: I also read the new Wild Robot book, The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown, and the The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate. I liked both of those very much.

S: Among the books you read this year, I think my favorite was Robot Dreams by Sara Varon.

C: I liked that book a lot, too. Though it was kind of a sad book. I wish it had been happier.

S: I know Caramel. How about you Marshmallow? What were some of your favorites from this year?

M: Probably my favorite for this year was Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. I thought it was very moving and all around a great book. I also really enjoyed reading And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I mean, I did not find it very comfortable as I was reading it because it got very tense, but once I was done, I could see that it was extremely well constructed.

S: She is good, isn’t she?

M: Yep. She is a classic, you could say!

S: You also read a few other classics this year, right?

M: Yes. I read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. They were both very good. I can see why they became classics.

S: Agreed!

M: I also read The Adventures of Tintin: The Calculus Affair by Hergé, Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, which are also classics to an extent.

S: How did you like those books?

M: I liked them alright, but they were not my favorites. I mean, I was glad to have read them, but there were other books I liked more this year.

S: I see. You did read mostly fiction again this year. But you did read a few works of nonfiction. Which ones of those did you like?

M: Well, besides Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, I read another autobiographical graphic novel, Dare to Disappoint by Özge Samancı. I also read The Murder of Emmett Till by Karlos K. Hill and David Dodson and Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith, which were both historical graphic novels. Last but not the least, I read and reviewed Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia by Gary Russell and The Secret Life of a Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht.

S: This might be the most fiction you have ever reviewed till now!

M: It really might. And I liked all of these books.

S: That sounds like a good year to me!

S: How about you Caramel? Which nonfiction books did you like most?

C: Well, this year I read and reviewed The Cult of LEGO by John Baichtal and Joe Meno, Star Wars: Complete Vehicles – New Edition, Easy Aircraft Origami by Jayson Merrill, Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles by Landry Q. Walker, Animated Science: Periodic Table by Shiho Pate and John Farndon, Invented by Animals by Christiane Dorion and Gosia Herba, Make Your Own Press-Out Spaceships by David Hawcock, Weird But True! 350 Outrageous Facts (Book 6) by National Geographic Kids, and The Big Book of Amazing LEGO Creations With Bricks You Already Have by Sarah Dees. And they were all really really good.

S: I can see your pattern. Star Wars books, books about making planes and spaceships, books about animals and other facts, and books about LEGOs.

C: Yep. I guess I am that transparent.

S: It is not a bad idea to know what you like. But you also read two books that were sort of borderline between fiction and nonfiction. I am referring to How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion by Daniel H. Wilson and Oliver’s Great Big Universe by Jorge Cham.

C: Yes, those are also very factful books. But if we are looking at factful books, we have to include Narwhalicorn and Jelly and A Super Scary Narwhalloween by Ben Clanton, too.

S: You are right. How could I forget the Narwhal and Jelly books!

C: I don’t know Sprinkles. Maybe you are getting tired.

S: Maybe I am. We have been talking about books for a while now. And it is getting late. So shall we wrap up this wrap-up of the year?

M: Yes. I am getting really hungry!

S: Okay, let us do that then. All in all, this was a really good year with lots and lots of good books, wasn’t it?

C: Yep.

M: Definitely! And we will continue to read and review many many more in the new year!

S: But we are taking off for January, like we have been doing every year. We should definitely mention that.

C: But we will be back!

M: In February. With many more great book reviews!

S: So happy new year!

C: And stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!