Rainy Days With Amanda

 I have been wanting to read My Little Monster for a long time now. I watched the anime series (that was never completed) sometime when I first got my Netflix subscription. Since we never received a proper ending, I have wanted to watch the conclusion on Haru and Shizuku and the crew. I bought a couple of the manga volumes but have always seemed to put other manga ahead of it. The latter part of 2022, I decided to go through it all and I've finally finished it so here are my thoughts. About the Mangaka (Author) Before we get into my thoughts, let's take a look at our mangaka, Robico. Robico is our authors pen name, and her name is uncertain at this point. Robico attended vocational school with the thought of becoming an illustrator. In 2005, Robico made her debut with Demekinikku published in the May edition of the shojo magazine Dessert . She then went on to create My Little Monster in 2008 where it was serialized in Dessert until 2013 . About the Manga Shizuku Mizutani is a

    “SO SORRY FOR  YOUR LOSS” by Dina Gachman Grief & Bereavement / Love & Loss / Parenting & Relationships Publisher: Union Square & Co. Page Count: 240 pages Publication Date: April 11, 2023 Scroll down for a giveaway! A heartfelt exploration about what it means to process grief, by a bestselling author and journalist whose experience with two devastating losses inspired her to bring comfort and understanding to others. Since losing her mother to cancer in 2018 and her sister to alcoholism less than three years later, author and journalist Dina Gachman has dedicated herself to understanding what it means to grieve, healing after loss, and the ways we stay connected to those we miss. Through a mix of personal storytelling, reporting, and insight from experts and even moments of humor, Gachman gives readers a fresh take on grief and bereavement—whether the loss is a family member, beloved pet, or a romantic relationship. No one wants to join the grief club, since membe

    THE GOLD ROSE by Jodi Lea Stewart Historical Fiction / WWII / Action & Drama / International Mystery Publisher: Progressive Rising Phoenix Press Date of Publication: February 21, 2023 Number of Pages: 372 pages  Scroll down for Giveaway! Since the early 1940s, THE GOLD ROSE, a secret rescue agency with Asian origins, has used unique systems to ferret out and save victims in every corner of the world. Charlotte Hunt-Basse has faced dangerous and often deadly challenges in her decade as an agent with the agency, not the least of which was the past rescues of two of her assignments, Pinkie and Babe. Two-year-old Pinkie is discovered abandoned on a dirt road during a violent storm. She is whisked off to Mexico by oil heir Clint Sutton and his girlfriend, Angelina, as they attempt to escape the lies of Clint's father's second wife. Three years later, Pinkie is stolen away to Argentina by an aging Romani. Pinkie suffers from the malice of her captor but wins the fatherly l

 I have been wanting to read Middlesex for a while now. It's one of those books that I've heard is a good read but not really anything about the plot, the characters, or the author, except for the fact that it's about a male born intersex. I've always been intrigued but as books came and went from my shelf, I remembered and unremembered this book until I remembered it one day at work and told my good friend and former co-worker that I wanted to read it and she gave me her copy. So here goes my thoughts and insights into this Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.  About the Author Jeffrey Ken Eugenides is an American novelist and short story writer who has written numerous short stories, essays, and a few novels including The Virgin Suicides , Middlesex , and The Marriage Plot . In 2018, Eugenides joined New York University's Creative Writing Program as a tenured full professor and the Lewis and Loretta Glucksman Professor in American Letters.

  SWEET COMFORT Comfort and Joy Trilogy, #1 by KIMBERLY FISH Women's Fiction / Later-In-Life Romance Second-Chance Romance /  Cozy Mystery Publisher: Fish Tales Page Count: 359 pages Publication Date: January 21, 2023 Scroll down for a giveaway! Welcome to the hometown everyone wants to call their own. Gloria Bachman, a retired bank executive, has eight weeks to flip a location on Comfort’s High Street into a boutique chocolate shop. Defying expectations for “women of a certain age,” Gloria rediscovers talents and a sharpening of skills. If only she could read people as well as she does a spreadsheet. Even with the renovation in good hands, the subsequent struggle to name the shop brings Gloria and her business partner into conflict with a shady citizen. While Gloria is capable of remaining in her retirement rut while opening a business, two competing social groups try to lure her into their networks, causing Gloria to wonder if she ever knew Comfort at all. A murder rocks the com

 Hi Ya'll! Im back with another Liane Moriarty book. I think I have read almost all her books now, but maybe have 1 or 2 more books to read from her for now. But I went to the trusty Half Price Books and found a copy of What Alice Forgot , which I had read the summary of a while ago, but chose to read another one of her books instead. Now, months, maybe even a couple of years later, I finally read What Alice Forgot and I'm here to tell you my thoughts, per use.  About the Author Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of eight internationally best-selling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist’s Love Story, Nine Perfect Strangers and the number one New York Times bestsellers: The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and sold more than 20 million copies.  About the Book Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So i

    BRUTAL SEASON The Seasons Mysteries Series #4 BY MARYANN MILLER NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! Police Procedural / Mystery Publisher: MCM Enterprises Coming April 10, 2023 Scroll down for Giveaway! Eighteen-year-old Jamel Frederickson is shot and killed by a white, rookie Dallas police officer. His crime? Being black and mentally ill. Following that unwarranted death, anger, and violence erupts on the streets, leading to the murders of two protestors who were marching around the downtown federal building. Detectives Sarah Kingsly and Angel Johnson are thrust into the investigation of those murders, while desperately clinging to the threads of their partnership. The shootings also raise questions about whether the alt-right white supremacists that invaded the city with their guns and inflammatory rhetoric are responsible. Will more people get killed? Is there more than one person out there with an agenda? When a member of the team, Ryan O’Donnell, is shot while attempting to prevent

 This is technically not a manga and it's more of an illustrated story that's not exactly for children, but I'm going to put it under my Manga Monday category anyways. I found this book while I was wandering around Books-a-Million in Arkansas and when I saw "Miyazaki" on the book I knew I needed this so that I could read it and claim it as part of my Studhio Ghibli collection. Now, this book was made 2 years before Studhio Ghibli was founded and it came to be the only illustrated story that Miyazaki ever published. Without further-or-do, let's get into this beautifully tragic gem.  About the Author  Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. He is a co-founder of Studio Ghibli where he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished filmmakers in the history of animation.   About the Book   Shuna's Journey is a one-volume watercolo

  Murder’s Legacy A Tori Winters Mystery, Book 2 By Anita Dickason   NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER ! Mystery / Women Sleuths Publisher: Mystic Circle Books Coming February 16, 2023   Scroll down for Giveaway!     Secrets that defy time! An inconceivable disaster brings Tori Winters’s plans for the historic house she inherited to a traumatic standstill. A section of the escape tunnel built by her great-grandfather, a notorious Dallas gangster, has collapsed. Within the rubble, there is a gruesome discovery. A skeleton with a bullet hole in the skull. The shocking cave-in triggers an ominous scheme to condemn her property as accusations arise that the tunnel is dangerous. Embattled, Tori soon discovers that more than the destruction of the house is on the line. It seems she can’t escape the past. It keeps clawing its way into her life with deadly consequences. Who hides in the shadows with a motive for murder? And … is Tori the target?   CLICK TO PRE-ORDER!