BY: Megumi Morino
SERIES: 花野井くんと恋の病 [Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai] (#1)
RELEASES: January 24, 2023 by Kodansha Comics
GENRE: Romance
AGE RANGE: Teen
RATING: 2 out 5
SYNOPSIS: Hotaru doesn't need a boyfriend. But an act of kindness to a classmate going through a breakup opens a door she never thought to step through, in and everything begins to change... A sweet new shojo romance manga from the creator of Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty!

Hotaru is a 16-year-old high school first year who has always been ambivalent about love, preferring instead to have a lively life with her family and friends. So when she sees her schoolmate, Hananoi-kun, sitting in the snow after a messy, public breakup, she thinks nothing of offering to share her umbrella. But when he asks her out in the middle of her classroom the next day, she can't help but feel that her life is about to change in a big way...

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BY: Richard Paul Evans
SERIES: The Noel Collection (#1)
RELEASES: November 7, 2017 by Gallery Books
GENRE: Romance, Holiday Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction
AGE RANGE: Adult
RATING: 2 out 5
SYNOPSIS: Bestselling romance author Jacob Churcher hasn't been home for almost twenty years—not since his mentally ill mother kicked him out of the house when he was just sixteen. When a lawyer calls, days before Christmas, to inform him that his estranged mother has passed away and left her house to him, Jacob returns not just to settle the estate but to try and reconcile with the past and the pain and abuse he experienced as a child. Also, maybe cleaning out her house will be slightly less depressing than spending the holidays alone, watching re-runs of Christmas classics.

But as it turns out, the house holds more than just difficult memories, Jacob’s mother had become a hoarder and he must excavate through two decades worth of clutter. As Jacob digs through the detritus, like an archaeologist, he uncovers many puzzling items including a diary left by someone named Noel, a young woman he has no recollection of, who stayed with Jacob’s family during her pregnancy. That’s not the only echo from the past. Jacob has an unexpected visitor, Rachel, a woman looking for the mother who put her up for adoption thirty years before. United by their quest to make sense of the past and rewrite their futures, Jacob and Rachel begin a search for Noel. Along the way they find more than they possibly imagined, including grace, forgiveness and a chance at love.

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BY: Itaru Kinoshita (Story & Art), Shin-ichi Fujiwara (Research Consultant), John Neal (Translator)
SERIES: ディノサン [Dinosan] (#3)
RELEASES: September 5, 2023 by Seven Seas
GENRE: Science Fiction, Slice of Life
AGE RANGE: Teen
RATING: 4 out 5
SYNOPSIS: THE NEWBIE LOOKS FOR HER DINO HOME.

Suma Suzume, the newest keeper at struggling Enoshima Dinoland, has reached the end of her three-month orientation period. It’s time for a new challenge: working alongside each of the department heads to find her permanent place on the staff! First on the list is Igarashi Keisuke, and Suzume will learn what makes him tick as they care for the park’s pachycephalosaurs and stegosaurs.

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BY: Mitsu Izumi
SERIES: 圕の大魔術師 [Toshokan no Daimajutsushi] (#1)
RELEASES: July 9, 2019 by Kodansha Comics
GENRE: Adventure, Fantasy
AGE RANGE: Teen
RATING: 3 out 5
SYNOPSIS: A story about a poor boy swept away by a kind library mage and the (literal) magic of reading, Magus of the Library is a beautifully-drawn, spirited fantasy adventure, like a Fullmetal Alchemist for all ages! The Magic of the Written Word In the small village of Amun lives a poor boy named Theo. Theo adores books, but because of his pointed ears and impoverished life, he isn’t allowed to use the village library. As he endures the prejudice and hatred of the village, he dreams of going where such things don’t exist: Aftzaak, City of Books. But one day, Theo chances to meet a Kafna–a librarian who works for the great library of Aftzaak–and his life changes forever…

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BY: Ameko Kaerudo, Yorifuji (illustrator)
SERIES: The Elegant Courtly Life of the Tea Witch (#1)
RELEASES: December 31, 2024 by Titan Manga
GENRE: Fantasy
AGE RANGE: Teen
RATING: 2 out 5
SYNOPSIS:Come and read a manga that’s a cosy and comforting as a nice warm cup of tea! At the royal court, the weakest mage is the tea witch, who uses their powers to make tea for the noble lords and ladies… but Remy has some incredible powers that will result in all kinds of courtly intrigue! The first volume in a heart-warming and cosy ongoing series, The Elegant Courtly Life of a Tea Witch tells the tale of Remy, a lowly tea witch using her magic to brew the finest cuppa for the noble lords and ladies. All she really wants is a quiet life creating gorgeous displays for shop windows… but she’s slowly drawn into a world of intrigue as her incredible powers of transformation make her the gossip of the court… and the object of affection for a naïve princess!

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