Light a Penny Candle vs Nana: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Female friendship, Young women, Women, Friendship, Fiction
Light a Penny Candle
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As a child, Elizabeth White was sent from her war-torn London home to a safer life in the small Irish town of Kilgarret. It was there, in the crowded, chaotic O'Connor household, that she met Aisling-who would become…
Nana
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Publishers Weekly: Nana, Japan's most popular shojo (girl's) manga, is appearing in English for the first time. Nana Komatsu is a flaky young woman who's just emerged from an emotionally devastating affair with an…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Nana is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 11 for Light a Penny Candle.
- Nana has the widest readership — 787 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Light a Penny Candle | Nana | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.6 (787) |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (12) | 4.2 (100) |
| Google Books | 3.0 (2) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (299) | 4.5 (17) |
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Reception
| Light a Penny Candle | Nana | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 299 | 787 |
| Editions | 48 | 22 |
| Citations | 2 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 423 |
| Reading it now | — | 76 |
| Written reviews | — | 149 |
| Wikipedia attention | 329 | 22453 |
| Pages | 600 | 188 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Light a Penny Candle or Nana?
Nana has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Nana 4.5/5, Light a Penny Candle 4.4/5).
Which is shorter to read: Light a Penny Candle or Nana?
Nana is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Nana (188 pages, ≈ 3 h 29 m); Light a Penny Candle (600 pages, ≈ 11 h 07 m).
Which is harder to read: Light a Penny Candle or Nana?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Light a Penny Candle: Moderate; Nana: Light.
Have both books been made into films?
Light a Penny Candle: no film adaptation on record; Nana: 2 film adaptations.