I'm a librarian who loves anime, manga, and reading a wide variety of genres.
This was sweet. It had the same bones as the original movie, but parts of it were pretty different. There were fewer Totoro scenes, Mei and Satsuki took a trip back to the city at one point, and the final Catbus scene was a little different. I still prefer the movie, but I appreciated the more fleshed out bits (the history of the family's new home, Satsuki adjusting to life in the country, etc.). And Kanta was somehow even more adorable in the book than he was in the movie.
Halloween Bingo: I'm using this for the Terror in a Small Town square, which amuses me to no end. Totoro, the Catbus, and the soot sprites give the story its supernatural elements, and nearly the entire thing takes place in a small rural community.