Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About BlackRaven

CBR10 participant
CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR14 Participant
CBR14 Bingo Badges
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR17 Comments
CBR17 Levels

I am a Professional Book Pusher. Reading is a passion, as is writing, bragging about nephews, and alligator wrestling. My first year participating was 2018. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: BlackRaven's Quick Questions interview.)

BlackRaven's Reviews:

“Actually though, uh…. I do need to use the bathroom after all.” 

Orchard of the Tame by Marlo Meekins

by Leave a Comment

The title of my review of Orchard of the Tame by Marlo Meekins and Nick Cross is that line from the book because it is funny and a counter to the rest of the book. There are several good one-liners here and there, but overall, the story is dark. Even sometimes physically, as the illustrations are all black with just some white spots. Or this could be because it was an online reader copy (by the time I publish this review, it should be available). […]

Dogs slobber! They smell! They POOP! And they bark!

Dog Trouble by Kristin Varner

by Leave a Comment

Dog Trouble by Kristin Varner came up in my older online reader copies. I was at first not thinking I would read as I am a cat, not dog person, and the cover made me think I knew what was going to happen (a lot of chasing rowdy dogs that really aren’t cute but annoying and a kid who doesn’t “get” the seriousness of things). But it was more than that. At first things felt like “all the other books” about separated and/or divorced families […]

Finding home

Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Marina Julia

by Leave a Comment

Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Marina Julia was not what I expected. In many ways it was better, but also maybe not as strong as I had hoped. It was an interesting mixture of thoughts, feelings, actions and events. So much is going on, but nothing is ever really “perfectly” solved. Which is the point. There might not be a Happily Ever After, but you can get a Happy (Most of the Time) Together.  The artwork is simple, but full at the same time. The […]

La Brea Tar Pits: The Undercover investigation

Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits by Joyce Uglow

by Leave a Comment

While the text was a bit academic, it also has some poetic tone to the writing of Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits. Joyce Uglow presents the theme of death in the tar pit in a tasteful manner. Overall things are well done, educational and adapted for multiple ages. Perhaps it is not the “best book ever,”  but it is a solid science book. Uglow and Valerya Milovanova (the illustrator) created a younger looking (at first glance) story about how things over the […]

Taverns have ale flowing, wenches are wenching and pirates pirating.

Sea of Thieves by Jeremy Whitley

Sea of Thieves: Origins Volume One by Jeremy Whitley

Sea of Thieves: Origins: Champion of Souls by Jeremy Whitley

by Leave a Comment

I started with Sea of Thieves: Sea Dog’s Search illustrated by Rhoald Marcellius. Though it says it has issues one to three, it was actually after the no added title, Sea of Thieves. We meet our main pirate twins, their friends, frenemies and a possible lover or two or three…. Here we build up the story of all the characters we find in the second book (or the main ones) and we learn about a few creatures and events. However, you needed Sea of Thieves: […]

This story is “…not (about) my race, not the color of my skin, we’re talking about my economic class, my lack of privilege and my big ole brain.” But it is about race for privilege….and advantage and…. well you know

Chupacabra: Tales Of Blood & Ink by Matthew Medney, Kyle Faehnrich

by Leave a Comment

Chupacabra: Tales Of Blood & Ink by Matthew Medney, Kyle Faehnrich and editor Steve Orlando is a horror graphic novel for older readers. It has a strong aged 15/16 and up tone, but also reads quickly. The violence is not subtle, but not necessarily gratuitous either. Yet, there are places that sometimes went for the, “Ooooh-kaaay, what was that?” and “WHY was that?” It has a typical graphic novel/comic look. It is dark, crowded, sometimes the action blends in and can’t be easily “read” or […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo