Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About GentleRain

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Your jack of all trades eccentric. Knows a little about a lot and a lot about a little. Tends to mainly read non-fiction (history, true crime, old gossip, etc), SF/F, horror, graphic novels, "genre" books. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: GentleRain's Quick Questions interview.)

GentleRain's Reviews:

“When we were growing up, our parents wouldn’t buy us things, so we worked hard and now we can: buy all volumes of manga, buy toys in bulk, buy DVD box sets”

Insufficient Direction by Moyoco Anno

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Insufficient Direction is a humorous autobiographical manga by Moyoco Anno, the wife of Hideaki Anno, who direction Neon Genesis Evangelion. Moyoco is a manga artist and this book chronicles their life together. The main theme is that Hideaki is a huge otaku and Moyoco is trying to remain normal but keeps getting sucked deeper and deeper into an otaku lifestyle. It’s interesting reading this from the 2024 viewpoint of the nerds having taken over the earth and casting my mind back to when being a nerd […]

“Moving is like a save point. You can do whatever you want and then reset afterwards like it never happened.” — Another Perfect Book By Gale Galligan!

Fresh Start by Gale Galligan

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I am a very big fan of Gale Galligan and am a member of their Patreon, so I’ve been eagerly anticipating this book for quite a while and enjoying all of the behind the scenes process information. It’s really fun and at the same time sobering to see all of the work that goes into making a book — doing the pitch, the script, page layouts and thumbnails, pencils, inks, colors (by K Czap, who always crushes it), editing, the cover — I always take […]

“My name is Maruru. Due to certain circumstances, I’m living my life as a stray.”

Cat Companions Maru and Hachi (Volume 1) by Yuri Sonoda

Cat Companions Maru and Hachi (Volume 2) by Yuri Sonoda

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Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi is a deceptively cute portrayal of the life and death struggles that street cats endure. Maruru is a purebred house cat who runs out of his house to chase sparrows and can’t find his way back home. Life as a stray cat is full of dangers that he did not expect, from the near impossibility of getting food and clean drinking water to trying to keep from freezing to death in the winter. He runs across an experienced street cat, […]

“We are no longer human. We live in the darkness.”

Bite Marks and Fluorite by Seno Yanase

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This seemed like it would be right up my alley — BL! Vampires! The somewhat dystopian future of 2096! — but something about it was not working for me although I think I will still keep it for my collection for now. Haru works at a clothing boutique and one night on his bike ride home, he tries to help a man who’s about to be attacked. The man has to turn him into a vampire to save him. Before you become a full-fledged vampire, […]

“That was the entire horror of it. But I didn’t know how to explain that.”

Sea Legs by Jules Bakes and Niki Smith

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This was a random find at the bookstore, which is why I’m such a proponent of wandering around and checking the sections I like once a month or so. You never know! Sea Legs is a middle grade graphic memoir that details Janey’s life on board her parents’ schooner. When the book opens, they’ve spent some time in Florida saving up money so they can start traveling again. Janey has enjoyed being in place long enough to go to school and has made a best […]

“You’re a creep. And to be honest, you kinda like being a creep…Don’t you?” — Phantom of the Opera YA Graphic Novel Romance Retelling!

Please Be My Star by Victoria Grace Elliott

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Please Be My Star is a YA romance retelling of Phantom of the Opera, with Erika being a shy, self-described creepy teenage girl and Christian being a handsome popular guy. Erika has moved to a new school and decides she wants to write and direct a one act play as part of the One-Act Stage Festival. She ends up with Christian, handsome, charming, and upright, as the star of her play. He’s enthusiastic about the role and his friends join as actors and tech for […]



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