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:

The Dramatic Story of How Cup Noodle Came to Be

Project X Challengers: Cup Noodle by Tadashi Katoh

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Sadly this book is out of print and completely unavailable, which is a shame (the one copy I could find for sale is $87, so unless you’re so moved by my review that you’re willing to pay that, this is out of reach for most people). I luckily got this copy back when it first came out in 2006 and it’s a cult classic for me that I re-read every few years. Project X Challengers: Cup Noodle tells the dramatic story of how Cup Noodle was […]

A Great First (Long) Book in a (Long) Series

City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams

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After carrying this book around from apartment to apartment for thirteen years, I finally made it beyond the first hundred pages and have finished the first book in the quartet. At this pace, I should be done in about 39 more years, so there’s hope! I think this really is a case of a book needing to be read at the right time. With a long train commute and a sudden urge to read Tad Williams, the stars aligned. City of Golden Shadow is set in […]

“You can bid your parents farewell without forgiving them. You don’t have to love them.”

A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad's an Alcoholic by Mariko Kikuchi

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The translation of autobiographical manga has been a wonderful side effect of the overall boom in popularity of manga/anime. The original manga boom in the early 2000s overlooked memoir, but as the market has matured and the comics boom has entered a new phase, memoir is finally being translated in the US, which is a real treat for me. A Life Turned Upside Down is a very sad and graphic memoir that explores the impact of having an alcoholic father, especially when everyone around the child […]

“Over her golden yard and the glittering hills beyond, into the darkness of the trees…”

Golden Age by Jane Smiley

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***Spoilers throughout*** Well, I finished this trilogy and this was a better book than the second one. I think because Smiley starts killing people off in this one, the cast feels less unwieldy and more focused. This book is more of a victory lap in terms of drawing everyone’s narratives to a close. I again had the issue that such dramatic things happen to these people that it feels unrealistic and kept taking me out of the narrative. Any time I spend most of the […]

Another Delightful Middle-Grade Graphic Novel Wins My Heart

Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright

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Twins is a fun read and one I have now owned two copies of, so I am hanging on to this one so I don’t have to buy a third! Maureen and Francine have always been together in the same class but now, as they enter middle school, they’ve been separated in all but two classes. Maureen, who is shyer, wants them to be in the same classes, but Francine seems thrilled to have time away from her twin. Maureen also has the added misery of […]

“Doing something even though I was scared felt kind of amazing.”

Just Roll With It by Veronica Agarwal and Lee Durfey-Lavoie

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I really loved this book and I hope it ends up getting the recognition it deserves. Just Roll With It follows Maggie during her first year of middle school as she makes new friends and gets involved with the D&D/role playing club. The main reason I got this book is that it’s a realistic and careful portrayal of OCD and anxiety, which made it a very relatable read. Both of the creators have struggled with mental health and I think it really adds to the realism […]



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