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:

“Better to regret trying something than to regret never doing anything at all!” — Sweet High School Romances

Hoteri Hotette First Kiss by Coco Uzuki

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This is a very sweet volume of four short stories, each centering around high schoolers having their first kiss and first relationships. There is a nice variety of relationships offered here, from two shy nerds to a cool upperclassman and a serious girl in a calligraphy club. Each of them has to work their way through misunderstandings and nerves to get to the first kiss. I liked that after the first kiss, the continuing development of the relationships was shown and the importance of communication […]

“After more than a year here, I feel like I’ve seen what I needed to see.”

Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle

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This was a reread, as I’ve been doing a lot this week (going through bookshelves in your childhood home will do that to you). I enjoyed it and will keep it for the collection. I’ve read several of Guy Delisle’s travelogues and always like his point of view on things and the way he portrays his travels. I may not always agree with his conclusions or philosophy, but his clean linework and the way he interacts with the world make these volumes satisfying and thought […]

“I hope you’ll stay here a long time” — Heartwarming Victorian Historical Manga

Shirley by Kaoru Mori

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This is a sweet collection of manga short stories about maids during the Victorian era. Kaoru Mori’s art is so beautiful and fine that this is a delight to read. I love her eye for detail and emotion — I’m always a sucker for someone who can convey deep emotion in just a few lines, and she has that ability. I also appreciate her focus on historical details, as this era is in my zone of interest. This is fiction and has a gentle tone […]

Sometimes Books You Loved as a Teen Don’t Age Well

The Dead Boy Detectives by Jill Thompson

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I have very mixed feelings about this book upon rereading it as an adult. I remember loving this in high school and came across my old copy when I was home for the holidays. While this was written and illustrated by Jill Thompson, it is based off the Sandman characters by Neil Gaiman and he consulted on it. I’m not someone who will never read work by an author accused of awful crimes because I feel like it can better inform my understanding of the […]

“Demi-human, seek knowledge and grow wise.”

The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms by Nagabe

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First book of the year! This is a volume of short stories set in the same wizarding school for anthropomorphic animals (The Wizdom’s School of Wizarding). A long time ago, a wizard gave animals “the shape and intellect of a human,” creating demi-humans who now go to this wizarding school. The stories are all BL themed, although some of them just have a heavily flirty atmosphere or touch upon homoerotic themes instead of all of the characters ending up in romantic relationships. I enjoyed the […]

Final Reviews of the Year :)

Save Our Forest! by Nora Dasnes

Camp Prodigy by Caroline Palmer

Crush by Tegan Quin & Sara Quin (Words) and Tillie Walden (Art)

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It’s probably fitting for me to wrap up the year with another middle grade graphic novel review roundup, considering how many comics I read this year. This was a good reading year for me overall, even with the gap during the summer for all the academic article/textbook I had to do. I think I was able to lean into reading for pleasure and having less stress about what specifically I was reading, and as a result I read a lot of things that I enjoyed […]



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