Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

If it wasn’t for a gardening club, taxidermists, and friends, Joshua Tree National Park wouldn’t be

Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park by Lori Alexander

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Don’t get stuck by the lady known as the Cactus Queen! In Lori Alexander and Jenn Ely’s book Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park  we learn of a woman who loved the desert, its nature and who found a way to make it available for everyone by saving it.  I read this via an online reader copy, so I am assuming it will be a picture book size, but I really think everyone should read regardless of age or if the picture […]

Empress

Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World by Emma Southon

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Happy Women’s History Month! What better way to observe it than celebrating the most powerful woman in Roman history? I’ve read a lot of books on the Julio-Claudians recently and this is probably the best. Maybe not even “probably.” Emma Southon does a great job explaining how Agrippina’s life was the fabric that wove the narrative of the dynasty together. She was born the year after Augustus’ death and she died during the reign of her son, the last of the family line. She held […]

Don’t Let Your Midlife Crisis Ruin Your Children’s Lives

Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood

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When Suzanne’s parents tell her that their family is going to live on a boat and sail around the world, they sell it to her and everyone as the adventure of a lifetime. But the reality of it is much more grim, with constant instability and little care for the children’s education or futures. Talk about making your midlife crisis your children’s problem! Having seen an uptick of chatter online about parents gaming the homeschooling system to let their kids run wild, it was interesting […]

Your interviews into a graphic novel

Dear Body by Lea Bordier

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Sometimes working around books is a drawback. Oh sure, I’ve access to almost any book I want, but then again, I have access to almost any book I want! The riches overflow and I keep finding “one more” to look at/read. Due to this, I kept pushing Dear Body by Lea Bordier (with 12 female and non-binary illustrators) aside. Finally, one day I happened to look over at the saddest spot in our store: our return cart. Sometimes it’s necessary to return a book to […]

The senator from Delaware

Door by Door: How Sarah McBride Became America's First Openly Transgender Senator by Meeg Pincus

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I don’t remember the first time I heard about Door by Door: How Sarah McBride Became America’s First Openly Transgender Senator by Meeg Pincus and Meridth McKean Gimbel (the illustrator), but sometime early 2024 I decided to purchase a copy. I knew I had options with it if I did not want to keep it (donate to a library, give as a gift) and after reading, I decided I didn’t want to keep it all to myself, I wanted to share it. There are a […]

This hockey player is one of coolest people you’ll meet

Akim Aliu: Dreamer (Original Graphic Memoir) by Akim Aliu

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Never judge a book by its cover is usually a good idea. And it was a good one for Akim Aliu: Dreamer (Original Graphic Memoir). I figured it would be a story about how one young man became a hockey superstar despite the odds and be a bit cliché with how race plays a part. Yet, while it talks about race and racism, and is the focus, there is more to things than that. Of course, as said, that is a central piece but Alui […]



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