Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I wanted to love this book, but I didn’t

Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

by 1 Comment

cbr12bingo – Cannonballer Says Red, White and Royal Blue received so many excellent reviews from Cannonballers and just in general, that I decided I had to read it. Unfortunately, for me this book was a solid “meh,” bordering on “no thanks.” First, what I did like. I loved that the characters spanned the spectrum of race, color, gender and sexual orientation. I mean, a democratic female president with half Mexican kids, yes please!  I also loved the intimacy of the texts between some of the […]

Friendship can stink….

Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake

by Leave a Comment

Friendship slot for cbr12bingo done Skunk and Badger (book one of a planned at least trilogy) are The Really Odd Couple. I have no doubt that the others are going to keep this interesting new Buddy Series on its toes! Amy Timberlake created a book that has an old school/old world feeling to it. I thought of Frog and Toad and Wind in the Willows while reading it. The story behind getting my copy of this due in September book, is a slightly odd one. […]

Fight with all your might that un-friend, the Night

Fight the Night by Tomie dePaol

by Leave a Comment

The cbr12bingo No Money! slot is the easiest one for me. Reader copies are scattered all over my workspace! It’s a miracle I can get anything done. And one freebie was this classic Tomie dePaola picture book. Fight the Night is an early Tomie dePaola work released back in February for today’s fan. While you know it is dePaola, the art is less polish than his later work. This is because the book is created in an “old school” art format with actually very little […]

Put a little color in your dreams

The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater

by Leave a Comment

(cbr12bingo Orange) One of the advantages of working in a bookstore is that I can plug in the word orange into our in house system and have several titles come up. Since I was trying to keep my color blocks in the picture book genre, The Big Orange Splot was a great choice. I have never been a big fan of Daniel Manus Pinkwater, but know why people like him He is nuts. And I say that with love. Pinkwater just lets us be us. […]

If you ever wanted a dragon for a pet, read this first

You Don’t Want a Dragon! by Ame Dyckman

by Leave a Comment

Did no one learn about exotic pets from You Don’t Want a Unicorn? Guess not! As the young child of that book is back and now, as you probably guessed from the title, You Don’t Want a Dragon! has wished for a pet dragon. And of course, gets it. But (like unicorns) it is not all fun and games. There is a lot of less than pleasant chores and events that take place This book is pure Ame Dyckman, therefore, how bad can it be? […]

“I’ve seen the film Grease. I’ve seen a film of Greece. I have never seen a film in Greece, or while being greased.”

Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey by Richard Ayoade

by 2 Comments

Who better to address the enigma that is Richard Ayoade (speaking of- wouldn’t he make a great Riddler) than Richard Ayoade? I don’t know that I brood. I just occasionally take time out to silently consider the specific ways in which others have wronged me. Ayoade, the elusive filmmaker, has been tracked down by Ayoade, the author and maniac behind both personas. His ability to be so silly and yet so serious- often simultaneously- continues to leave me both baffled and delighted. Even so-called ‘short […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo