Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Love, Hound Dogs and Country Music

Dear Hank Williams by Kimberly Willis Holt

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I like Kimberly Willis Holt as an author. I think most things she has written, even if I am not a huge fan, I will enjoy. Yet, I really went at Dear Hank Williams with no expectations. Granted, my first thought was “How many kids are going to know who Hank Williams is?” But soon realized that is not the important part. This book might be set in the late 1940’s but in many ways, it could be set almost anytime. There is some history […]

Based on THAT Baby Shark…but you might be surprised

Baby Shark: Baby Shark and the Balloons by Pinkfong

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I admit it, I hate Baby Shark. That nonsense makes me wonder about the future of American children. Therefore, I only picked up this easy reader, Baby Shark: Baby Shark and the Balloons, out of a morbid curiosity to see how they could write a story about “doo-doo-doo”. However, I learned that this book is a little funny and mostly well done. Pinkfong has created just a simple story about Baby Shark being bored as they cannot locate their friends. But of course, there is […]

Grandparenting is the balancing act of having done it all before but having never really done it

Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen

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It’s a complicated relationship, being a good grandparent, because it hinges on a series of other relationships… Because being a grandparent is determined by the relationship your child has with you, partly determined by the one a son or daughter has with his or her spouse, partly determined by the relationship you have with the person your child has chosen to have a child with. Like so many books I read I picked Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting off the shelves of my little town’s library […]

Autistic people are still recognizably human, yo.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

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I might sound more harsh than I intend or than is warranted, but I really am sick of the trope of neuro-atypical people not understanding our strange human ways.  I haven’t seen anything but clips of the Big Bang Theory, but the Sheldon Cooper type – wacky misunderstandings! – grates on my nerves; autistic people don’t walk around like automaton slaves to logic any more than depressed people walk around in tears all the time. This book doesn’t lean hard into the wrong lane, but […]

It’s a mystery to me but not the intended one

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

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The Mysterious Benedict Society was an entertaining read, but it really felt familiar, like I’ve read this before. I saw someone make the comparison to Willy Wonka, and I can definitely see that as in there is a mysterious benefactor who wants/needs several children to accomplish a major goal (in this case defeating an enemy who may or may not be known to Mr. Benedict; it’s rather unclear how much he knows about what’s going on for much of the book), but there is something […]

Doesn’t Totally Hold Up, But Still Great

Brain Droppings by George Carlin

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Best for: Fans of Carlin’s clever and confrontational style of comedy. In a nutshell: Comedian Carlin shares jokes, observations, and wordplay. Worth quoting: “You could hear a pin drop. Well, you can’t hear a pin drop. Not even a bowling pin. When a pin is dropping, it’s just floating through the air. There’s very little noise. You might be able to hear a pin land but certainly not drop.” “I hear ya.” “Wonderful. And are you picking me up visually as well?” Why I chose […]



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