Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Highly intelligent cats and smack-talking dolphins. What’s not to love?

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

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Many people fantasize about an estranged relative dying and leaving them a fortune or a thriving business. Few people would indulge in this fantasy if the estranged relative’s business were villainy, and if, in addition to the job, they inherited a long list of enemies. This is the situation Charlie Fitzer finds himself in when his Uncle Jake dies and he’s visited by his uncle’s second-in-command, Mathilda Morrison. Even before Morrison shows up, Charlie has problems. Once a successful journalist, he’s now an underemployed substitute […]

When you’ve got a fox in mind

A Fox in My Brain by Lou Lubie

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Kirkus Reviews (04/15/2024): A young woman chronicles her experience with cyclothymia in this translated title from France. This graphic memoir opens with Lou, 16, having just begun to experience symptoms of depression. As she goes on to attend art school and video game school, move in with her boyfriend, and create a video game, her significant mood swings cause her distress, at times leading to suicidal ideation. She’s told by psychiatrists that she’s too young and pretty to be anxious or depressed. Eventually, Lou finds […]

Second Verse, Same as the First! But a little bit louder and darker

Haru Book 2: Summer by Joe Latham

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In February 2024 I read book one of Haru by Joe Latham (or Haru 1: Spring). In August of 2024 I read Haru Book 2: Summer still by Joe Latham. Both were read via an online reader copy but I was thinking I would purchase copies of both when book two came out. However, it is not due until October 2024 and I am glad I did not wait. This is because Book Two is much darker than Book One was. Things are more layered […]

Strut your big fluffy butt

Therapy Chickens: Let the Wisdom of the Flock Bring You Joy by Tedra Hamel

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Do you think, when it’s time for a chicken to lay her egg it’s a do or die moment? Like when a human really really has to go and there are four people ahead of you for the one working stall? I mean, does the chicken cross its legs (never mind the road) and squeeze the cheeks and say, “It’s not your turn yet?” (If you don’t know, like I didn’t, chickens can stand in line to wait to lay their eggs as, like anyone, […]

Headed to the Moon

Rocket Beams, Lunar Dreams by Chiara Colombi

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Rocket Beams, Lunar Dreams by Chiara Colombi and illustrated by Scott Magoon is due in February 2025. However, I am glad I had the opportunity to read via an online reader’s copy. The book’s theme is not new, but told in a way that even I learned a few things and I am terribly excited to put this on teacher and parent radars. The idea is about envy and jealousy. Rocket is ready to go to the moon. She can’t wait! Except at the last […]

Fairy tale villains and loving sisters

Into the Goblin Market by Vikki VanSickle

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Recently I located a list of books that were recommended by other booksellers across the country. I found the picture book section and said, “Online reading here I come.” And I was able to read most of them (I have one in physical form so I passed and I have two more to read), but one that really stuck out to me was Into the Goblin Market by Vikki VanSickle and Jensine Eckwall as the illustrator.  It is a contemporary folktale or fairy tale that […]



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