Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Now I Want a Three Sisters Garden

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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Have you ever read a book that made you incredibly sad while still filling you with hope? A book that was knowledgeable and beautiful and made you want to go outside and bury your fingers in the dirt? That’s what Braiding Sweetgrass is to me. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a Potawotami botanist and professor at SUNY’s school of Environmental Science and Forestry. This nonfiction book combines scientific knowledge of agriculture with Native practices and wisdom, but it is so much more than that. Throughout the […]

A harrowing story of shipwreck, death and survival on a godforsaken island at the edge of the world

Island of the Lost by Joan Druett

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Never has a description been more true. This is an absolutely incredible true story, and the author Joan Druett has some a marvellous job bringing it to life. This was a re-read for me, after first reading it several years ago. The story stayed with me, and I was glad I revisited it to refresh my memory. We follow the Grafton as it sets off from Sydney in 1864; it’s five man crew, led by Captain Thomas Musgrave and his business partner Francois Raynal, is […]

Mhmm… oh, yeah… hmmm… I know some of these words

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

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This is your universe, and it’s ending one second at a time. Some day, likely after our Sun has gone supernova and life as we know it has ceased to be, the universe will come to an end. I had heard of the hypothesis of the heat death of the universe before, and like all semi-informed people I thought I would become an expert by reading the first section of the Wikipedia entry on it. Turns out, the universe might be more complex than three […]

Just don’t do what I do

Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

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I am sitting on my couch, and I have over twenty reviews to catch up on. So, it’s not surprising why I chose to read Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (2017) by Brian Tracy. I have a problem with procrastination, and I was looking for some inspiration. I listened to the audiobook. I thought the author did a good job reading the book. It was quick, to the point, and had some good ideas. Although […]

“The world isn’t built for the needs of disabled kids quite yet. Until it is, we must work hard finding creative ways to get things done & make life fun!”

The ABCs of Disabilities by Sean Gold

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When you’re speaking to directly to an audience of mostly children, especially ones who either can’t read independently yet, or are just learning to read, it’s understandably easy to fall into a lot of simple traps.  A lot of picture books I’ve encountered are either too babyish or too preachy, too oversimplified or not simplified enough; Many times it feels as if some authors have not interacted with an actual human child in their own recent memory, because they speak in ways kids don’t speak, […]

A Visual Delight

Houses With a Story by Seiji Yoshida

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Illustrator Seiji Yoshida has released a book with thirty different houses that he’s created.  Each one comes with an illustration, a floor plan, and a few notes about the house and its occupant.  There are also a number of side bars as well as commentary in the back of the book. This book is a delight and the perfect thing to spur imagination.  There’s a wide variety of setting and styles.  It would be easy for a writer to use them as a jumping off […]



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