Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Don’t pass on these Passover books

An Invitation to Passover by Rabbi Kerry Olitzky, Rabbi Deborah Bodin Cohen and Mariia Kolker

Why On This Night? : A Passover Haggadah for Family Celebration by Rahel Musleah and Louise August

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Both of the Passover books in this review are from February 2024, however, I still had online reader copies of both. The first, An Invitation to Passover by Rabbi Kerry Olitzky, Rabbi Deborah Bodin Cohen and illustrated by Mariia Kolker was read in full, while the second, Why On This Night? : A Passover Haggadah for Family Celebration by Rahel Musleah, and Louise August was skimmed. With that said, both seem to be really good Passover stories. Olitzky’s story is a younger introduction to the […]

A little hope goes a long way

Two Pieces of Chocolate by Kathy Kacer and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

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Two Pieces of Chocolate by Kathy Kacer and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard is not an easy book to talk about. It is a story about strength and survival illustrated by imagery that brings to life the situation realistic, but also does soften the seriousness. But after that if you tell what happens, it really tells the whole story and you will not need to read it. Based on real events that happened to a young girl, her mother and fellow prisoners in their final concentration […]

Anda one book; anda two book; anda three!

The Eidi Bag by Shazia Afzal

The Jellyfish Bus by Suhyeon Lee

What if Marty Doesn’t Like My Party? by Katie Arthur

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Three books I enjoyed, but am not really able to give a full review to each individual are below. This is because if you try to write up a “full review” you just end up telling the story. And then, you, the reader of this review, will not want to read the actual books!  (Each one was read via an online reader copy.) Starting with The Eidi Bag  by Shazia Afzal and illustrated by Shiva Delsooz, we have a book (currently available) that dives into […]

She’s bad, bad Big Barda! Baddest gal in the whole of Apokolips

Barda by Ngozi Ukazu

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I do not know enough about Barda to understand all the ins and outs of her story. However, you can pick up some of it (the idea she is not the villain Granny Goodness wants, who Granny is, the Furies, etc.), in Ngozi Ukazu’s graphic novel of the same name. Some of the world was lost on me (why is the prisoner Scott Free the way he is? How did he get his name? What about the background he has with another person of Barda’s […]

Let’s take this to the neck level

The Confessional by Paige Hender

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Recently I entered a “Grab a Galley” sweepstakes thingie and I have been honored to win a few that I really wanted. But one of them I was on the fence about putting my name in for. This was The Confessional by Paige Hender. But (and I know one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover) the cover was calling me. Which might not be a good thing since it is about vampires. Picture it: New Orleans, 1922. Cora Velasquez is a fairly newly turned […]

Blessed are the dumbfucks

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

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I first encountered this book about a decade ago. At the time, I was very Mormon and very anxious; I was aware of a lot of the problems in my lifelong faith, but terrified to face them head-on. Lamb was in the Librarian’s Choice display at the local library, and the cover art reminded me a little bit of the Discworld books, so I picked it up. As I skimmed, I was equally intrigued and horrified. A fictional book about Jesus? A comedic book about Jesus? With swears […]



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