Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The sportswriter in granny glasses

Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber by Sue Macy

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This is BlackRaven reporting on Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber by Sue Macy and illustrated by C. F. Payne. And I would like to say READ THIS BOOK! Okay, so you might want to know why. And the why is Because I said so! And it is a good book about a woman in sports that we do not know of and is (in my not so humble opinion) more important than the sports players themselves. Because if Mary Garber […]

A story needed to be (but never should have had to be) told

Between Shades of Gray: The Graphic Novel by Andrew Donkin

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Between Shades of Gray: The Graphic Novel is a wow book! Adapted by Andrew Donkin, the Ruta Sepetys novel comes to life in a graphic novel format. The story of one family shows another side of world history, and how in World War II, the Soviet Union was not just fighting Germany, but its own people as well. It might not be for everyone as there is much in the way of concepts and content that might be difficult, even for adults. A little-known piece […]

a manor on the edge of ruin, a mute little girl, a butler with a dangerous past, and a potentially magical drunken dandy…

The Maker of Swans by Paraic O'Donnell

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What looks like a recipe for potential nonsense is actually a truly surprising and unique thriller! Paraic O’Donnell follows up the Victorian spiritualism of The House on Vesper Sands with another historical mystery, but where I was expecting (and hoping for, honestly) a continuation of the former, The Maker of Swans jumps head-first into the 20th Century and dares the reader to catch up. A butler tries his damndest to keep his employer safe, sane, and sober- but the draws of the Jazz Age have the […]

The Next Chapter

Run Book One by John Lewis

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Run Book One is an easier read than the March trilogy by the same team of John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell, and L. Fury. However, there are pages that are terribly crowded with text that covers the illustrations and can make it difficult to read at times. For me, the combination of the black and white illustrations and this crowded information makes everything blur together. Along with a physically dark format (the black colors can be solid), sometimes I lost the message being told. […]

slick with sweat, thick with hate-and I love it

The Lover by Marguerite Duras

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Somehow, this incredible little novella flew completely under my radar until last year. Luckily, the folks over at Lit Hub are absolutely obsessed, and I was unable to remain in the dark for much longer. When it’s in a book I don’t think it’ll hurt any more …exist any more. One of the things writing does is wipe things out. Replace them. While not entirely an “autobiography”, Duras tells the tale of a very young girl who grew up in an unstable household in French-colonized […]

Maybe it is or isn’t art, but the woman behind it made an impact

Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas by Jeanne Walker Harvey

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Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas by Jeanne Walker Harvey is a sweet story about a woman who we might not have heard of, but one that in many ways changed the world. Hitting many first landmarks, such as Almas Thomas was the first black woman to have an art show at a particular museum, she was the first contemporary artwork and first woman of color to have their work in the White House), but she also just seemed to be a […]



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