Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Dystopia never looked so wrongly beautiful

Brave New World: A Graphic Novel by Fred Fordham

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Never having read the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and only having a passing knowledge of the text/story itself, I was not sure what to expect with Brave New World: A Graphic Novel. The other reviews I read on Goodreads mention the misogyny of the male characters. I am sorry to point out, but duh…. It was 1932. Do you think the author was “woke?” I am assuming he never expected women to read his works because you know, women “don’t read” and […]

Napoleon and Snowball have their own kind of Waterloo

Animal Farm: The Graphic Novel by Odry

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Considering the hype behind the novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell, and my love of graphics novels, I think I put too much pressure on this book, Animal Farm: The Graphic Novel adapted and illustrated by Odry. There is not much I can say about the theme of the book that hasn’t been already said (the animals of Manor Farm, in a coup, take over the farm and makes it Animal Farm. Here all animals are equal. Or are they?) At the time, this must […]

Another Cinderella Story

Sootypaws: A Cinderella Story by Maggie Rudy

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I have organized the picture book reader copies several times recently (for various reasons). And I kept going around this book. I did not want to even touch it. Not that I have an issue with mice or even rats, but dead mice/rats are another thing and these cover critters looked dead. Never mind the fact that it seemed like it could be a fun alternative Cinderella story. I like alternative fairy tales and Cinderella stories in particular. I used to have a collection of […]

Discussion Topics: A Sherlock Retelling

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Earlier this year we voted on which Classic with many retellings to use for our second and third Book Clubs of 2019. Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet won and now you, dear Cannonballers, are able to choose any updated version of the Sherlock story to discuss with us in two short weeks. It can be a straight modernization, or a graphic novel, possibly even a gender-swapped version set in space, or a work of non-fiction. Whatever your choice, we’ll be back here discussing […]

Read this and you’ve picked a winner

The Lottery: Graphic Novel by Shirley Jackson

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#cbr11bingo #BacktoSchool There might be a few spoilers if you are not familiar with Shirley Jackson’s work, The Lottery. I have read Shirley Jackson’s book, The Lottery, at least once. Probably more as she is a Vermont author that is known for being from a town south of me; therefore, teachers feel the need to introduce her into the curriculum at some point. I always got the basic elements of the story: there is a lottery in a small town. For what, you are not […]

Chap sees an swan in the cinema. He says “are you a swan?” “Yes” comes the answer. “What are you doing here?” “Well, I liked the book”.

Wild Swans by Xanthe Gresham Knight

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#cbr11bingo #Classic You most likely know at least one version of the classic story of Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen; but the illustrations by Charlotte Gastaut are what make this edition, retold by Xanthe Gresham Knight, fresh. Knight’s version of the story has the young princess, Eliza, sent to live with a family in a village that has not been touched by the plague that took her mother. This is after her father remarries and Stepmother knows that to keep her safe, Eliza must […]



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