Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Three books of fun

Not a Monster by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez

Not a Bean by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez

Not a Dog by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez

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While doing some browsing of the 2025 online readers I have access to, I found a few “not a series-series.” One series was about having a crazy parent (a mermaid and unicorn) or an odd teacher (a T-Rex dinosaur) and then I found another not a series-series about science. The first series was fiction and I also wanted a non-fiction book, so I was lucky I found both. The second series was found when I looked at a cover that was an axolotl. Yes! I […]

She was for the birds

Birdlore: The Iridescent Life of Florence Merriam Bailey by Jess Keating

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Online reader copies have pretty much become the way that I read future publications as fewer physical reader copies are finding themselves in my hands. And one that I am glad I read, regardless of the format, is Birdlore: The Iridescent Life of Florence Merriam Bailey by Jess Keating and some far out illustrations by  Devon Holzwarth. Due in mid-March 2025, I am excited to tell you about it so you can go to your local independent bookstore and pre order copies. Yes, copies. You […]

Friends and differences

Don't Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah by Karen Rostoker-Gruber

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Don’t Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah by Karen Rostoker-Gruber and illustrated by Carles Arbat was exactly what I expected it to be. With that said, it is cute, funny and shows the values of the season. I wish I had found it before today (the first day of Hanukah), but it will work for the other days of the celebration, and for next year as well. We have a young child decorating for the holiday. They see a bear outside and though the narrator […]

The crazy is coming!

The Shindig Is Coming! by Charise Mericle Harper

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The Shindig Is Coming! in August of 2025. Charise Mericle Harper’s book was read by me via an online reader copy. I probably will not purchase a final copy, but I know that it will be a hit with others and they will want to have copies for themselves and as gifts. When Mouse comes running in yelling, “The shindig is coming!” It causes all sorts of havoc. Nobody knows what or who it is. It could be a green swamp monster or a pink, […]

I’m not the audience, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be

Pi Squad Mysteries #1  Sabotage at Casa Grande Springs by DD Sterner

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There are few books that I read a page or two and feel like I cannot go on. I usually say, okay, it’s slow right now, but it’ll pick up, and it does.  However, Pi Squad Mysteries #1  Sabotage at Casa Grande Springs by DD Sterner (cover design by Alyssa Tora Aman) was not one of  those books. However (again), I kept reading. And my eight or nine year old brain said, “You would have enjoyed this as a kid.”  Just not your adult self. […]

When you’re the first person in 150 years to be charged with horse theft, but you did it, so then what?

Grand Theft Horse by G. Neri

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Grand Theft Horse started out slow, but once we get into the legal aspects and the world of horse racing things pick up. Told in first person narrative, G. Neri tells the story of his cousin Gail, who on Christmas Eve decided to steal a horse. Of course, it is not as simple as that. Part owner of a racing horse, she (as his trainer) realizes he is unable to run the next race due to an injury. But the majority-owners do not see an […]



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