Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Sticky Icky

The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran

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Read this as part of CBR15Bingo: sex-banned. This book is about the pursuit of a centuries old erotic text that is said to give its participants magic powers if they follow the rules. It’s also “banned” in some places…the titular book, not this actual book. Although, given its content, I wouldn’t be surprised if it made the list sooner than later.  This is one of those books where I wonder if the author being a favorite makes me too biased to judge it accurately. There […]

“You try again. You fail better.”

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (2022) by Gabrielle Zevin is not a book I would have picked out on my own. I’m not particularly interested in video games, and the cover doesn’t really call to me. Even the description doesn’t suck me in. What drove me to pick up the book, however, were the many people who had Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow on their Cannonball best books list last year. I simply could not ignore such overwhelming praise. I like to say that if a teacher is […]

Mommy Dearest

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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I saw a short interview with Jennette McCurdy about her new memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died (2022), and it sounded interesting. But then my friend mentioned she had read the book, and argued that we should outlaw child actors altogether. I didn’t completely disagree with her, but it seemed like an extreme statement. I wondered what in the book had made her feel so strongly. So, I picked it up on audiobook from the library. I thought it was fascinating. I never got bored, and I […]

To help create a more empathetic society, this should be mandatory reading for middle grade readers (and everyone else, honestly)

Melissa by Alex Gino

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CBR15 Bingo: Bodies, Bodies – When Melissa was born everyone assumed she was a boy because of her body. Melissa is a girl but no one else knows she is, as it was assumed at birth she was a boy.  As a result, she was given the name of George.  Melissa is her secret name, admitted only to herself.  We are introduced to Melissa while her 4th grade classroom is reading Charlotte’s Web.  Melissa is moved to tears when Charlotte dies and the boys in […]

How can a novel about dementia be beautiful?

The Swimmers: A Novel by Julie Otsuka

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Cbr15bingo Adulthood I have reviewed Julie Otsuka’s previous two novels and loved them both. Otsuka is an amazingly talented writer. Her novels are not long; her sentences tend to be short but deliver beautiful imagery and subtle emotion. They are, as I have mentioned previously, like a pointillist painting in verbal form. Both When the Emperor Was Divine and The Buddha in the Attic, critically acclaimed winners of numerous awards, deal with Otsuka’s family history: immigration from Japan to California and the experience of US […]

CBR BINGO – On the Road: “. . . happiness comes not from bodily pleasures or wealth or power, but from living a life that’s right for your soul.”

In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune

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This was very sweet and a little bit unhinged, which I of course always appreciate. This is actually a bit more in line with Klune’s self-published stuff, with darker themes and humor with a little more of an edge to it. I am REALLY curious to know what the original story in this book looked like; he’s vague in the end notes but apparently somebody told him the world wasn’t ready for it (????) and things were changed up pretty heavily. There are some light […]



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