Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The results of raiding the library where I now work

Bedtime is Canceled by Cece Meng

Help! We Need a Title! by Hervé Tullet

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I work in the Youth Services department of a library now, so I can totally take out picture books for “work” and no one thinks twice about it!  It’s actually my job now! So I’ve been going through my TBR list for picture books and seeing what they’re all about. I probably won’t actually use either of these for work, not because they aren’t good, but because aren’t suited for my ages for storytime.    Bedtime is Canceled By Cece Meng, Illustrated by Aurélie Neyret […]

The Importance of Dairy

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

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Right away I could tell this was written by Neil Gaiman.  I mean, I think that happens with most Gaiman books, but this one jumped out at me.  I think after listening to Neil read his own books I tend to have his voice in my head when I read his work.  We have a lovely tale about a father who goes out to pick up some milk and the fantastic journey he takes to get home.  I could see this being a story that […]

Is this creepier because I’m reading as an adult?

Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli

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When I first started reading this, I did not like it.  I almost passed it off as a loss entirely. The thing that turned me off was the language.  It reminded me of the words that the BFG used, and the story in general interested me from the summary, so I pressed on.  The BFG used strange words because he never went to school, and the children in the story are very young, some younger than school age, I suppose.  And I noticed that the […]

Not just a mystery, but an educational mystery

The Ghost Wore Gray by Bruce Coville

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We have a tradition at our annual work party of a book exchange.  You get a book that has something to do with history (I work at a historic site) and you gift-wrap it.  Everyone who brings a book gets a number, and then the first person unwraps a book. The next person can either unwrap a book or steal the book the first person unwrapped, and so on.  Most people try not to spend much, if anything on the book. So I went to […]

Cute cooking manga

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My elementary school daughters have recently discovered the manga section at the library and due to their interest in cooking shows they brought home Kitchen Princess: Volume 1.  It is a classic shoujo manga.  Shoujo stories are aimed primarily at young females and are heavily focused on personal and romantic relationships this is no exception. The heart of the story is Najika Kazami an orphan (because of course she is) with the ability to remember everything she has ever tasted and can recreate a dish perfectly […]

Ghoulia is a cute story with charming art, perfect gift to give a young reader next Halloween

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Several years ago, Neil Gaiman suggested celebrating All Hallow’s Read around Halloween.  You celebrate the Halloween season by giving seasonally appropriate books to friends and family.  Either directly about the holiday, or perhaps spooky and scary books that fit this time of year’s mood.  I’ve done this for the past three years now with my girls.  This year was a bit of a challenge for my newly turned seven year old.  She loves Halloween but really, really does not like to be scared.  She is […]



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