Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I never meet a Tomie book I didn’t appreciate

Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise by Tomie dePaola

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Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise is based on the Canticle of the Three Young Men or the Benedicite from the Book of Daniel and Psalm 148. Tomie dePaola has created a poem inspired by these Old Testament Scriptures but has a modern voice that only he could do. While the art does not immediately say “Tomie” it does have elements of his signature style. The fact it is also based on “embroideries and designs of the Otomi people from the mountain villages around San […]

What I feel is relief. It wasn’t me.

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Welp, I just picked up The Handmaid’s Tale this afternoon, and finished it in one sitting. Not because I couldn’t put it down, but because I absolutely refused to stop, let it percolate, and dare to wonder at what could be coming. Honestly, it’s too believable. I knew that it would be; you can’t avoid talk of the story these days. But it’s strikingly real, and for that reason, downright horrifying. I never caught myself picking apart the believability, or the potential. This is dystopian fiction […]

A prayer of thanks for sweet, fast reads.

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A Book of Uncommon Prayer is a fast and sweet read. Each section follows the format of “A prayer for…” “A prayer of gratitude for…” “A prayer of bemused appreciation for…” all for very mundane, everyday stuff. Cashiers (may their customers be pleasant and their feet not hurt), newts, summer beaches. It’s charming to the point of twee, but there are worse things to be in the world and at 192 pages (many of them half pages), it doesn’t outstay its welcome. I would absolutely […]

Lessons in Double Checking Genres

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“How pleasant to escape for an hour or two into the company of a treasured friend.” The Secret of Pembrooke Park – Review on KatsCannon Today’s lesson, children, is in carefully researching your next book. It is not enough to have something recommended and throw it on your GoodReads account, oh no. You need to make sure you pay close attention to things like genre. And, reader beware, GoodReads does not show you genres on it’s app. You must do your due diligence! Go forth […]

Just put some nails in your wall. Please.

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I read Myquillyn Smith’s home design book The Nesting Place: It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful last year and I hated it. I’ve never read Myquillyn’s blog, but I do follow a lot of similar DIY décor blogs. I reread it for CBR8, and…I guess I came around a little. My original complaints still stand, so I’ll address them first. What is the deal with the nail holes? People apparently being terrified to put nail holes in their walls was mentioned at […]

Or, “My Personal Opinions on Death and Friendship”

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I was raised as a conservative Christian. My boyfriend has been an atheist his entire life. There are other reasons that our childhoods seem totally alien to each other, mostly because he grew up having outdoor adventures in Alaska and I grew up watching movies in New Mexico. He is the person you want on your team for a zombie apocalypse. I am the person you want on your team for Trivial Pursuit. The religion difference is significant. I believed, up until only several years […]



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