Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“We can only keep moving forward and try our best to make reparations to the little world we live in.”

Looking For Her by Chan Chau

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This was a fun preorder gift to myself — I completely forgot that I’d ordered this so it was a nice surprise package when I got home one day. Chan Chau is one of my favorite artists and I’m glad I got the chance to have a physical copy of this comic. You can also currently read it for free online but there’s something very satisfying about the physical package and slotting it in place on the shelf. Also I now never have to worry […]

Hair Power

Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries

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Witchy fells kind of familiar; there’s the adolescent with a secret who doesn’t quite fit into their magical world (Nyneve), the kind friend, the former antagonist turned maybe ally (or not) Prill, the seemingly grandfatherly leader of the magical world, the spooky granny figure who provides information and advice, etc. The concept of the magic system is interesting (power usually tied to hair length; more hair suggests stronger power, but too much hair, and the magical police come to execute you (witch burning)) and the […]

A Whale Would Not Be the Strangest Thing in the Endless Universe – It Gets Stranger

The Dreaming, Volume 1: Pathways and Emanations by Simon Spurrier

The Dreaming, Volume 2: Empty Shells by Simon Spurrier

The Dreaming, Volume. 3: One Magic Movement by Simon Spurrier

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  It’s The Sandman! I love The Sandman. How did I end up putting a Sandman based property on my White Whale list? I guess The Dreaming ended up a bit on the White Whale side for two reasons: 1) When I read the original Sandman series about ten years ago, I binge read them over a few nights. This helped to both keep my immersion in the series and follow the plot. The original could be confusing as all hell at times. 2) I […]

“Sometimes, there’s a story we tell ourselves. And sometimes a story is told about us.”

Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal

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I first read about artist/writer Aminder Dhaliwal in this NYT piece, then started following her Instagram account. The premise behind Cyclopedia Exotica and Dhaliwal’s art led me to purchase the book, whose message is pertinent in the current xenophobic climate in the US. Through characters who are Cyclopes in a world of the two-eyed, Dhaliwal examines the daily micro aggressions and prejudices that minorities encounter, as well as the Cyclopes’ responses to them. Anyone who does not fit the WASP-y cis/het norm will probably be […]

Short, sweet memoir about having to learn an alien world

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

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I’m not sure where this popped up–I think this was a recommendation after I checked out something else? This story isn’t very long, but definitely packs a punch. While the main character is Robin, and her journey towards becoming Korean American, an almost equal amount of time is spent with her mother, and her journey through Korean and Korean-American society as a single mother. For the most part, the story is claustrophobic and limiting. Robin doesn’t speak fluent English, and she’s been dropped into Alabama […]

Some Fencing but More Personal Stuff

Fence Volume Four Rivals by C.S. Pascat, Johanna the Mad

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So there was a YA novel that kind of tells the same story as volume 4 of the graphic novel Fence Volume 4 Rivals; one the one hand, few surprises, on the other, it wasn’t the EXACT same story, just the same kind with similar character development (at least for some characters). I’m reasonably sure the comic series was first, and that the novelization might be by another author. The basic premise is reasonably common: sports story (high school fencing team) + hate/rival to friend/something […]



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