Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

From Child to Political Prisoner

The Boy from Clearwater Book One by Yu Pei-Yun

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The Boy from Clearwater Book One by Yu Pei-Yun, illustrated by Zhou Jian-Xin and translated by Lin King is a memoir that leans towards the poetic. The showing of things  could have been more graphic (as there were beatings, execution, etc), but is not necessarily lacking as you understand what is happening. The two parts (the early years before 1950 and then the ten years after 1950) are nicely split up, allowing for the colors pink, blue along with black and white, to play their […]

Where is the win for Winifred?

The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle

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The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle has been on my TBR for ages. And while I am giving the book a four (due to averaging out all the pieces), I was not loving it as much as I hoped. You see, I built it up a bit too much and therefore, of course it couldn’t live up to my expectations. Still, if I had come at it fresh or as a teen (at least a strong 10 and up, but more likely 12/13 and […]

The next cooking book but without the Jem Milton connection

Cooking with Monsters Volume 1 The Beginner's Guide to Culinary Combat by Jordan Alsaqa

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adventureAt first, I thought Cooking with Monsters Volume 1 The Beginner’s Guide to Culinary Combat by Jordan Alsaqa and Vivian Truong was going to be a little scary as they are fighting monsters. And it looked older than what it turned out to be, so I was expecting mature death scenes. I thought it was going to be way more serious than it really is. But in the end, the only thing I can say is this graphic novel is:  Over. The. Top. The end.  Yet, […]

Few triggers but overall a delightful read

Layers: A Memoir by Pénélope Bagieu

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This weekend was unintentionally a weekend where I learned I have read so much that I’m repeating authors and not even realizing it! One of the books I read was Layers: A Memoir by Pénélope Bagieu (translated by Montana Kane). When I saw what else they had written I was shocked. I’ve read several of their books in English. I started with the title Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World (lovely collection of women who were brazen); California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas […]

A field trip for the ages

Lost In The Future V01: The Storm by Damian

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Lost In The Future V01: The Storm by Damian and illustrated by Alex Fuentes is a fun adventure story in a graphic novel format, that is short, (maybe not sweet) but has some interesting segments. It has the action and the friendship aspects that keep things moving without being “too much” adventure and no plot, or all plot and not enough action.  The art is the real drawback for me with the too Nickelodeon-like and/or Uncle Grandpa/Gravity Falls/Steven Universe/The Amazing World of Gumball/etc. images. From […]

Politics, Economy and Gender of Gaming

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow

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My review of In Real Life by Cory Doctorow has borrowed pieces from a couple online reviewers. I figured they said what I was feeling, and it’s validating to know I wasn’t the only one that wasn’t “wowed” but the book, yet still found enjoyment. I will start  with: This is not a perfect story, still, I had… fun reading it. The online world vs real world has been done before.  You can … connect on a virtual level, but it can’t replace human (…) […]



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