Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Writing for you and me and herself

Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy

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I have not read a lot of Huda Fahmy’s works, but what I do know is that they are an important voice in today’s literary world. Not because she is a woman or because she is Muslim, but because she is someone who is writing about experiences we all face.  I picked up Huda F Are You? (by the way, her mother hates the title) because I found an autographed copy. And while I thought Fahmy would focus more on her religious relationship, the story […]

Outside of their comfort zone

Haru: Book 1: Spring by Joe Latham

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Haru: Book 1: Spring by Joe Latham is a fantasy story with the fantasy elements of adventure. There is a ghost mother, a cursed artifact, and magical and magical-like situations. We also have a coming of age aspect with the bullying Haru faces at school. Then there is the character The Dark. It is creepy AF. But also, due to the way Latham has created it, it can be seductive, or at least is (pick one or all that fit), beautiful, romantic, dark, scary, creepy, […]

2024 Alex Award title filled a Challenge slot

The Talk by Darrin Bell

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CBR16SweetChallenge #New (I think this was the first Alex Award I’ve read) The main thing I liked about the book, The Talk was that it goes through the history of author Darrin Bell. We see the events that would shape him. But with a few exceptions, these were mostly just “day to day” events. The Talk is “Just A Day in the Life of Bell.” We see his point of view while we get his explanations, and his feelings. We see his family through his […]

a lovely story of what it means to be human…

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

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…with a godawful cover and title. ARRRGH! This is a magical little slice of existence, but one would never know that based upon the generic title and messy cover art. Honestly, had I not been introduced without the cover, I can’t say that I would have picked it up! Adina enters our world at the same moment that Voyager (that of Carl Sagan’s Golden Record) leaves this very same world. There’s some sort of transference of energy and matter; one magical thing leaves and another […]

how much is folklore and how much is just a mad ramble?

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

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Alan Garner is a titan of British literature, but it took two other lions of language and a slow day in the shop for me to finally crack open one of his tales. Why did I wait so long? Treacle Walker is exactly the kind of woodsy weirdness that calls to me from the gloam. It was a snowy evening and dead quiet in the bookstore. Every task was complete, everything that could be tidied was tidy beyond tidy, and I had some time to […]

Faith blankets you

Blankets  by Craig Thompson

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CBR16SweetChallenge #Exciting Craig Thompson is a new author for me and one that I will check out again as Blankets was a powerful and interesting read. I was going to put this as a New category because of that, but Exciting came after finishing. I was intrigued by the cover, the concept, and all of the blue that was on that cover and inside. I was hoping to find a copy from my library, and eventually did find a mid-2000s published edition. After finishing, I want to find the […]



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