Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“No one ever believes me when I tell them my uncle Earl owns a museum.”

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

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This is very readable and I’m glad I picked it up randomly at Barnes & Noble, but it didn’t live up to my hopes. I enjoyed Paladin’s Grace so much that I figured I’d see how Kingfisher did at horror. The Hollow Places follows Kara as she tries to recover from her recent divorce. She comes back to her small hometown to live with her uncle, who runs the Wonder Museum, full of taxidermy, Bigfoot memorabilia, and a picture of the Pope made of sunflower […]

Pizza, outdoors and friends

Pizza My Heart (Norma and Belly, #3 by Mika Song

Expedition Backyard by Rosemary Mosco 

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A slice of pizza or an adventure with a lion? Which do you prefer? Well, if you like to read, you do not have to choose!  You can pick up either of the early-to-mid-readers for you and your child/children. Both books are aimed at least ages five and up to be read to, but at least six and up could start reading solo (and/or assistance). Pizza My Heart (Norma and Belly, #3) by Mika Song is a series that is still cute, but for the adult […]

If Mr. Fantastic and Captain Marvel were combined

Ms. Marvel, Volume One: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson

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cbr14bingo Series Level 1 She might be a superhero with pretty cool powers, but she is still 16 and has a curfew. I have read one other Ms. Marvel graphic novel/comic and was not totally impressed. I think that was because the character in the other book was a kid and Kamala in Ms. Marvel, Volume One: No Normal is a teenager, and somehow being a superhero is more believable to me if you are at least old enough to drive. I had no idea […]

When defeating monsters and saving princesses is not enough

The Flower of the Witch by Enrico Orlandi

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Do you want a good story about “becoming a man” but one that might be bit more modern than you are used to? In which “becoming a man” might not mean what we think at first? Then you should try The Flower of the Witch by Enrico Orlandi (and translated by Jamie Richards). And while I try not to start on a less-than-positive note, I will say the language was a little stiff at first. But soon your reading ear should fall into the pattern […]

So mom went to the US to study, and all I got was a year of coming-of-age

A Year Without Mom by Dasha Tolstikova

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Sadly, sometimes a book has run its course with us at the store and we prep it for returns. Occasionally, I grab one (or six, but this review is about just one) and see if I can give it a second chance.  And while I cannot give A Year Without Mom by Dasha Tolstikova a second chance at the store, I can let you fine folks know about it. I did not love this book. Part novel, part picture book, part graphic novel, part art […]

A girl and her bear

Bear is a Bear by Jonathan Stutzman

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One bear, one child, lots of adventures. Bear is a Bear is Jonathan Stutzman tapping into the imagination of a child. We see our main character going about daily life and daily play with a giant bear, lovingly tagging along. They make mischief, messes, cry tears, read books, have lots of laughs and love hardily. And one day it is time to say, Goodbye. But it is not the end. Sometime in the not so far-off future, there is another Hello. The playfulness of Stutzman’s […]



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