Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Be Our Guest as your dreamer doesn’t rest

Hotel REM by Zack Keller

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When I read about Hotel REM it sounded like it was going to go in a completely different direction than what the actual graphic novel turned out to be. It also had a different feeling from the cover. And while, yes you can find some of the story out from the cover, this is a book that also is one that you should not judge it by the cover. Zack Keller wrote an interesting coming of age story. The colors and details of the illustrations […]

Friends, pets and understanding

Calvin and the Sugar Apples by Inês F. Oliveira

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Calvin and the Sugar Apples by Inês F. Oliveira and a few illustrations by Vanessa Balleza is a cute story about friendship and loss. There are a few illustrations that help highlight a few points of the story. The story is a hit or miss for most people (a few might be in between, like I was, but I don’t see a lot of middle ground). Our young heroine is a girl who might be on the autism scale, or is just a bit young/naïve […]

The author and their work

A Perfect Mistake by Melanie Conklin

When You Have to Wait by Melanie Conklin

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After reading Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin, I went on to read their A Perfect Mistake. I had wanted to reverse the reading, as I had seen an online reader copy of A Perfect Mistake ages ago, but lost my link. I then said, “Hello Library of mine. Do you have Melanie Conklin’s books?” One interlibrary loan request for each later, I had the first and the most recently published (with book four, Crushed, out in July 2024) in hand. I will go back and […]

A little trippy, but fun

Tiny Troubles: Nelli's Purpose by  Sophie Diao

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Meet best friends, Nelli and Worthi. While Worthi is not the brightest plant out there (though do follow their advice about staying hydrated), they are terribly sweet and a loyal friend who is willing to go on an adventure to help Nelli find her purpose in Tiny Troubles: Nelli’s Purpose.  Sophie Diao’s characters, two young plants, are doing what plants do (enjoying the day, soaking up some sun) when Nelli asks if Worthi knows what a purpose is. The explanation is done as best as […]

Thyme travels

Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin

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As an adult, I found a few areas in Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin that were not “smooth” for me, however, from ages 10 to 14 I would have enjoyed it. You are there with our narrator Thyme (like the clock, with a HY). You worry about fitting in at your new school, you worry about your siblings and your relationships with them, you worry about your old friendships, you are sad and happy, you try to balance your “now and then” and along the […]

Monsters live

Janus Silang and the Creature of Tabon volume one in the Janus Silang Saga by Edgar Calabia Samar

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Janus Silang and the Creature of Tabon volume one in the Janus Silang Saga by Edgar Calabia Samar, Natasha Ringor (Illustrator), and Carljoe Javier as the adaptor is more of a 2.5 than a two. There was this “niggle” as I was reading saying, “This is good, pay attention.” But another part of me was saying, “you are so missing something about this book” and therefore I cannot give it a 3 but also, there was too much I did like to just give a […]



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