Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I’d been demoted and was shoveling slide-back and minding my own business when they found Dwayne Mays’s body in a pile of gob.

Down Don't Bother Me by Jason Miller

Mr Blandings Builds his Dream House by Eric Hodgins

Growing Up by Russell Baker

Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett

High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Anonymous

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Down Don’t Bother Me – 3/5 Stars This is a short gritty Illinois coal country noir novel. I picked it up because I follow the author online but only know him through his relatively insightful and mostly very angry response to the garbage world we all live in. When I was able to grab a copy of his book I did. The novel takes place in southern Illinois in those kinds of rural spaces where there’s a lot of open land, little townlets, and in […]

The Book Thief – an absolutely beautiful story

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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I am late to the party, I admit it. This book has been out for a long time, won many awards, and even been turned into a film (which I plan on watching this weekend). Yet I had not read it until very recently. That is my loss, because this novel is fabulous. Usually, one can categorize a book pretty clearly, but not in this case. Yes, Death is the narrator here and there are descriptions of souls but does that make it fantasy? Nah. […]

Old toys aren’t discarded: They’re re-loved.

Dragon Meets Boy by Michael Slack

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cbr12bingo Repeat is: Dragon Meets Boy (because that cool purple/violet cover) The title is a direct quote from the Kirkus Reviews of 04/15/2020 Did you a) like Toy Story (especially Toy Story 3)? Or b) Did you cry when (spoiler) Andy gave Buzz and Woody to the little girl? Or c) Think Velveteen Rabbit has a good message? If you said yes, then you know a bit about Dragon Meets Boy and its (somewhat sad) ending. (Other spoiler: Dragon does not have the Rabbits fate […]

Surprisingly Serious Truths from a Seriously Silly Guy

Vacationland by John Hodgman

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John Hodgman is many things: Daily Show correspondent, a “PC”, podcast guest and host, internet judge, former literary agent, and generally droll New England weirdo. He wrote several books prior to  Vacationland, and all of those books were collections of “facts”. I say “facts”, as that is what he might say as well: Hodgman (with the help of Jonathan Coulton) created three full books of completely made-up facts that he presented as being VERY true. They are a weird delight, and sometimes they are correct, […]

Mystical, Brave, Horrific (Just Like Growing Up)

Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu

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For some reason, kids often get the best stories. Kids’ books can often tell hard truths in imaginative ways. They’re so true. Maybe the difference between kids’ and adults’ books is that as an adult, you can recognize the truth looking back better because you’re past that stage. Adult books are more ambigious because we’re all just winging. Or, maybe kids’ books continue ringing true because some things are always true. Hmm. Either way, a Juvenile Fiction book that gets you thinking about these Big Things […]

Being the Man of the House

Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith

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Looking at Keeping the Night Watch I figured it was going to be like Nikki Grimes or Nikki Giovanni. However, what it is like is a mix of both Grimes, Giovanni and Jason Reynolds, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Jacqueline Woods and what I think Kwame Alexander sounds like. I was unfamiliar with Hope Anita Smith before getting this gem in my shiny green package (see Go Sports Ball! review). However, unlike the others, this was not a new book but from 2008 (paper 2014). I am […]



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