Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

They danced by the light of the moon

The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear

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It’s International Children’s Book Day! Are you reading stories to young kids or wishing someone would read to you? To honor this holiday, which celebrate the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, I’ve recorded a video of me reading a pop-up children’s book of the poem The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear.   https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-er1teAHjr/ I’ve read this book hundreds of times over the years, and the last page always gives me a thrill, “And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, they danced […]

The fridged women speak.

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente

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The Refrigerator Monologues is a feminist response to the way women are treated in superhero comics. It’s a short read, a novella really, at only 147 pages, but it packs a punch. Riffing on both the stage play The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, and Gail Simone’s website Women in Refrigerators (which coined the term “fridging” for any female character who dies in order to further the plotline or character arc of a man), Valente’s book features six women whose lives were reduced to subplots […]

Little pep talks that made me feel better

Gmorning, Gnight!: Little pep talks for me & you by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jonny Sun

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4.5 stars Official book description: “Good morning. Do NOT get stuck in the comments section of life today. Make, do, create the things. Let others tussle it out. Vamos!” Before he inspired the world with Hamilton and was catapulted to international fame, Lin-Manuel Miranda was inspiring his Twitter followers with words of encouragement at the beginning and end of each day. He wrote these original sayings, aphorisms, and poetry for himself as much as for others. But as Miranda’s audience grew, these messages took on a life […]

We agree to disagree (Bingo Blackout!)

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

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#CBR11 Bingo: Two heads are better than one (would also work for Illustrated or Youths!) For two months of the year, all through high school, Deja and Josiah are best friends, while working at the local Pumpkin Patch extraordinaire. For four years, from the start of September until Halloween, they’ve been dutifully serving customers in the Succotash hut, and sharing pretty much everything with one another for those two months. Once they go back to school, they don’t really interact. This year is different. Deja and […]

A violent, sad, but very satisfying ending (Triple Bingo)

Locke & Key, vol 6: Alpha & Omega by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

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#CBR11 Bingo: Not My Wheelhouse (horror) (Would also work for Illustrated) Spoiler warning! This is the sixth and final volume in the Locke and Key series. It is absolutely NOT the place to start. This review will probably contain spoilers both for earlier and this collection, so don’t read it unless you’re completely caught up. The first volume is Welcome to Lovecraft.  In this final volume, the Locke kids have to confront the evil that has been haunting their family for over a generation. If there was any doubt that […]

I’m as shocked as anyone that I love a book about trees!

Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori

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CBR11bingo: Not My Wheelhouse BINGO, diagonally: Cannonballer Says, Not My Wheelhouse, Own Voices, Illustrated, Reading the TBR I may have been called a tree hugger in my day, but botany has never been my area. I can enjoy plants from a purely aesthetic point of view, but reading an entire book dedicated to trees? For my tree fix, I’d prefer to turn to Joyce Kilmer’s 12-line poem and call it a day. But Jonathan Drori’s Around the World in 80 Trees. . . I’m speechless! This […]



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