Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Sequel love

Heartstopper: Volume Two by Alice Oseman

Asadora! V03 by Naoki Urasawa

Magical History Tour #9: The Titanic by Fabrice Erre

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It is rare a sequel is as good as the first. However, sometimes there is one that you like even more “just because” you do. Maybe it is because the character is your favorite, or maybe it is because you relate to the character, or the author really got into the story and is moving things along. These three books may or may not better than the first, but they are just as good. I was able to relate to Nick in Heartstopper: Volume Two. […]

I need these books in a completed edition!

Asadora! V02 by Niaoki Urasawa

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Asadora! V02 starts with a short flashforward to “now” (or the “now” of the story), we are teased by a theme introduced but not explored in book one. Two scientists find a clue to proving Asa might not have been seeing things the day of the tsunami that destroyed her home and tore her family apart. We then go to where we left off in book one continuing Asa’s story of trying to help others by flying over the flooded town, dropping food to those […]

The stories behind the story

Tales from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins

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I think Tales from the Bamboo Grove might be out of print, therefore, I am writing this review for those who might find it hidden on the library shelves, in a sale, or hiding among your own collection.  Also, to promote the other books she had written is the other point of the review. Several months ago, I learned that Yoko Kawashima Watkins had passed. I had enjoyed both So Far from the Bamboo Grove and My Brother, My Sister, and I. Those two novels […]

“Books have a soul”

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

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“A book that sits on a shelf is nothing but a bundle of paper. Unless it is opened, a book possessing great power or an epic story is a mere scrap of paper. But a book that has been cherished and loved, filled with human thoughts, has been endowed with a soul.” Rintaro Natsuki, a reclusive high school student, inherits a bookstore when his grandfather passes away. Then a talking cat appears and demands his help in rescuing books from their misguided owners. This was […]

She wanted to be a Doctor but became a Lawyer and changed a few things along the way.

Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight: Patsy Takemoto Mink and the Fight for Title IX by Jen Bryant

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Did you know that Title IX was not just for athletes? It started out as not forty words that said that women had to be treated equally in all matters: education, and sports alike. Of course, that was only one thing Patsy Takemoto (later Patsy Mink) would do in her life. A young Patsy lived in Maui. She knew her family had come to this country for a better life and that meant (though she was not sure at the time) an education. At four-years-old […]

I Wish I Could Read Japanese

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

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One of my friends brought Kitchen back from her study-abroad to Japan in the mid 00s. I was woefully non-diverse in my reading at the time, so my first read of this book in 2008 was mostly vague and unaware. It left no impression. I didn’t even remember I owned it until re-shelving a bunch of books from packing boxes this spring. An MFA and six years of CBR diverse reading under my belt later, this read was a vastly different experience, the most striking of […]



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