Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

To be homeless is to be ignored when people walk past while still being in full view of everyone.

Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri

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“To speak is to stumble, to hesitate, to detour and hit dead ends. To listen is straightforward. You can always just listen.” ― Yū Miri, Tokyo Ueno Station CBR15Bingo: Asia & Oceania CBR15Passport: The story takes place in Japan. Based on the gold medals on the book cover, the charming cover art, and the synopsis of the book, I was expecting a quirky, sometimes weepy, ghost story set in one of my favorite places in the world. To put it simply, this book is bleak. […]

A boy and his bird

Kozo the Sparrow by Allen Say

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Kozo the Sparrow by Allen Say is what you expect from a Say picture book. Due in mid-October 2023 I read via an online reader copy. The story is about his childhood, there are the children of post-war, and there his classical upbringing with the more modern touches of the time. There is nothing new, but as always, Say does not disappoint. The story of nursing a young bird to health, the responsibility and the fondness he has for this bird is wonderfully presented. You […]

M for Mature

Sensor by Junji Ito

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It was Saturday and I had two options, stay at home and do laundry and not get any reading done, or take an hour or two at the library and try and get some reading done. Besides, I had to pick up some interlibrary loans anyway. I picked the library (now, you need to understand that I work at an independent bookstore, where I have access to free books, usually brand new, never touched reader copies, not like that library version of Nimona that had […]

Of butterflies and spirits

A Blanket of Butterflies (The Spirit of Denendeh Volume One) by Richard Van Camp

As I Enfold You in Petals (The Spirit of Denendeh, Volume 2). by Richard Van Camp

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A while back I found a reader copy request form. After asking and receiving it, I realized it was book two. I did find book one, but never got around to reading it. After receiving the second book, there was still no reading of it. I only realized why I had the delay the night I read them. They are books that must be read “at the right time,” otherwise you will not be ready for them. The books were A Blanket of Butterflies (The […]

What’s this book about? (whisper) seeexxx

At 30, I Realized I Had No Gender: Life Lessons From a 50-Year-Old After Two Decades of Self-Discovery by  Shou Arai

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cbr15bingo sex: how sex and gender are two things, but also how that plays a role in relationships, especially as we age and learn more about ourselves.  An intense, mature subject matter exploration of one person’s journey into what it means to be intersexed and transgender is shown on the pages of At 30, I Realized I Had No Gender: Life Lessons From a 50-Year-Old After Two Decades of Self-Discovery. Shou Arai gives us the ins and outs of sex, presentation and so much more. It can […]

When the spirits ask for help

Guardian of Fukushima (Junior Library Guild) by Fabien Grolleau

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cbr15bingo Asia/Oceania  set in Japan While I am giving Guardian of Fukushima (Junior Library Guild) a five, there are a few bumps that make this graphic novel 4.5 to a 4.7.  However, while this is not a perfect story, it is wonderfully done and is the story that was needed. The emotional and human aspects of the earthquake, the tsunami and nuclear devastation of March 2011 is explored in ways we do not usually see. Which tends to be, when a disaster happens, we usually find the […]



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