Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The traditions endure, but the perspective evolves

For Small Creatures Such as We by Sasha Sagan

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CBR15Bingo: You are here You are here on this planet, in this life. How you are moved to celebrate and acknowledge the passing of time and all of the joy and pain that is part of it is up to you. Rituals are, among other things, tools that help us process change. There is so much change in this universe, so many entrances and exits, and ways to mark them…each one astonishing in its own way. ― Sasha Sagan, For Small Creatures Such as We: […]

A porn star and a virgin walk into a bakery

Make You Mine (Running in Circles #1) by E.M. Lindsey

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CBR15Bingo: Edibles square CBR15Passport: New to me author Noah is a reluctant baker trying to keep his deceased bubbe’s beloved family bakery afloat. After leaving school to be the sole guardian and provider for his fourteen-year-old brother Adam, Noah believes he cannot survive losing another family member. As a young child, he and his family left Tel Aviv after the death of his father. Devastated, his mother never recovered and met her own tragic end. After losing his grandmother, twenty-year-old Noah makes a promise to […]

A Disappointing Read for Me

So Compassionate it Hurts: My Life as a Rabbi on the Spectrum by Tzemah Yoreh

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I was really excited to read this because I’d never seen another book that combined looking at Judaism and Autism through a memoir lens. Unfortunately this book was just not for me and I ended up irritated and forcing myself to finish it. It’s a pretty short book and a third of it is sermons and poetry, which for me took away from the actual memoir portion. Yoreh is extremely into poetry and I know this is a personal issue, but I am not a […]

Come light the Menorá

J Is for Janucá by Melanie Romero

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When I think of Hanukkah, I think of a winter celebration that I know a little about, but not enough to say much about. So, when J Is for Janucá came up on a list of books to read online via Edelweiss, I thought here is a great way to learn. And I learned more than expected. You see, this book is bilingual. Spanish and English words and phrases fill this alphabet book in ways you will be amazed at. Words you might know, such […]

Learning About but Don’t Appropriate

Jewish Holidays: A Brief Introductions for Christians by Kerry M. Olitzky

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Jewish Holidays: A Brief Introduction for Christians by Kerry M. Olitzky My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book is a really good overview of Jewish holidays for those that are curious about their origins and practices, particularly from a Christian context. If you are looking for a “how-to” this is not that book. Like the title says, it’s brief. Each holiday is presented in it’s context from the Torah followed by a socio-historical context. There is an overview of how the holiday is practiced […]

Maiden, Friend, Wife, Counselor, and Queen

Esther by Norah Lofts

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CBR 14 Bingo: Snake There are several snakes in the grass who lie in wait for the king, most of all his favorite Haman. Esther is Jewish, but her husband the king of Persia doesn’t know it. Which is rather a problem, as he has allowed his courtier Haman to order the massacre of all the Jews in his empire. Did I really need to give a summary? It’s in the Bible! This was a short, swift read, starting with the casting out of the […]



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