Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Music puzzle

Piece by Piece: How Stephen Sondheim Made Musical Puzzles Come Alive by Erin Frankel

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Picture books. Love them or hate them they are a genre that has expanded my knowledge over the years. I have learned about volcanoes, bats, famous artistic nuns, poems and more. And Piece by Piece: How Stephen Sondheim Made Musical Puzzles Come Alive by Erin Frankel and illustrator Stacy Innerst added to it with a poetic look at Stephen Sondheim and his works. While not a “pure biography” of the composer, the highlights of his work and life are addressed. Things are whimsical and a […]

It’s the 1980s and punk is hot & so are Nina & Kerri. So, now what?

Punk Like Me by JD Glass

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Really the only part of Punk Like Me by JD Glass and illustrations by Kris Dresen is that the end happened a little too quickly, and (SPOILER) it was a little too neatly wrapped up. But that is really the only issue I have with the “overallness” of things. We follow Nina, a girl who will have many labels put on her (sister, daughter, friend, girlfriend, dyke, lesbian, swimmer, student, trouble maker, possible Annapolis bound) as she grows, but which is really her? What is […]

The woman and the slave girl

Raging Clouds by Yudori

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Books sometimes find me. I was going to the library to pick up some I had ordered and Raging Clouds by Yudori was sitting off to the side of the entrance. I almost didn’t go that way to the checkout desk (I usually go left, not right) but something made me go right. And there it was. Fat, shiny and new. It was shyly facing away from me. And that’s the last time this book was shy. Even the librarian when I checked it out wasn’t […]

I found a new place to dwell

Heartbreak Hotel by Micol Arianna Beltramini

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Several books on my recent HBR (Have Been Read) list have had similar feelings and/or themes. And yet, each one is its own unique read. Heartbreak Hotel by Micol Arianna Beltramini and illustrator Agnese Innocente falls into this “alike but not alike” category. This coming of age story is similar to the stories The History of Everything: A Graphic Novel by Victoria Evans, Raging Clouds by Yudori, and The Flip Side by Jason Walz. Yet, it is also its own work and has its own […]

The review I date myself by my pop culture references or Scooby Doo and the Not so Masked Villains

Toxic Summer by Derek Charm

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The cover of Toxic Summer by Derek Charm looks like it would be a fun, summer romance romp. Maybe it would have some misadventures or possibly a monster that is a masked one, or even one that has a “is it or isn’t it?” thought. But instead, it turned out to be a bit cartoonish and not always in a fun way.  Still, if you like over-the-top antics, a bit of humor, and somewhat queer romance, this is the book for you. Of course, you […]

So I Probably Should Have Googled the Author first

The Binding by Bridget Collins

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Bingo Square: TBR (bought it as a daily deal over 2 years ago) – this is also the last square I can mark without also getting another Bingo To start, this was a book I randomly had in my kindle account because it was a fantasy novel with an interesting concept and a gorgeous cover that was cheap/on sale one day (I think it had an olderc prettier version of the cover still when I bought it). I haven’t seen much (or anything) about this […]



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