lions – Cannonball Read 17

Four books for the price of one review (and a lunch break filled with books)

The Peacock Who Howled with Jackals by Nahid Kazemi

You Can't Tame a Tiger by Stephanie Ellen Sy

RJ and the Ticking Clock by Ian Duncan

Who Needs the Dark?: The Many Ways Living Things Depend on Darkness by Laura Alary

May 7, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The other day I found a few titles I was interested in via an email newsletter. When I looked them up to see if reader copies online were available, they had thumbnails of the images, but not the full text. I read these introductions, but was hoping to find finished copies sometime in the future (as they are all summer and fall publications). The next day what to my wondering eyes did appear? It was eight tiny reindeer…. I mean, those four titles I had […]

“The Circus has a great obligation to the people of America.” (Irving Feld)

Tiger, Tiger: My 25 Years with the Big Cats by Charly Baumann

August 2, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

CBR14Bingo: Star (Charly clearly sees himself as a star, and he was) This was a pretty fast and straight forward autobiography of Charly Baumann’s twenty-five years of circus life. It’s not the type of autobiography where the author does a lot of introspection, but it’s an enjoyable read and a good look into European and American circus post-WWII and into the 1970s. His descriptions of his training methods and the long, difficult process of carefully training tigers was interesting. There are also a lot of […]

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Dandy by Ame Dyckman

April 4, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The interesting part of the book Dandy is, while it has Ame Dyckman’s signature style all over it, at the same time it does not feel like her other books. That, I think, is due to Charles Santos’s illustrations. They “tame down” her quirkiness. The main part of the story is a “daddy/daughter” story. This modern take on how a little girl makes a dandelion her beloved best friend, will have most people cheering on her imagination. However, I’m with the original feeling of Daddy […]

When you are comfy and ready for a good read….

November 23, 2018 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

When you are comfy and ready for a good read you want the book to pop! I was looking at Gator, Gator, Gator! by Daniel Berstrom and was expecting a lot of pop! There was fun rhyming, but not obviously in your face rhyming. There was a diverse narrator. There was the lovely illustrations of Frann Preston-Gannon which were bright, colorful, cool and soft all at once. You were in the bayou looking for that Gator and seeing the wonders of the swamp. Your heart […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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