Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Friend Carl might not have liked being a book prop, but I liked this book.

Orphanland by Lauren Fischer

October 3, 2025 by BlackRaven 2 Comments

The story behind the book is better than the book, Orphanland by Lauren Fischer, and it is a good book. Or at least I think so, as it made a cozy memory to be connected to a book with a not so cozy theme. I was going to read it online, but got a finished paperback (after requesting the online book and the author contacting me saying thanks for requesting) from the author. We emailed a little bit as we were talking about the book, […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, History, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: coming-of-age, drugs & alcohol, family, foster homes, friendship, Lauren Fischer, LGBTQ, opioid crisis, orphans, Social Theme, substance abuse

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:425 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, History, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: coming-of-age, drugs & alcohol, family, foster homes, friendship, Lauren Fischer, LGBTQ, opioid crisis, orphans, Social Theme, substance abuse ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

Finding wings

Bird by Kristin Rosetta Elliott Hood

August 2, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Through the site that I get most of my online readers, I found several older titles. And by older I mean as far back as even 2002. The publisher was reissuing a few things I was assuming, but that is always fun as you never know what you will find. One of those books, that I almost did not read, was Bird by Kristin Rosetta Elliott Hood and illustrated by Shadra Strickland. This was one from 2017. This book was at first something that seemed […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, Poetry Tagged With: art, brothers, death & grief, drawing, family, grandfathers, grandparents, Kristin Rosetta Elliott Hood, Shadra Strickland, siblings, Social Themes, substance abuse

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:373 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, Poetry · Tags: art, brothers, death & grief, drawing, family, grandfathers, grandparents, Kristin Rosetta Elliott Hood, Shadra Strickland, siblings, Social Themes, substance abuse ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

A game of reality

Lo and Behold by Wendy Mass

January 18, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

CBR16SweetChallenge #Cozy (has a feeling of cozy, and deals with themes in a less intense manner) The graphic novel Lo and Behold by Wendy Mass and illustrated by Gabi Mendez is a sweet story about Addy, a young girl who must learn to have empathy, sympathy and forgiveness for her father, mother, and most importantly, herself. There is a lot about VR technology and its real world applications. Adults can enjoy it as well as kids (strong 8/9 to 12-13). There is a little about […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Mystery Tagged With: animals, CBR16SweetChallenge, college, experiments, family, friendship, mothers, parents, science, siblings, Social Themes, substance abuse, virtual reality, Wendy Mass

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:29 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Mystery · Tags: animals, CBR16SweetChallenge, college, experiments, family, friendship, mothers, parents, science, siblings, Social Themes, substance abuse, virtual reality, Wendy Mass ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

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

July 19, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Suspense, Young Adult Tagged With: Alcohol, Bereavement, Canada, Death, Donovan Yaciuk, drugs, family, Fort Smith (N.W.T.), grief, indigenous, Inuit, Japan, Nickolej Villiger, Northwest Territories, paranormal, Richard van Camp, Samurai, Scott B. Henderson, Social Themes, Spirits, substance abuse, values & virutes, War & Military

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:535 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Suspense, Young Adult · Tags: Alcohol, Bereavement, Canada, Death, Donovan Yaciuk, drugs, family, Fort Smith (N.W.T.), grief, indigenous, Inuit, Japan, Nickolej Villiger, Northwest Territories, paranormal, Richard van Camp, Samurai, Scott B. Henderson, Social Themes, Spirits, substance abuse, values & virutes, War & Military ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
Cover of Book, Roxy (words spelled Rx Oxy) there's a figure falling and another, larger figure looming over them

“Do you have sadness in your heart for the world that can never be & sensible shoes? You’ve got weltschmerz.” *

Roxy by Neal Shusterman, Jarrod Shusterman

November 18, 2021 by NTE 1 Comment

I don’t think I’ve ever positively reviewed a book I haven’t finished, but this here’s going to be the first. Because I’m the kind of person who can’t rewatch the Scott’s Tots episode of The Office, and who cringes just thinking about that one scene in On His Way to the Wedding (by Julia Quinn: Spoiler for a Bridgerton book ahead) when Gregory professes his love in front of all of London, and … it does not go well.  I just sometimes get to a point […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: DNF, drugs, jarrod shusterman, Neal Shusterman, Neal Shusterman, Jarrod Shusterman, NetGalley, substance abuse, Trigger Warnings, Trigger Warnings in the Book

NTE's CBR13 Review No:44 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: DNF, drugs, jarrod shusterman, Neal Shusterman, Neal Shusterman, Jarrod Shusterman, NetGalley, substance abuse, Trigger Warnings, Trigger Warnings in the Book ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

Growing Up takes a lifetime

Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

October 13, 2021 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff is a memoir in a journal format that takes us through drug addiction, sex addition, and mental health issues from the point of view of the user/addict/person dealing with the mental health issues.. The selfishness, the recovering, the relapses, and more selfishness cover each of the pages. We see Nic getting sober from his pills, pot, and alcohol only to get into harder and harder things until meth is King. Until his addictions to sex and drugs […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Health, Non-Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Alcohol, drugs, family, nic sheff, substance abuse

BlackRaven's CBR13 Review No:349 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Health, Non-Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Alcohol, drugs, family, nic sheff, substance abuse ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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