Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I really got into Leila Boukarim books!

Mariam’s Dream: The Story of Mariam Al-Shaar and Her Food Truck of Hope by Leila Boukarim

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Leila Boukarim’s Mariam’s Dream: The Story of Mariam Al-Shaar and Her Food Truck of Hope is not a biography about a “woman done good.” Or an Arab woman “done good” or even an Arab refugee woman “done good.” It is all those things and much more. It shows that even if you were born into a situation where all you knew was being a refugee or if you have many obstacles to overcome, you can make your dream come true. Of course, that is a […]

April is Poetry Month

She'll Be the Sky: Poems by Women and Girls by Ella Risbridger

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I started reading the introduction (which is something I don’t always do) to She’ll Be the Sky: Poems by Women and Girls by Ella Risbridger and illustrated by Anna Shepeta. But I stopped maybe half way through as I started to feel that the author was telling me what I was supposed to think about the poems and the choices they made with the inclusion of the poets and poems. Plus it felt as if I needed to agree with their opinion on having a […]

She made sure it was not a silent night

Rachel Carson's Wonder-Filled World : How the Scientist, Writer, and Nature Lover Changed the Environmental Movement by Kate Hannigan

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This poetic biography of Rachel Carson covers the basic facts, but also gives a romantic twist to how her personality, adventures and contributions were. There are multiple sections where the five senses come into play and we learn what she sees, hears, smells, feels, and tastes. They could be literal but mostly metaphorical.  Rachel Carson’s Wonder-Filled World : How the Scientist, Writer, and Nature Lover Changed the Environmental Movement by Kate Hannigan and illustrated by Katie Hickey (which I read via an online reader copy […]

Paint feelings

Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony : La Grande Vallée Suite by Lisa Rogers

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I was hoping for more factual information in Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony : La Grande Vallée Suite by Lisa Rogers and illustrated by Stacy Innerst, but the spirit of the book is as if the artist herself had painted it. Only not abstract and it does have good facts, just focuses more on a poetic execution on the subject. The main point that grabbed my attention was that I was not really aware of the artist, but I think I have seen some of […]

She’s an inspiration

Daughter of the Light-Footed People: The Story of Indigenous Marathon Champion Lorena Ramírez by Belen Medin

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I have read about women who ran in skirts because it was more modest. People who ran barefooted. And athletes who honor their religion by wearing a hajib. And yes, these things are controversial, but also amazing and inspiring. And Daughter of the Light-Footed People: The Story of Indigenous Marathon Champion Lorena Ramírez is also inspiring. Ramirez is from an extremely impoverished area of Mexico. But due to the life her people lead,  they are able to build up the strength and stamina required to […]

Ode to love (self & others) and the twisted path to it

Stone Fruit by Lee Lai

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I have wanted to read Stone Fruit by Lee Lai for several years now. I have had online reader copies, opportunities to get the finished book and then one day I said, “Self, we are asking our library for an interlibrary loan if they don’t have it on shelf.”  And then I read it and thought: Perhaps this is the most straightforward maze of a story I’ve recently read. Not an easy read, but moves at the quickest snail pace. It is a combination of […]



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