Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

About GentleRain

CBR14 Participant
CBR14 Bingo Badges
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR18 Participant
CBR18 Levels

Your jack of all trades eccentric. Knows a little about a lot and a lot about a little. Tends to mainly read non-fiction (history, true crime, old gossip, etc), SF/F, horror, graphic novels, "genre" books. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: GentleRain's Quick Questions interview.)

GentleRain's Reviews:

“Once upon a time long ago I lay in my crib at Sandy Point Farm while my father lay in the next room dying.”

Once Upon a Time: A True Story by Gloria Vanderbilt

by Leave a Comment

I had read about the custody case over Gloria Vanderbilt in the past, but it was long enough ago that I forgot most of the fine details and felt that I was entering the book with no real allegiances or opinions beyond feeling bad for a child caught up in it. I purchased this copy a while ago and then it sat on my shelf until my recent reading spree focused on mid century society gossip. Once Upon A Time: A True Story is a […]

“I don’t know what to do. I’d normally never go for a guy like him.”

White Liar by Tomo Serizawa

by Leave a Comment

Kei Shiraishi is a hair stylist (and also maybe a makeup artist? But they never really show that in the book — the back cover describes him as a “beautician,” but I never saw him doing anything but hair) who gets picked to cut the hair of a famous up and coming actor. Taiga Jinnouchi is super handsome and an amazing actor, but he gets deep into his characters and it’s stressful on his system. After Kei cuts Taiga’s hair, they have dinner together and […]

“When we were growing up, our parents wouldn’t buy us things, so we worked hard and now we can: buy all volumes of manga, buy toys in bulk, buy DVD box sets”

Insufficient Direction by Moyoco Anno

by Leave a Comment

Insufficient Direction is a humorous autobiographical manga by Moyoco Anno, the wife of Hideaki Anno, who direction Neon Genesis Evangelion. Moyoco is a manga artist and this book chronicles their life together. The main theme is that Hideaki is a huge otaku and Moyoco is trying to remain normal but keeps getting sucked deeper and deeper into an otaku lifestyle. It’s interesting reading this from the 2024 viewpoint of the nerds having taken over the earth and casting my mind back to when being a nerd […]

“Moving is like a save point. You can do whatever you want and then reset afterwards like it never happened.” — Another Perfect Book By Gale Galligan!

Fresh Start by Gale Galligan

by Leave a Comment

I am a very big fan of Gale Galligan and am a member of their Patreon, so I’ve been eagerly anticipating this book for quite a while and enjoying all of the behind the scenes process information. It’s really fun and at the same time sobering to see all of the work that goes into making a book — doing the pitch, the script, page layouts and thumbnails, pencils, inks, colors (by K Czap, who always crushes it), editing, the cover — I always take […]

“My name is Maruru. Due to certain circumstances, I’m living my life as a stray.”

Cat Companions Maru and Hachi (Volume 1) by Yuri Sonoda

Cat Companions Maru and Hachi (Volume 2) by Yuri Sonoda

by Leave a Comment

Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi is a deceptively cute portrayal of the life and death struggles that street cats endure. Maruru is a purebred house cat who runs out of his house to chase sparrows and can’t find his way back home. Life as a stray cat is full of dangers that he did not expect, from the near impossibility of getting food and clean drinking water to trying to keep from freezing to death in the winter. He runs across an experienced street cat, […]

“We are no longer human. We live in the darkness.”

Bite Marks and Fluorite by Seno Yanase

by Leave a Comment

This seemed like it would be right up my alley — BL! Vampires! The somewhat dystopian future of 2096! — but something about it was not working for me although I think I will still keep it for my collection for now. Haru works at a clothing boutique and one night on his bike ride home, he tries to help a man who’s about to be attacked. The man has to turn him into a vampire to save him. Before you become a full-fledged vampire, […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo