Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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About GentleRain

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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:

“He had been defying us all. Yet there was nobody in the court who did not look superior to him.”

Radio Treason: The Trials of Lord Haw-Haw, The British Voice of Nazi Germany by Rebecca West

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Radio Treason was originally a series of New Yorker dispatches from Rebecca West, covering the trial for treason of William Joyce, who was a radio propagandist for the Nazis nicknamed “Lord Haw-Haw.” This book is a reissue of these columns into one book, which is unfortunately and depressingly extremely of the moment. I had a lot of moments of recognition and sadness reading this as to how little things have changed in terms of the small minded and pathetic nature of Fascists. West details the trial and […]

“Marta, I want you to know that war destroys everything, always. That is its intent, its only intent. If anyone tries to explain it to you otherwise, in some other way, in words of nobility or valor, do not believe them.”

The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo

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This got me through a rough commute today, thanks to Kate DiCamillo for giving me something to focus on as I struggled my way to work. The Hotel Balzaar is set in her Norendy universe, of which this is my first time reading, so I’m not that clear on what differentiates Norendy from our world, but I had a pleasant time visiting. Marta’s father has gone missing during the war (it seems to be WWI but it’s not specified) and her mother has had to […]

“The town of Stony Lonesome spreads like scrambled eggs. It spills, runny, over the hot desert pan, but then heaps up all around you, making this place feel smaller than you thought.”

Gumshoe by Brenna Thummler

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I was unsure about this when I saw it in the bookstore, but I’m glad I gave it a chance because I ended up thinking it was quite good. Sometimes it’s good to push through my initial negative reaction! Gumshoe is a magical realist middle grade/YA graphic novel (definitely appropriate for middle schoolers, but it’s dense and complex enough that I think it’d be good for the YA reader as well) about Willa, who has intense social anxiety and wants more than anything to be […]

“When guests visit the shop and look at the pets we offer, they often see them as someone that, in a deep corner of their heart, they desperately yearn to see.”

Petshop of Horrors: Collectors's Edition (Volume 4) by Matsuri Akino

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This is the fourth volume of the Petshop of Horrors collectors edition, which I’m very happy to be re-collecting since for some mysterious reason I got rid of my Tokyopop editions at some point. When and why, I don’t know. Seven Seas has been doing a nice job putting these out in a nice large format and including the extras in the back (which were a bit thin this volume, but maybe that’s how they were originally? Some brief backstory to the chapters, a note from […]

“It seems like a good thing to know the star that can keep you from being lost in this world.”

Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo

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Spoilers follow below! These two books follow Raymie Nightingale and round out the trilogy with the girls at 14. Louisiana’s Way Home details Louisiana’s struggle to understand her past and to cope with her grandmother’s decisions, as she uproots them yet again and forces Louisiana to leave behind the new home and friends she’s made. They end up in a small town in Georgia and she has to find her footing once again in the face of a lot of revelations and emotional upheaval. This is probably […]

Very Cute Middle Grade Fantasy Graphic Novel

My Sister the Werebeast by Alina Tysoe

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This is a very cute middle grade graphic novel that hits many of the themes I enjoy — school narrative, siblings having to work together, magic, and actually supportive adults so that the kids don’t have to do things all on their own. Mira and Rosie have been left to look after their little sister, Peanut, while their parents are off on an adventuring expedition. This is a world in which there used to be magic, but it supposedly vanished hundreds of years ago after […]



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