Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Yaaaaaass Queen! You ruled!

What Kind of Queen?: A Royal Biography of Drag Queen and Activist José Sarria by Kyle Casey Chu, Andrew W. Shaffer and Cindy Lozito

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The subject of being a queer kid in a children’s book, even a picture book, is not new. However, the format of What Kind of Queen?: A Royal Biography of Drag Queen and Activist José Sarria gives things a fresher feeling and makes a relatively unknown person accessible. The extras add to the bigger picture of who and what Jose Sarria was, but before you get there, to the end of Sarria’s life and accomplishments he was a child who knew how to be himself. […]

“The best way to go through life is to be a major donor of kindness”

Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas

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Bingo: I am counting this book for the “Diaspora” space on my bingo, since it centers on the author’s experience as a member of the Iranian diaspora. This was a memoir covering Firoozeh Dumas’ life, from her family’s move from Iran to California when she was 7, up through her teenage years and young adulthood. She writes about her experiences with American food (hot dogs are pretty gross, if you think about it), her family vacations to American tourist sites, her disastrous stint at summer […]

Voluptuary, Writer, Gourmand

The Gastronomical Me by MFK Fisher

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Bingo: “G” And with this I black out my Bingo card!! MFK Fisher’s The Gastronomical Me is a feast. Fisher transmits her memories through the lens of food, in which she takes the most sensual pleasure. Raised by a grandmother who saw food as strictly utilitarian, Fisher remembers her saying, “‘Eat what’s set before you, and be thankful for it,’ Grandmother said often; or in other words, “Take what God has created and eat it humbly and without sinful pleasure.” Fisher, fiercely independent and fascinated […]

Marriage is just for the tax benifits and other life lessons

Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed? by Liz Prince

Delayed Replays by Liz Prince

Look Back and Laugh by Liz Prince

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A while back I read the graphic novel, Tomboy by Liz Prince. It was a fun memoir about being a kid that made me wonder about adult Liz. Who is she now? Or at least when her works were published. I found 2018 as the most recent autobiographical work, 2023 for Science Comics: Frogs: Awesome Amphibians (from First Second) and Adventure Time Compendium Vol. 1 in 2024 with other contributors.  Adult Liz is not much different than kid Liz. A bit awkward, weird, funny, has […]

Silly ol’ book

How a Bear Became a Book: The Collaboration That Created Winnie-the-Pooh by Annette Bay Pimentel

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A clever ol’ story about a clever and silly ol’ bear is what you learn about in How a Bear Became a Book: The Collaboration That Created Winnie-the-Pooh. The pieces fit as if you’re reading a Winnie the Pooh story, the illustrations as if reading a WTP book and they come together to make a modern classic. It is less a “solid story” and more of a poetic telling of how a bear came into existence. Things are less hard facts but taking the facts […]

Don’t be a bass read this book

Fly Rod Was First: Cornelia Crosby's Adventures in Angling by Cathy Ballou Mealey

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Women’s biographies are becoming more popular in the picture book format. As well as stories written about women who were in non traditional female roles. Add in the fact she was into a sport that I’ve never heard that too many females were involved in, and you have one of the most unique biographies I’ve read. Fly Rod Was First: Cornelia Crosby’s Adventures in Angling is a great introduction to a kick-butt woman who knew how to cast her influence on the fishing world! The […]



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