Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Bring out the Gnomes

The Magic Cap. by Mirelle Messier

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It was a picture book kind of day and Edelweiss was very obliging with the future publications being available. One due late May/early April 2023 was The Magic Cap. This fairytale (possible retelling, but modern tones) is about two siblings who lived in a cottage next to the woods. This was long ago, and they had just themselves (Arlo and Isaura), their pet hedgehog, Crispin but little else. When Crispin becomes ill the children try to capture a gnome for help. Things do not work […]

“…we’re the dream that humanity creates to make sense of the shadows on the cave wall.”

American Gods: Author’s Preferred Text by Neil Gaiman

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I watched the first season American Gods on Starz back in the day, and I really enjoyed it but never bothered with the rest of the series once I heard that the show runner and several stars were out of the project. I’ve had the novel on my shelf ever since, but its length (500+ pages) was a little off-putting. It’s a funny thing though that the “long” stories are often the ones that read the fastest while the “short” ones can be a slog. […]

Lizzy and the Cloud

Lizzy and the Cloud by Terry Fan and Eric Fan

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Lizzy and the Cloud is written and illustrated by Terry Fan and Eric Fan. They are a couple of odd ducks to start with. Talented as heck, but sometimes I just do not “get them.”  They create stories that seem simple on the surface but are deeper. I am going to say there are a combination of themes in Lizzy and the Cloud which include love, taking care of pets, taking care of yourself, friendships, and death. Lizzy is a young girl who wants to […]

Little in stature, big in dreams

Little Pea by Davide Cali

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Little Pea is a perfect example of what I was thinking about the other day. How I can forgive bad or mediocre writing for fun or good illustrations. We have a story of a Thumbelina character (Little Pea) who is so small they must borrow their doll shoes but still can fight bears and explore. They have a great life as a child, but when they go to school and realize how small they really are, things are not so ideal. Insert a quick, “What […]

Daydreams and reality

Shahrzad and the Angry King by Nahid Kazemi

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Shahrzad and the Angry King is one of those books that I did not know if I liked or not. Now, I am not saying that Nahid Kazemi wrote a bad book, but they did write one of those picture books that has a lot going on and it is not a one time read. Also, I think what I had was only an online sample from Edelweiss, so perhaps some parts were missing. But regardless, there was enough there to really sink my teeth […]

Does any part of you still look at the sky and hurt?

Opal by Maggie Stiefvater

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater

Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater

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“She didn’t want this, she thought. She wanted to stop being afraid.. and she wanted a future that didn’t look exactly like her past. There had to be something they could do. This wasn’t living, it was just giving up while still breathing.” ― Maggie Stiefvater, Call Down the Hawk “Farooq-Lane’s fist smarted as if it had just been smashed against a douchebag’s face, because it had just been smashed against a douchebag’s face.” ― Maggie Stiefvater, Call Down the Hawk Spoilers for The Raven […]



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