Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Capybara might have 4,383 friends, but I only had time for three reviews

Extra Ezra Makes and Extra-Special Friend. by Kara Lareau

Oona and the Shark (book two) by Kelly Dipucchio

Capybara Is Friends with Everyone by Maddie Frost

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I did not have high hopes for Extra Ezra Makes and Extra-Special Friend. It looked goofy and off-putting. But when I got into it, despite the um… less than “all there” looking students at Ezra’s school, the story did capture my interest and the illustrations worked for the humor needed. Kara Lareau has written a picture book about friendship, and what not to do. This idea is not new, but because Ezra is a special young person, the theme fits the sensibilities of today.  Ezra […]

That isn’t no bull

Clovis Keeps His Cool by Katelyn Aronson

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Did you like The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf? Or mor accurately the movie starring the voice talent of John Cena as Ferdinand? Then you should try this similar title, Clovis Keeps His Cool by Katelyn Aronson. This book is a concept book with the concept being “Clovis is a bull but not a bully.” Clovis tries to be a good, zen-like bull. He runs his grandmother’s china shop (yes, the joke “bull in a china shop is less than subtle), putting his football […]

Anthologies in Fantasy should be everywhere

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore

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This is a fantasy series that focuses on a different story and characters each novel. Some characters may cross over and be the main for more than one but the situation would be drastically different. I absolutely love this way of storytelling and think it allows for fresh and fun ideas, vastly different aspects of a fantasy world, and new and fun romances almost every story (if you are into that kind of thing!). Here are my reviews for each individual novel which star rating […]

Dumb but Strong Gets Boring, or Enough with the Cream Puff Gags, or Why Harry Potter and Black Clover Don’t Mix

Mashle: Magic and Muscles, vols. 4-5 by Hajime Komoto

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Sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me and I pick up subsequent manga volumes from the library just to see if things get any better or interesting; sometimes this works out and sometimes not. With Mashle: Magic and Muscles, the first few volumes were essentially trope overload with a touch of the goof-ball. Volumes 4-5 don’t really get much better. Tropes include the clueless but good-hearted hero who has nothing but physical prowess to get by in a magic world, the girl he saves […]

And so the adventure begins!

Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins by Matthew Colville, Matthew Mercer, Olivia Samson (artist)

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Our household is BIG into Dungeons and Dragons (DnD).  My SO and I met at a LARP (live action roleplaying event) and we now play DnD with our kids.  When Critical Role (a DnD game run by voice actor Matthew Mercer and all the characters are also voice actors) debuted on YouTube we gave it a try and passed.  We weren’t interested in listening to other people play DnD.  In the years since Critical Role has blown up.  They are now on their third adventure […]

“In crowds it is stupidity and not mother wit that is accumulated.” – Gustave Le Bon

The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie

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1,474 pages later and Joe Abercrombie’s ‘Age of Madness’ trilogy has come to a close in The Wisdom of Crowds.  Together they are a masterpiece in epic storytelling taking a slice of the Circle of the World from unhappy but with relative stability, through the madness of war and rebellion, to a new society tentatively hopeful that the change wrought has been worth the destruction and bloodshed. At the start of the The Wisdom of Crowds, the Union and North have already been through the quite […]



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