Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Going from “talk the whiskers off a catfish” to silent as a mouse

Catching a Storyfish by Janice N. Harrington

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I did it again. I was emailed “the book is here, please pick it up” and I said, “What book?” “Why this book? How did it get on my radar? Who was I when I thought this sounded interesting? When was this request done?  Where was I sitting when I thought to request?” Okay, not that one. But the other questions (maybe) happened. But regardless of the who, what, when, where, why and how of it all, I am glad I did request Catching a […]

The eyes of Tituba

Who Was Accused in the Salem Witch Trials?: Tituba: A Who HQ Graphic Novel by Insha Fitzpatrick

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Who Was Accused in the Salem Witch Trials?: Tituba: A Who HQ Graphic Novel highlights one woman’s story during the Salem Witch Trials. We focus on Tituba, the slave woman who was accused of bewitching the children she oversaw. It does not go deeply into the situation (the trial, her time before the accusation, the jail, etc.) but focuses on Tituba’s role in the events, and some of the more important details, on a point-by-point basis. There are historical information side boxes that will give […]

Literature with a Capital L

The Old Man & The Sea by Ernest Hemingway

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I’m not a fan of Literary Fiction. Ultimately, I think it’s a good thing. It’s the concept car of fiction, pushing the envelope and helping to define how the field operates. It’s what my favorite creative writing teacher (though possibly my least favorite, I have two separate people in my head to which I want to attribute this quote) called, Literature with a Capital L. It’s also my least favorite thing to read, because of what I, as an uncultured barely hominid raccoon-person uncharitably call, […]

The Witch and the Boy

Witch of Mine Vol 1 Autumn Song by Haeyoon

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Oh, that Witch of Mine! The things she knows, does, and teaches us and the characters of the first volume of the Haeyoon and Mas manga graphic novel. You learn she is a witch, do not know she is the sister of the scape goat of the village (until later, then in the “all witches are sisters” way), pretends she is the mother of a younger boy and her familiar (a girl child in their cat-human form), and later she becomes the lover of that […]

The Librarian of Crooked Lane

The Librarian of Crooken Lane by C.J. Archer

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There’s a genre of TV my wife and I return to time and again, for which I shamelessly claim the honor of having named: Comfort Comedy. This is the media equivalent of mac & cheese. Nothing revelatory, nothing risky, and at the end of the day you know you’ll feel satisfied, comforted, and um… full, I guess. This for us is fiction like Bob’s Burgers and Kim’s Convenience. It’ll tell scampy stories with some hijinks but always come back to homeostasis of a loving family who […]

“It is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it”

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

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I adored Becky Chambers’ The Wayfarers series, so when I found out that she had a newer series I jumped at the chance to put it in my Libby queue. While it took a while to work its way into my grubby hands (err e-reader), it actually ended up being the absolutely perfect book to read in January: A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a calm, sweet novella in the midst of the “new year, new you” advertisements being hurled my direction elsewhere. Sibling Dex […]



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