Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Madeline Miller (2)

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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Some of my AP Lit students are reading this book because I required that they pick a book that either inspired spin-offs and remixes or is a spin-off or remix of a previous book. I think I read three Song of Achilles books and realized I needed to go ahead and read it. What stands out to me about this book compared to reading other versions of the story here (the “””””friendship”””” of Achilles and Patroclus) is that by putting the story in first person, […]

“You’re stuck loving only hearts that can stop beating.”

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

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CBR Passport – 4, new to me author; 3 – different genre – this was a mix between fiction and, given the amount that is drawn from the author’s real life, a sort of memoir I’ll start this review with a content warning – Catherine Newman’s popular novel, her only novel to date as she mostly writes non-fiction essays and children’s books, is about the death of her childhood friend. Edi, based on Newman’s real friend Ali, is dying of cancer. I know that many […]

Be the funny

Be the Bus: The Lost & Profound Wisdom of the Pigeon. by Mo Willems

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Have you found the word of The Pigeon? Have you taken The Pigeon into your soul and heart? And I do not mean just any ol’ pigeon, but the pigeon of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! If not, you need this handy-dandy little gem called Be the Bus: The Lost & Profound Wisdom of the Pigeon. Mo Willems is at his best when we get sage advice such as Let me be the first to say that everything has already been said. Or […]

Murderbot does it again!

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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I’ve been working my way through the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. I was recently able to get the fourth book, Exit Strategy (2018) from the library. It was a quick, interesting read that added to the Murderbot story. It looks like there are currently six books in the series, with more on the way. I think at this point I’m pretty committed to the series, although I do have a hard time keeping all of the books and the humans in the story straight. So, to […]

The action of a plan

Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler

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When you have a dream, you dream it. But to make that dream come true, someone will need to build it. We see how the men and women of construction, plumbing and more bring to life the plans of architects, engineers, and designers in Someone Builds the Dream.  Each part of the overall picture is important and needed, but Lisa Wheeler shows us tht without the person to twist a wrench, or move a plank to a certain spot, the finished project would still be […]

Well-behaved women seldom make history

Rima's Rebellion: Courage in a Time of Tyranny by Margarita Engle

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CBR15Passport Book I own Rima’s Rebellion: Courage in a Time of Tyranny is an interesting book. First, it is prose poetry and while that is usually a good thing for me, I am not sure this was the best format for the subject. Second, it is confusing what age(s) it is aimed for. The tone of the book is for a middle-grade reader (at least aged 10 and up), but the subject matter is more mature. If this was Margarita Engle’s first novel, that bump […]



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