Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I think my house might be Ivy’s….

Ivy by Katherine Coville

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Digging, digging through my junk, I found this book. What luck! As the above said, I was cleaning the other day and found this reader copy of Ivy by Katherine Coville. Therefore, the illustrations were not completed, so I can only tell you that the images I did see look fun, cozy, and good for the ages aimed at. Which is kindergarten to second grade. The younger are listeners, the older with help and solo reads. I can also tell you that this is an […]

A Hippo Walks into a Zoo

Hippopotamister by John Patrick Green

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When Red Panda leaves the broken zoo, in Hippopotamister by John Patrick Green, he comes back every so often to tell Hippo how wonderful the outside world is. And Hippo enjoys these visitations until one day Hippo is not content to just listen to the stories, he wants to leave and find a wonderful job for himself, like Red Panda has had so many off (and yes, folks, Hippo is a sweet, naïve lug of a hippo and did not see the red flags). And […]

A puggle and a couple poodles discuss important concepts

What Are You? by Christian Trimmer

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You get right to the point of the matter with What Are You? Well, okay it takes a couple minutes (after all doggies must play and you can ask questions afterwards). But soon the poodles that a young puggle is playing with ask The Question, “What are you?” Our hero replies, “Dog.” But no, that is not good enough for them. As this young pup looks nothing like what dogs look like. Or do they? Dealing with the “Where are you Really From?” or “Are […]

He’s a dog called Murray with lots of worries

Don’t Worry Murry by David Ezra Stein

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We know the story that is presented in Don’t Worry, Murray as it is a story of anxieties and fears. However, we have not seen it with one of the cutest pups I have seen in a bit. David Ezra Stein created a small dog that has big fears. He does not want to go outside. Why? Asks the narrator. And in a wordless explanation we get an all too clear reason why (it is wet, and he does not want to get dirty). And this […]

John Updike Stuff

The Poorhouse Fair by John Updike

The Same Door by John Updike

Pigeon Feathers by John Updike

Museums` and Women by John Updike

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The Poorhouse Fair – 3/5 Stars This is a reread for me separated by about 15 years or so. This is John Updike’s first novel, and feels like it in a lot of ways. It also feels like a kind of drawer novel that came out after finding some experience with short fiction and poetry. The novel is short, broken into three chapters with some small section breaks within it. It takes place over the course of a weekend in a “Poorhouse”, a state-run old […]

Philip Roth Round Up

I Married a Communist by Philip Roth

Deception by Philip Roth

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I Married a Communist – 4/5 Stars The second in the so-called American Trilogy which finds both Philip Roth and his sometimes alter ego Nathan Zuckerman reflecting on their own pasts and also the middle part of the 20th century. The Zuckerman novels tend to be fairly naval-gazing affairs and very episodic. The American Trilogy all put Nathan in the passenger seat as he talks with friends and acquaintances about their stories. The first, American Pastoral, deals with Nathan meeting back up with an old […]



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