Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

And the people bowed and prayed

Neon Gods by Katee Robert

Electric Idol by Katee Robert

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Katee Robert was a name unknown to me until I read nart’s review of Neon Gods, and her review (and those of other Cannonballers) made me intrigued by the premise – modern-day retellings of Greek myths where the gods of Olympus are actually mortal rulers of the city of Olympus, in an unknown country only loosely connected to our real world. It’s an interesting setting, and allows Robert to make up her own rules about how things work and why. As other reviewers have pointed […]

A Novel of the First Rank

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

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Around the turn of the 19th century, Dutch clerk Jacob de Zoet agrees to take a post with the Dutch East India Company with the trading port of Dejima near Nagasaki, Japan. He hopes that during his five year stint he can amass a fortune enough to impress his beloved’s father and get him to allow the marriage. A humble, pious man, de Zoet is a terrible fit for the society on Dejima, where corruption and dishonesty are the rule. Jacob struggles to get along […]

A book about nothing

Zero Zebras: A Counting Book about What’s Not There by Bruce Goldstone

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The concept of Zero Zebras: A Counting Book about What’s Not There at first was off putting and I expected something to happen that eventually, never did. Bruce Goldstone starts with the usual counting format. Therefore, the idea of 5 foxes or 10 tigers is not new, and even zero zebras is not a new concept. However, one most likely will assumes that by the end you will have a menagerie of animals and then the narrator will say, oh one zebra or 100 zebras […]

Grumpy Sunshine Literary Summer

Beach Read by Emily Henry

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My wife reads around 100 books a year. At the end of each year, she picks five or 10 of those for me to read. They’re usually some of my favorites each year – it’s almost like she knows me.) One of her choices for me this year was Emily Henry’s Beach Read, which was a Book of the Month Club choice and would probably be a great movie with the right cast. It’s a “grumpy sunshine”-styled rom-com, although it doesn’t fit squarely in the […]

Bitter sweet goodbyes

The Sour Cherry Tree by Naseem Hrab

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When I first saw The Sour Cherry Tree by Naseem Hrab, I thought it was going to be an Asian folktale. Instead, this lovely story of a granddaughter saying goodbye to a beloved grandfather is a realistic story with Arabic characters. But the great part is, it is relatable no matter your background. Anyone with a grandparent that maybe you did not have a terrible close relationship with but had a very special one will understand how the young girl feels the day she learns […]

Popsicles that are out of this world

Moon Pops by Heena Baek

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The Kirkus Reviews said: “Whimsically varied perspectives” and the publisher description says: A witty, weird, and wonderful spin on a classic Korean folktale.” Moon Pops is all that and more. This (according to publisher description) is the first picture book for Heena Baek to be published in English (translated by Jieun Kiaer). Moon Pops has a folktale feeling, and a translated tone. This means that you are getting something that can feel a bit “sophisticated” and maybe a smidgen “talking down” to the younger reader. […]



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