Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Author Ponweera has you covered for your reading needs

My Best Friend's Bangles by Thushanthi Ponweera

Crossing the Finish Line by Thushanthi Ponweera

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After reading I Am Kavi by Thushanthi Ponweera, I decided to look for other books by them. I did not expect a lot as I Am Kavi had a feeling of being a first novel and maybe the start of a promising new author for me. And it was new 2023 and I was lucky enough to be reading it in 2025, therefore, I felt I had a good chance of finding more titles. I found out that in 2024 My Best Friend’s Bangles (illustrated […]

“Normal is a terrible thing to aspire to,” Patrick had said. “Aim higher.”

The Guncle (The Guncle #1) by Steven Rowley

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This was the monthly library selection for my local library book club, I hadn’t heard of it, but was excited to read it because a LOT of our content this year has been HEAVY including women feet binding, mental illness, racism (actually THREE books where racism/discrimination was a central theme) and mortality. Now that I think about it, um, Schaumburg Library you doing okay? But I digress. I hung a lot of hopes on this book for some lightness and laughs and it delivered. It […]

The Eighties Man

The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor

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Eddie is a young boy in 1986 and he does what other 1980s teenagers did: hang around with his friends during a long, hot summer. They devise a plan to send each other secret messages using stick figures that they draw in chalk. Then, a terrible accident happens and not soon after, a body is found in the forest.  If books and TV shows are anything to go by, it’s amazing that anyone managed to escape the eighties unscathed. Then again, the point of the […]

Two different stories pretending to be one novel

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

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The 19th Wife tells the story of two young people from different time periods, each dealing with the repercussions of growing up in a polygamous society. In 1875, Ann Eliza Young, the titular “19th wife” of Mormon leader Brigham Young, has recently left her husband, her religion, and her community, embarking on a crusade to end the practice of polygamy. In 2007, a young man named Jordan Scott must return to the polygamous Mormon sect that disowned him years ago, in order to investigate his […]

Her dedushka teaches

Dedushka: Memories of My Grandpa and Ukraine by Katerina Spaeth

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When you try to read a book online and you can’t find the format for your equipment, or you just can’t find a copy, you get a little more than a little more than frustrated. Or at least  I do. And that is what happened with Dedushka: Memories of My Grandpa and Ukraine by Katerina Spaeth. I could not find a reader copy anywhere. And I was not looking forward to waiting until September 2025 for it. But, finally one day in April there was […]

If The Librarians met the Night at the Museum

The Night Librarian: A Graphic Novel by Christopher Lincoln

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If The Librarians television series met the movie The Night at the Museum you would have The Night Librarian: A Graphic Novel by Christopher Lincoln. Realism, fantasy and literature literally come to life on the pages of this middle grade graphic novel.  While I liked and enjoyed it, I was not “wowed.” Things are familiar (sibling issues, issues with absent parents, really expensive and rare editions of Dracula), and it is just a fun story about stories, siblings, family, communication, being appreciated. We have read […]



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