Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Gory Zombie Apocalypse Road Trip Romance

Doomsdate by Laura Piper Lee

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I loved Laura Piper Lee’s Pot Shot. I highly encourage you to read it. It’s still on my list for top five reads of 2026. My feelings about Doomsdate are more mixed, but if you are looking for a good mix of horror and romance, it does what it says on the tin. Maisie was raised isolated by her mother, an end of the world prepper whose schizophrenia caused her to live in extreme paranoia. Maisie has spent many years unlearning the fears her mother […]

This is the party that never ends, it goes on and on my friends…. (but it has gorgeous illustrations)

King Winter's Birthday by Jonathan Freedland and Emily Sutton

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Though I did not cry reading King Winter’s Birthday by Jonathan Freedland and Emily Sutton (illustrator), I did get emotional.  It is a bittersweet story of loss and in the end, hope. The illustrations are lovely and though I do give it a five rating, there were a few odd flows to the text in a few places, otherwise it was perfect.  The story is about how a brother (King Winter) wants to spend the special occasion of his birthday with his siblings, King Summer, […]

Domestic Issues

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

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While I’ve been waiting for Kathryn Stockett’s new novel to become available from my local library, I thought it would make sense to finally cross her first novel off my list. The Help was published to huge sales and general critical acclaim in 2009 before being adapted into an Oscar-winning film. It’s the story of Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelana young white woman in Jackson, Mississippi who wants to become a writer, and because of her love for the maid who essentially raised her, hits upon the […]

Duckie and Snaps are back

Duckie & Snaps V02 We Cannot be Brave by Ame Dyckman and Tim Miller

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Book two of the Duckie & Snaps series was due in early August 2026 but I read via an online reader copy well before that, but like many reviews, I didn’t post it until now.  And all I can say about We Cannot be Brave is that it is totally Duckie and Snaps. I guess I could say it is also pure Ame Dyckman. Which means both are really out there and both are goofy and sweet.  And I could add that the illustrator Tim […]

Now (or soon) in a board book edition

La La La: A Story of Hope by Kate DiCamillo and Jaime Kim

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The reason I want to write a review about La La La: A Story of Hope by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Jaime Kim is I am wondering how many words I can use to describe a book that has one word used multiple times, but still only adds up to a handful of words. That word?  It is La. Sometimes this word is La La, or more than two la (like three or more). Sometimes it is a statement, sometimes a question, but it […]

Fish are friends, even if they can’t travel with you

Goodbye, Koi by Jack Wong

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Inspired by actual events of when they were a young child, Jack Wong’s Goodbye, Koi is a lovely toned story and amazingly illustrated book. Due mid September 2026 (read via an online reader copy) this story is adaptable to most ages. While the picture book format might turn off a few older readers, you could read it up to about second or third grade. The premise is that a child must say goodbye to their beloved koi fish pets, as something is happening so they […]



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