Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Where else can you find an alphabet book with Deceitful in it?

The Flip-Flop Alphabet: A Book of Word Choices book by Duopress Labs, Nathaniel Eckstrom

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Lately it seems like my really fun reads are all coming later than sooner. Take The Flip-Flop Alphabet: A Book of Word Choices book which is due November 2026. And here I have a reader’s copy in March 2026 making me feel that is is not fair to y’all to have to wait for this clever and fun alphabet book. The concept of using words more mature than those in a typical alphabet allows for the child’s growth and the introduction of new concepts. I […]

Life, love and rock climbing

Kirby's Lessons for Falling [in Love] by Laura Gao

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Kirby’s Lessons for Falling [in Love] was neither loved nor hated. I mean, Laura Gao did a lovely job of story, text and art, but at the same time, I was thinking, “Something is missing.” It moved quickly, has some new takes on familiar themes, and for the most part I like how things turned out. Yet, giving it a score is hard as I loved most of it, but there were places I did not. Probably why I am having trouble figuring out a […]

No longer under his grandmother’s table

I Wish I Didn't Have to Tell You This: A Graphic Memoir by Eugene Yelchin

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I enjoy Eugene Yelchin as an author and illustrator. I have read several titles including, The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, Breaking Stalin’s Nose, and The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy (illustrated by Yelchin). Therefore I was excited about I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This: A Graphic Memoir written and illustrated by Yelchin. I was assuming it was going to be a memoir of his life during the early 1980s, but it […]

When did Frenemies become a word?

Dragon vs. Unicorn: Friends or Frenemies? by P.J. Hoover and Lisa Wiley

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Dragon vs. Unicorn: Friends or Frenemies? by P.J. Hoover and Lisa Wiley (illustrator) might be, if not the first, one of the first or few Choose Your Own Adventures books I have read via an online reader (though it is currently available).  Online reading of a CYOA is not an easy task, unlike this book which is a quick read for the adult and a decent read for the at least five and up (around a young nine) crowd.  Unicorn and Dragon are two friends […]

Get the garlic….

Love Kills by Danilo Beyruth

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What do I want to say about the graphic novel Love Kills by Danilo Beyruth?  This book was majorly screwed up! I mean, I liked it, despite the ending being blunt, ending on a smack you in the face realization, then nothing afterwards, but overall everything works out well. Though, I would say things lend themselves to be more of a 3.5 and not “just” a three, as I was not a fan of the violent images in some cases, but still thought they set […]

From the author of Bad Sisters comes, Bad Friend?

Wrong Friend by Charise Mericle Harper and Rory Lucey

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Online reader copies were clogging up my number of emails I had saved. One of those was Wrong Friend by Charise Mericle Harper and Rory Lucey as Illustrator. It came out in January 2026, therefore you can run out and get yourself, or your child more likely, a copy.  And while I enjoyed this fun, easy but not simple, story about friendship and changes, there was no wow factor for me. Things were messy, but then again, friendships are messy. As the adult reading I […]



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