Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Her voice

Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open: Poems by Diane Seuss

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A friend of mine who is also a writer, poet, editor and constant learner recommended the poet Diane Seuss. Of course, my kid self said, SEUSS? Well that’s a hoot. And I am sure she is tired of people asking and/or joking about it, so I’ll just leave that there and talk about Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open: Poems (Juniper Prize for Poetry) instead.  And I’m not really sure what to say about things. It has a unique modern voice with obvious classical influences, […]

Do they like Ray Charles, Elton John or Liberace?

The Elephant and the Piano by Colette Hiller

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As 2025 winds down, I am finding more online reader copies for 2026. And not just for January or February. No, I’ve seen as late as July 2026. Thankfully The Elephant and the Piano is an early one as it’s due in May 2026. Until then (when I will be finding finished copies for gifts and the library), I will just read Colette Hiller’s book online. This book is based on actual events (but takes some poetic license) of how one man decided to help […]

Read This Book Before It’s Banned

Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News by Alec Karakatsanis

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“Police leaders do not want to talk about the everyday brutality of the punishment bureaucracy. Condemning [Derek] Chauvin as a ‘bad apple’ is a safer tactic. But it is not ‘bad apple’ police officers who make 10.6 million arrests every year and who, since 1980, have helped quintuple the rate of incarceration in the U.S. from its historical average. It is not ‘bad apple’ police offers who purchase tanks and grenade launchers for themselves or who enforce cash bail. It is not ‘bad apple’ officers […]

A piece of the story

Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout

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To be honest, I have a lot of books that get misplaced. I put them in safe places and well, they are so safe even I can’t find them. But there is always a way to find them. And with Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout that way was the library and interlibrary loan.  A powerful and beautifully done story of family and the horrors of war unfolds across the pages. As it is told via a blackbird, things at times become almost […]

Experience of sadness

Sad Book by Michael Rosen

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A while back I found the companion book to Michael Rosen’s Sad Book. Therefore, I figured I should see how the whole thing started and got a copy of the book from my library. After finishing it, I think that The Sad Book is a well done book on dealing with grief, but the second book, Where Are You, Eddie? (coming in Summer 2026) was more detailed and the stronger read of the two. With that said, I feel that The Sad Book could be […]

Poems from new shoes and falling leaves to friendship to growing up

Poetry Comics by Grant Snider

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The only reason Poetry Comics is a four and not a five rating is there were two things I was not loving. The first is that sometimes a poem felt finished but kept on going and the second was that I was not sure why some of the poems were in that particular season. Such as many in the season of winter did not match with my idea of winter.  However, Grant Snider’s works are fun stories done in clever poetry. They made cute illustrations […]



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