Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Reverso Poems

Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths by Marilyn Singer and Josée Masse

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems by Marilyn Singer and Josée Masse

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From Marilyn Singer: A reverso is a poem with two halves. In a reverso, the second half reverses the lines from the first half, with changes only in punctuation and capitalization — and it has to say something completely different from the first half. And they claim the right to say they invented the form. Okay, I’m a smidgen skeptical as you’re telling me in the thousands of years of poetry she is the first to think of this? But, you know what? Who cares […]

Haiku for is for the birds

Whoo-Ku Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story by Maria Gianferrari and Jonathan D. Voss

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The picture book Whoo-Ku Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story by Maria Gianferrari and illustrator Jonathan D. Voss is realistic (it talks about how the owl eats, is a bird of prey) but is also age appropriate. Which I would say ranges from a strong age of 5 and up. It can be for older students/children and of course, adults, though the picture book format might turn off the older readers. The way the story is written is in multiple haikus strung together to make […]

Poems and animals, poetry galore. Read the first and you’ll want more

If Pets Wrote Poems: A Parody Collection by Susan Johnston Taylor and Sandie Sonke

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Reading poetry used to be a fun pastime for me. However, recently, I have not been able to find a poet or collection that speaks to me. Things feel overly complicated, too lofty, too trying to be “deep and meaningful” with great subjects, but fall flat in the understanding of what the heck is being talked about. Sometimes I just need Red Fish, Blue Fish, or “Crowded Tub” by Shel Silverstein. Sometimes I like rhymes like that, but other times I just want a nice, […]

Amal El-Mohtar Excels at Writing Fairy Tales

Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar

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I really enjoyed this collection of short stories and poems, most of which are based in science fiction and fantasy and heavily influenced by themes of oppression and freedom. Some of them hit more than others, as was expected, with my clear favorites being the ones that had the most fairy tale-like feel. I loved that sort of “tip of my tongue” feeling for one of them because El-Mohtar was drawing from existing tales, and I appreciated the way she could make them feel like […]

I turned in sleep, shouldering into the dark, glossy water.

I Do Know Some Things by Richard Siken

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I started new dreams without finishing the last, sifting in sleep what I couldn’t sift in daylight. ― Richard Siken, I Do Know Some Things Music was too much to handle. It was overwhelming, but I was afraid of the silence. In the silence, I could hear my thinking: the constant narration of how damaged I was. ― Richard Siken, I Do Know Some Things After meds, I realized I was just another empath in a Denny’s, sinking onion rings in ranch dressing in the […]

One of the books from the “nope, not going to read, well maybe I will…” list

Ride / Đạp Xe by Bao Phi and Thi Bui

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Most of the time if I decide to read a book after thinking I won’t read it, I end up liking it. Usually a lot, too. And that is the case with Ride / Đạp Xe by Bao Phi and illustrator Thi Bui. It turned out to be more fun, interesting and more enjoyably clever than I had imagined.  The overall theme is learning to ride a bike. Of course, that means falls and frustration, but the father and mother of the story keep patient […]



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