Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Blood and Sand and Diamonds

The Burning Shore by Wilbur Smith

by Leave a Comment

When Centaine de Thiry is left destitute and pregnant after the death of her fiancé Michael Courtney during an aerial battle in World War One, she decides to make her way to Africa, where they had planned to live together after the war. This is the first book in this subsection of Wilbur Smith’s most long-running series, which follows the exploits of the Courtney family in South Africa. Like all the other books, it includes lots of adventure, drama, and some spectacular descriptions of the […]

Contemporary history

Journey to Tomioka by Laurent Galandon

by Leave a Comment

Journey to Tomioka by Laurent Galandon, translated by Owen Smith and Anne Smith with illustrations by Michaël Crouzat was read via an online reader copy. In June 2026, however, you can find a copy, which I highly recommend. The publisher, First Second, has become one of those publishers for me that I might not always love something they published, in fact, I might not even like it, but I always respect what happened and the time it takes to make something that can be thoughtful, […]

Not a buddy movie

Stray by Ryu Kamio

by Leave a Comment

Reading via an online reader copy is sometimes hard for me. But I persevere and just keep swimming, I mean reading. But with Stray there was the added issue of a big ol’ “watermark” in the middle of things. Nope, they did not want people copying the manga comic by Ryu Kamio and illustrator Nakamura Yuu. Plus, it is manga and therefore, the flow is off for my western eyes to start. With that said, a few days after starting, I finished this Yakuza meets […]

Well Halloween is coming up so this is a good time to talk about this book

The Last Halloween, Book 1: Children by Abby Howard

by Leave a Comment

When you like Halloween, the title The Last Halloween, Book 1: Children will catch your attention. It didn’t hurt that this was a big ol’ fat book. So, “Abby Howard” (I said) “you have yourself an interesting book. Okay that cover is a bit funky, but I’m a big kid, I can handle it.”  I’ll let you decide how well I did (or did not) handle it. Man! Is this one screwy book! There is nothing about it that is likable….yet it is a GREAT […]

The written car wreck

In the End We All Die: A Graphic Novel by Tobias Aeschbacher

by Leave a Comment

cbr17bingo I (I is for IN THE END) The cover image I do not believe is in In the End We All Die: A Graphic Novel by Tobias Aeschbacher, but honestly I am not completely sure because I was trying to figure out the cast of characters. These sad, lonely, pathetic, pitiful, hopeless, petty, wretched individuals are made up of tails, snails, and mud. On the surface they might look okay, but two of them (a male and female couple) rob food trucks, three men […]

Being a samurai isn’t easy

The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

by Leave a Comment

I’ve wanted to read The Worst Ronin since before it came out as I was seeing online reader copies. I did not actually get a copy until it was over a year old. With that said, it was worth the wait. I don’t think I would have appreciated the humor or elements before now. I recommend for ages at least 12 and up as there are several places where there is violence, injury, blood and other sensitive subjects.   Overall, it is the opposite of what […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo