Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Skirts Just Look So Good on Us!

Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

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Fashion can say a lot about the people that wear it and the places they occupy in time and space. As such, women starting to wear pants is a shorthand for progress in feminism – but, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell argues, the evolution of skirts over the twentieth century too has plenty to say. Like the author, I wear a lot of dresses and skirts, mostly because they are an easy way to look like you’ve made an effort, and also let you slouch and lounge around […]

As Slippery as a Fish

Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish by Richard Flanagan

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“Billy Gould could not escape the growing suspicion that he had become entrapped in a book, a character whose future as much as his past was already written, determined, foretold, as unalterable as it was intolerable. What choice did he have but to destroy that book?”   I’ve saved the most flummoxing book of the year for the last square on the bingo board: a book which involves metafiction and magical realism in convict-era Tasmania. Thanks, Richard Flanagan. Gould’s Book of Fish has a convoluted […]

Songs of Grandfather

Cassi and the House of Memories: A Graphic Novel by Dean Stuart

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Sometimes I see a book and say to myself that it looks good, but for some reason say no thank you to actually reading. Then things happen and it keeps coming back to my attention. And finally one day I will say FINE I will read you. Sometimes I regret doing that, sometimes I do not. I am not sure how I feel about Cassi and the House of Memories: A Graphic Novel by Dean Stuart. This book is an emotional fantastical journey of a […]

I wish we didn’t need books like this

Stolen Colors: A Story About Body Safety and Consent by Patel Khushboo and Tara Anand

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The due in March 2026 picture book, Stolen Colors: A Story About Body Safety and Consent by Patel Khushboo with Tara Anand’s illustrations was read via an online reader copy. And it was another WOW book. Which thankfully I have had a lot of recently as I was on a slow slump on not loving the books I was reading. We start off with a young girl who loves to paint, but that is taken away from her when her teacher assaults her. We follow […]

Native artists give insight

Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale

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I will start with a slightly controversial statement with my review of  Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale: The stories, poetry, essays, photographs and more, are familiar events and journeys that have relatable elements for almost anyone who has ever been an outsider. Regardless of if you are a  minority, I think most people can relate to the prejudices, the destruction of history and faith, and taking the lands of people. And some of the themes […]

I forgot  to take a photo of the book I had, so borrowed from internet, but that’s ok as it’s the book itself that really matters

Drawing from Memory by Allen Say

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The publisher description of Drawing from Memory by Allen Say:  Caldecott Medalist Say (“Grandfather’s Journey”) presents a stunning graphic novel chronicling his journey as an artist during World War II, when he apprenticed under Noro Shinpei, Japan’s premier cartoonist. But that does not scratch the surface. He was a young child during the war, dealing with a father who thought artists were shiftless and would never make anything of themselves. He was dealing with the war, his parents divorce, living with his seemingly judgmental grandmother, […]



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