Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Red Panda Time Travel Agency

The Discovery of Fireworks and Gunpowder: The Asian Hall of Fame by Oliver Chin and Philip Amara with Juan Calle

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Perhaps it was the subject matter (I am not a huge gunpowder fan, though I am a bit of a fireworks enjoyer) or the fact that I have read read several titles by Oliver Chin and Philip Amara, that made this book, The Discovery of Fireworks and Gunpowder: The Asian Hall of Fame, feel a smidgen weaker due to the similar tones their work has. However, I like the characters and it is a fun way to introduce a subject that might not immediately be […]

It is more than Gangnam Style or Demon Hunters

The Discovery of K-pop: The Asian Hall of Fame by Oliver Chin, Juan Calle and Phil Amara

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If loving K-Pop music is wrong, I know a lot of people who are very openly wrong. I mean, I know of a woman who is a grandmother of an early teen, who is a BTS fan. I mean fan girl fan level. But hey, I was a New Kids on the Block Fan so who am I to judge? We all have our boy band(s) to love regardless of the decades behind our years. However, what I know about K-Pop can fit on a […]

The new familar

The Princess and the Grain of Rice by Tina Cho

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When I first started working at the bookstore, I decided I was going to collect Cinderella stories from around the world. I found so many I had to stop. There were just too many. Then I decided that I would read as many fairy tales as I could and only collect the ones that really hit the spot.  And what book hits a spot better than a Princess and the Pea story? Or more accurately  The Princess and the Grain of Rice. However, this time […]

I wrote a long review about two books and it’s longer than the books probably…

Sun, Moon, and Star: A Folktale from Korea. by Nancy So Miller

Beatrix and Her Friends by Anne Lambelet

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Folktales have always been a go-to read for me. I enjoy learning about other cultures and seeing how they have been interpreted. Plus, I enjoy comparing them with other cultures’ stories. One true folktale (it even says so in the title) is  Sun, Moon, and Star: A Folktale from Korea. The other, while not a pure folktale, I consider her stories to be folktale adjacent. It is a biography of Beatrix Potter, aptly named, Beatrix and Friends. Nancy So Miller took an established story of […]

Four books for the price of one review (and a lunch break filled with books)

The Peacock Who Howled with Jackals  by Nahid Kazemi

You Can't Tame a Tiger by Stephanie Ellen Sy

RJ and the Ticking Clock by Ian Duncan

Who Needs the Dark?: The Many Ways Living Things Depend on Darkness by Laura Alary

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The other day I found a few titles I was interested in via an email newsletter. When I looked them up to see if reader copies online were available, they had thumbnails of the images, but not the full  text. I read these introductions, but was hoping to find finished copies sometime in the future (as they are all summer and fall publications). The next day what to my wondering eyes did appear? It was eight tiny reindeer…. I mean, those four titles I had […]

Based on a Japanese folktale

The Beckoning Cat by Koko Nishizuka and Rosanne Litzinger

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The cover of the online version of The Beckoning Cat by Koko Nishizuka and Rosanne Litzinger (illustrator) was what caught my attention. This white cat jumped off the screen and meowed “look at my colors, my odd grin and you know you want to read me.” I debated laying down as I was at work and a talking computer screen was more than I was ready for. But I went to get some air and read it a bit later. I would love to give […]



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