Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“I felt sad and a whole lot better at the same time:” Truly a Timeless Classic!

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

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I was really going wild at the bookstore over epistolary novels last week and picked up Dear Mr. Henshaw, a book I hadn’t read in a super long time (maybe 20 years?). Happy to say that it holds up and is just as wonderful as I remember! It’s always weird reading a book you read a lot as a kid and seeing it through the eyes of an adult. I was struck by how big the print is, which I didn’t remember at all, and it […]

Dear Mr. Pretend Henshaw:

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

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This book has always been one of my favorites, and it’s probably been 20 years or so since I last read it. It holds up in some pretty spectacular ways. It’s a series of letters and diary entries by a boy in elementary school writing to an author he admires. The first couple of letters are directly in response to being assigned to read a book by the author and then send the letter. He ends up biting off more than he can chew because […]

“Turning into a mean-eyed lunch-kicker won’t help anything!”

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In addition to reading for fun and to fight cancer, I’m also doing a book challenge with some work friends. The books we have to read are:  a book published this year  a book published year you were born  a book you’ve been meaning to read  a book recommended by you librarian/bookseller/others doing the challenge  a book you should have read in school  a book chosen for you by a spouse/partner/sibling/child/BFF/others doing the challenge  a book published before you were born  a book that was banned […]

Two Quick Kids Books

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How to Train your Dragon Something about this novel doesn’t work for me. I think it has to do with the fact that movies absolutely moves me to tears every single time I see it. I find it incredibly touching and incredibly heartfelt and loving and wonderful. This book is fine and all, but it just doesn’t have that same heart to it. Not even a little bit in comparison. I think part of the problem is that the movie does such a good job […]



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