Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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A soldier’s diary from the front lines of seasonal employment

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

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My costume is green. I wear green velvet knickers, a yellow turtleneck, a forest-green velvet smock, and a perky stocking cap decorated with spangles. This is my work uniform. ― David Sedaris, Holidays on Ice I’ve read this, listened to the public radio broadcast of David Sedaris’s reading, and I’ve seen a performance of The Santaland Diaries. It’s been a while, so this was a fun yet illuminating reread. David is a thirty-three-year-old man hired to be an elf at Santaland in at Macy’s in […]

It is not a Pain to read about this Great One

Otherwise Known as Judy the Great: A Poetic Ode to Judy Blume by Selina Alko

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Perhaps I should have waited to add Otherwise Known as Judy the Great: A Poetic Ode to Judy Blume by Selina Alko to my Best of This Year Reads list, but I did not know I was going to read it when I put my list together. Besides, it is all good as I will let you know here how FREAKING awesome this book is now. Due in February 2026 (perfectly timed as Blume’s birthday is the 12th of February) this book is set up […]

Describe in two words: FREAKING WOW

Chance: Escape from the Holocaust by Uri Shulevitz

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The book: Chance: Escape from the Holocaust by Uri Shulevitz One word: WOW. Okay two words. FREAKING WOW I cannot tell you how fantastic this book is. Just read. It is not easy, it is sad, heartbreaking, scary, beautiful, hopeful and more. It covers all the emotions. It shows you a piece of World War II that we don’t know about. Again, WOW and go read. For mature readers at least 12-13 and up, but I would recommend older. But if you read with them, […]

This Week, In Irish Trauma Porn…

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

The Gathering by Anne Enright

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To be fair, only half of this is Catholic trauma porn. One may wonder why Ireland, of all places, has spawned such a fabled literary heritage. Personally I think it’s their sly sense of humour, finely tuned after years of British occupation. Perhaps it’s the potatoes. Both of these books abundantly feature potatoes.  Small Things Like These (Claire Keegan) *** Bill Furlong is a coal merchant in a small town in Ireland in 1986. It’s nearly Christmas; the busiest time of the year for him. […]

Magic and Anxiety

Secret Passages 1985-1986 by Axelle Lenoir

The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor

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Secret Passages 1985-1986 by Axelle Lenoir – 3 stars In an effort to untangle her complicated feelings about the loss of her cosmic twin, author Axelle decides to unspool her life in an off-kilter autobiographical comic. This is a surreal and funny graphic novel which depicts a year in young Axelle’s life as she starts going to school, forms a strange connection with the forest by her home, and begins to suffer in the grip of acute anxiety. The art is both atmospheric and humorous, […]

“Clean hearts and clean minds, cleanliness at all times! Nothing dirty, nothing bad, always happy, never sad!”

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

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Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the mysterious children’s program Mister Magic, the five remaining cast members are brought back together in a strange house in the desert, where they begin to realize their childhood is not exactly how they remembered it to be. Sometimes it’s fun to write one star reviews, because the story is not at all what was said on the tin and then I’m annoyed to have spent time with it. Other times, it’s tough to write […]



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