Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Disney Reimagined for Grown-Ups

Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

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The first Meant To Be book I ever got was If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy. That’s because it was the first Meant To Be book at all, and as a religious reader of the Twisted Tales, I was curious what an adult contemporary line from Disney would look like. Of course, like many other things, it fell behind, and it wasn’t until a year or so later that I actually picked up a Meant To Be book—and this time it was By the Book by Jasmine […]

Early Disney puts the D (as in the grade) in Disney for me

Walt Disney's Classic Storybook by Disney

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Since these collections don’t appear to list an author, I’ve listed it as “Disney” here for simplicity’s sake. This was a book my wife picked up for me at a thrift store, thinking it was in surprisingly good condition and that it would be of interest to me, given my love for animation. While I appreciate the historical and artistic aspect of it, the stories themselves fall flat for me. Color me controversial, but I never understood the appeal of most of Disney’s early “classics.” […]

Disney tricked me and I’m not even mad!

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

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I have loudly declared for a long time that we should have a hiatus on all Cinderella remakes. And I have rallied for a shorter time on the sad habit of Disney retreading old IP over and over again. It’s not that I am so mad about them redoing the same fairy tales all the time, but in a world where there are truly hundreds of versions of their Disney Princess tales, why not tell a fresh version of the story? I decided to read […]

A must read for folklore and pop culture enthusiasts

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc

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Amanda Leduc grew up on Disney just like many kids of my generation. But she grew up experiencing it quite uniquely. Leduc has cerebral palsy, so a world where beauty is judged by perfect dainty feet and graceful dancing is a world that doesn’t celebrate her. Disfigured is part memoir, part fairy tale study, and a beautiful thesis for disability justice. Leduc shares her extremely personal experience of being diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a young girl, of navigating bullying and crises of confidence through […]

The House of the Mouse

Disneywar by James B. Stewart

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Several folks recommended this non-fiction tome for people like me who love the hit HBO series Succession. Since the third season just ended (and who knows when we’ll get a fourth?), I finally decided to try it. And yeah, fans of Succession will love it. Fans of corporate thrillers/backstabbing will love it too, whether fiction or non-fiction is your poison. James B. Stewart documents in great detail the rise and fall arc of Michael Eisner. These kinds of books aren’t my thing but I can’t imagine there’s a better […]

My Buddy Whitney Wrote this book, so please read!

Who Was Walt Disney? by Whitney Stewart

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cbr13bingo  Old SeriesThis biography in the Who Was/Is series is a tastefully done book about the man who made movies and influenced the world. Who Was Walt Disney? He was a dreamer (who thankfully had a levelheaded brother to help him) create what we know to be animation and cartoons. He was not always a nice man, but Whitney Stewart (who is a really nice person and has a mom the store nicknamed, Trouble) focuses on the positives, while letting you know of his faults. […]



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