Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Neshama would make a good name for a perfume

Neshama by Marcella Pixley

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Marcella Pixley’s poetic prose novel, Neshama, is one of those books I would have loved as a kid and good for the 10 and up crowd. However, as an adult, there were a few bumps. The themes are good: being yourself, standing up for yourself and forgiveness, but first, I’ve read several middle grade readers and a lot of books with the theme so it was a bit repetitive. That is why if you’re new/newish to the middle grade coming-of-age story it works perfectly. As […]

Elastic tension lashed their cars together across space, alone on the road, nothing in his head but grief and freedom.

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

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Andrew held the clutch and eased onto the gas, pushing revs while the digital readout reminded him to hold it, wait for the right moment to explode. Sam’s fingers touched the rim of the moon hanging in the sky. A shudder ripped across the bones of Andrew’s forearms, terror and delight and the promise of risk bringing him to life. ― Lee Mandelo, Summer Sons For fuck’s sake Andrew. Is there anything in this scenario that feels heterosexual or well-adjusted to you? ― Lee Mandelo, […]

Cute Ghost Story

To Knit a Ghost by Z.B. Asterplume

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The cover of To Knit a Ghost (read via an online reader copy, due July 2026) is adorable. Now, I know not to judge a book by its cover, but when you have a cover that has this kind of brightness and color, odds are good you’ll be having some fun and it will be a cute story. Z.B. Asterplume and illustrator Heather Brockman Lee live up to that cover. They made a sweet story that has fun illustrations and makes both knitting and non-holiday […]

You’ll be spooked so much it’s a good thing this is set in a bathroom

The Harrowing Game by Antonie Revoy

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Little geek brag. Author Antonie Revoy liked my review on a certain site I count my books on for The Harrowing Game (or at least the person/people who take care of their social media). Still, that’s a pretty cool brag. Me and graphic novels had an unusual relationship. It was not until I read three different ones that I really understood how a book that is in the graphic novel format can be as powerful as the novel without images could be. And when I read […]

I lean towards Little Ghost

Little Ghost House Hunts by Lucy Branam

All Hallows' Eve by Anthony DeStefano

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If you are new here, or to my reviews, let me tell you: I like Halloween. However, I do not like the spooky or horror or gross, but the fun, candy getting, costume wearing part. I also like reading Halloween books, especially for kids. The novel The Halloween Tree has some great moments for the 10 to adult reader, but there is nothing like a picture book. And recently, I found two picture books (read on line, currently available) that are very different from each […]

What would you do for your sister?

A Friend for Lucy by Jen-Ai Elena Molineaux

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When I started to write this review, I had eaten too much sugar. I was on a bit of a sugar-high-buzz that was making me a bit too “up” and slightly feeling off. So, I was nervous this book would be too sweetly reviewed or I would maybe dwell too much on how sweet it was. After all, A Friend for Lucy by Jen-Ai Elena Molineaux is a sweet book. It is also a clever story of friendship between different generations and how family can […]



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