Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Never Trust the Fae

Stars, Hide Your Fire by Kel McDonald, Jose Pimienta

by Leave a Comment

Somewhere in Massachusetts, two best friends, Darra and Andrea, struggle with the reality of growing up and growing apart. As they start high school and consider their futures, one wants to stay put while the other can’t wait to get away, which inevitably strains their friendship. When they break into an abandoned, supposedly haunted factory and the ghostly woman trapped there offers one of them eternal youth, they accidentally unleash something sinister on their unsuspecting small town. I really liked this one, which is unsurprising […]

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year One

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year One by Tom Taylor

by Leave a Comment

My experience has been that most comic based on video games are…less than stellar. And when I have not even played the game on which it is based, I am even more reluctant to read the book. However, my son’s oldest friend has been asking me to read this for several years and so I started it this month. I am so glad I listened to him as this was a fun and interesting read. The main concept is that Superman “Breaks bad” and Batman […]

Dying’s not so bad. At least I won’t have to answer the telephone.

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

by Leave a Comment

Bingo: New (new author to me) This graphic novel is Roz Chast’s memoir about her parents’ aging and eventual death. It’s a dark topic! But the book itself is highly entertaining. Chast’s parents, George and Elizabeth, lived their entire lives in Brooklyn. Chast was born fairly late into their marriage, after they suffered a stillbirth several years before her birth. One day, when her parents were in their 80s, her mother fell. This was the beginning of a downward slope in health for both of […]

just the coolest casual story of how I got this book

Twelve Percent Dread by Emily McGovern

by Leave a Comment

I actually met Emily McGovern in person! I was checking out what events were going on in the area near my office one evening, and I saw that there was a book signing about a 10-15 minute walk away, and I went on a whim! This is why I moved to London, to be clear, this sort of serendipitous ability to do cool things. She drew a tiger in my book as that is my favorite animal (or maybe elephants are?) and I couldn’t think […]

Heartwrenching and So Good

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

by 2 Comments

Bingo: Heart (themes of familial love) What a lovely book. The Best We Could Do is a graphic novel by Thi Bui. It’s a story about her family. It starts with Thi giving birth to her son, and as she comes to terms with becoming a mother, she finds herself thinking about her relationships with her own parents and her childhood. From there, she explores her parents’ childhoods, how they met, their life in Viet Nam prior to and during the war, and their escape to the […]

The overlap of horror and reality

The Last Temptation by Neil Gaiman, Alice Cooper, Michael Zulli

by Leave a Comment

I was looking on the bookshelves for something to read that wouldn’t require too much thought, and this copy of the Neil Gaiman/Alice Cooper collaboration The Last Temptation jumped out. A horror graphic novel seems perfect for July 4 in America 2022. It’s weird how I have learned to tolerate gore and horror, even going so far as starting a Stranger Things watch. But I suppose given the daily shitshow of gun violence, intolerance and repression in the land of the free and home of […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo