Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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I think the marketing people should find other books to compare this book to

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

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3.5 stars #CBR11 Bingo: Youths! From Goodreads: Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.  When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when […]

Life might not be basketball, but basketball can be Life

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

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My goal this year was to read books I tend not to read. I was doing well but quickly fell back into my comfort zones. One being YA graphic novels. As far as I know, I have not read any Kwame Alexander novels. I might have read a short story or two, but that is it. Therefore, I have wanted to add him to my To Be Read List and figured a graphic novel was a good way. What it turned out to be was […]

“I mean, you can know someone is dying on an intellectual level, but emotionally it hasn’t really hit you, and then when it does, that’s when you feel like sh**.”

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is typical Jesse Andrews. This style of writing is exactly like Haters (I read them in reverse). The nice thing is both are standalone titles. I read the paper edition but looked at the hardcover and movie cover editions and have to say, I like the bright yellow cover best. Then the hard cover as it makes the characters somewhat like I pictured them. However, the movie? Oh boy! I think they totally missed on what the characters […]

Dearly beloved

Something Very Sad Happened: A Toddler’s Guide to Understanding Death by Bonnie Zucker

I Miss You: a First Look at Death (First Look at Books) by Pat Thomas

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While I do not necessarily agree with Bonnie Zucker that there is not anything for the under four crowd about introducing the subject of death, I do admit that I am hard-pressed to mention anything other than Something Very Sad Happened: A Toddler’s Guide to Understanding Death. It is an accessible way to introduce the child to the loss of a loved one. Due to the way it is presented, you can adapt the book to your needs. This is done by highlighted words that […]

“There are new monsters now”

Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

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This novel sneaks up on you. You’re lulled into comfort with descriptions of old video rental places, suburban living rooms, and the polite peace of the Midwest before being startled awake by sudden glances of violence and fear. These shocks originate from movies. Movies within movies. Were they intended for you to see? Why are they here? Who spliced an almost still image of heavy breathing and a woman with a bag over her head into She’s All That? Uncertainty creeps around every corner- breeding fear, […]

Well, I got to 52!

P.S. I love you by Cecilia Ahern

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Ahern wrote this book when she was 21. The premise is clever, a bitter-sweet gimmick where Holly’s husband dies, but he leaves her a series of letters to help her cope in the first year without him. Each letter has a surprise or a challenge and always ends with “P.S. I love you.” “Their plan had been very simple: to stay together for the rest of their lives. ” The book however does not quite work. Writing about the grief and pain of losing someone […]



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