Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Me and my neighbor

The Blackout by Luis Amavisca and Francesc Rovira

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The cover of The Blackout by Luis Amavisca and illustrator Francesc Rovira (due October 2026, read via an online reader copy) makes the book look like it would be a slightly different and more mature story. Instead, it is a sweet picture book (that I hope is not oversized as it has an unusual look to the actual cover illustration) about how family—even found family, who is literally in the dark—makes everything a little better. The illustrations are perhaps my favorite part of things as […]

She climbed and protected so we all could enjoy

Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains by Anita Yasuda and Yuko Shimizu

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I am not a sports person. I am not an outdoors person. I am not a hiking person. And I am certainly not a mountain climbing person. I am a person who will read a book outside (but it’s a porch and there better be running water/bathroom and cool drinks nearby). And I am a person who will read a book about someone who is an outdoors, sporty, mountain climbing person. And  Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains by Anita […]

The artist and her brain

Memento Mori by Tiitu Takalo

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I wanted Memento Mori by Tiitu Takalo (and Crank) to be this year’s Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story by Catherine Pioli, but it did not turn out exactly as hoped.  Still, Memento Mori is amazing and an emotional journey of life, possible death, and living, but maybe I was not as invested in the story as I was during my Pioli reading.  After all, I read hers soon after/while I was dealing with health issues of my own, so I was still pretty […]

I read a little bit

Pockets for Two: A Collection of Girlhood by Lindsay Ward

Beneath by Cori Doerrfeld

Hedgehog and the Art Show by Ozge Bahar Sunar

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Okay, this might be a surprise, but I read a little bit. In fact this should be such a shock to you that if you did not fall down laughing, you are not paying attention. Seriously, I like books. I like sharing books and I will share three with you. Disclaimer: even if the book is out, I read all as online reader copies.  Pockets for Two: A Collection of Girlhood is a sweet story about the magic of pockets, treasures and special friendships. Lindsay […]

Nanorrobots Prodigiosos?

Virus. La guerra de los mil millones de años by Juan José Gómez Cadenas; Juan Botas

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So for my European bingo spot, I’m going to review a science book about humanity’s tangles with viruses that eventually builds to the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Virus. La guerra de los mil millones de años‘ (‘Virus. The war of a billion years’) is a bit of a curiosity for me: this book about viruses, diseases, and pandemics, which was written with a Spanish perspective in mind, was completed during the very first few months of the pandemic. The authors state in the introduction that the writing […]

I need more room for more of the illustrations.

Everybody Has a Body by Molli Jackson Ehlert

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    I like books about body positivity. And Everybody Has a Body tries to tap into this theme. Now, they tend to run the route of body “neutral” instead of being a true “positivity” book. Molli Jackson Ehlert talks to us in frank terms. You are tall. Or short. Or thin. Or hairy. Or in a wheelchair. Or have a limb difference. Or are bald. Or so much more. There are all types of bodies and they just are. And all these bodies can […]



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