Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Animals, and birds, and counting numbers; oh my!

Knight Owl's Little Christmas by Christopher Denise

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Sometimes sequels and companion books do not always hit as well as the first book of a series or collection by an author for me. The Knight Owl books are good and I like them, but the second book was not as good as the first. I am not jumping up and down and saying they are my favorite books, but I like recommending them and on occasion reading them again. Therefore, these are exceptions to that comment. And one day, while browsing potential online […]

Celebrate Ramadan

Ramadan for Everyone: A Muslim Community Story by Aya Khalil

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Again, I almost did not read a book. I have read several books about Ramadan, and thought that perhaps Ramadan for Everyone: A Muslim Community Story by Aya Khalil would be just like those. Turns out, it is and is not like other books. We have the concept of Ramadan, the events and things one does to honor Allah, but there is more as well. The young girl of the story has a voice that is different from other stories, and yet is familiar too. […]

More Christmas and Yule please

The Legend of the Christmas Witch by Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza

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With the book, The Legend of the Christmas Witch, I wanted more about Christmas and less, well, witch. I understand that Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza wanted to build up to the climax, but it made no real sense to me why things were called Christmas. First, she practices Yule celebrations. Second, we only see her being impatient, spoiled and naive. We do find Christmas with a Santa character, who is the witch’s beloved twin brother who turns out to be a bit of a […]

Some cheer

The Old Sleigh by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey

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As another companion to the stories The Old Truck and The Old Boat, (which I do not believe I have read) the book The Old Sleigh is added to the clever creators Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey stories. A horse-drawn sleigh against a snowy background is loaded with the firewood a boy and father cut and deliver to a small village. As the village grows and the sleigh starts to fall about as it ages, we see how the changes happen and though things have […]

I am grateful for good books

Gather Grateful by Megan Litwin

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I was not going to write up a review for Gather Grateful. In fact I was not going to read it. I figured it was going to be like all the other thanksgiving books (and I don’t mean with a capital T, but a thankfulness, mindfulness, gratitude story). It was not until after the fourth or fifth time I saw pop up places that I said, “OK! Universe! I get it! I’ll read the book!!!” And as usually happens, I enjoyed it. However, Megan Litwin’s […]

What army base is off limits on Passover? (Fort Leavenworth) but seriously, this is a serious (but fun) story

The Passover Pet Surprise by Ana Maria Shua

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When I am not sure how to start a review I look up punisher descriptions and/or other peoples reviews. Part of the publisher’s description has this mentioning how it is about freedom for the Jewish people-and their pets, and that is a good way to start my review for The Passover Pet Surprise by Ana Maria Shua. The characters in the story are visiting family for the holiday. The children are either having their first one or are old hats. But when they decide that freedom […]



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