Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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I did not expect what I got

Fustuk: A Graphic Novel by Robert Mgrdich Apelian

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When I read Fustuk: A Graphic Novel by Robert Mgrdich Apelian, I expected something completely different. I guess I thought there would be more fantasy, less realism. And while I was not exactly sure what that meant, or would entail, I did not expect what I got. And in the end, I think it might have been better than I thought.  The setting and use of food are unique with the coming of age and self-discovery is a comforting familiar part of the story. The […]

A family story

The Fire Walker by Ainkaran Sivaaji and N. Dejeshwini

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The Fire Walker by Ainkaran Sivaaji and illustrated by N. Dejeshwini is due in mid-September 2026. I think I will read it at least once more before it comes out and at least once when I find a finished copy (I read via an online reader copy). There is a lot going on with the theme and illustrations. The idea is simple: a child worries about his father, wonders how people will react when they see the father is not well, and can the father […]

The Doctor is a Life Saver

A Doctor at Heart: The Story of Groundbreaking Scientist and Teacher Vivien Thomas by Joan Schoettler and Steffi Walthall

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This man grew up in a family that demanded perfection, he would grow up to graduate with honors, he would lose all his money in the stock market crash, and he would go on to be the man who helped find a cure for blue baby syndrome. He was Vivien Thomas. Oddly enough, though they mention the pay discrepancies, there is not a lot about the racism Thomas would have faced.  And though there is the story of how he got his “girls name,” I […]

Prose, poems and stories

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany L. Browne

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While there are a lot of new titles out there, I needed to catch up on some older titles. Books, I keep “meaning to read” and never get around too. I picked up A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany L. Browne. I thought it was a book in verse, but it is more short essays and diary entries. Or as if someone is interviewing the narrator and they are just replying to questions.  Still, it was short and figured […]

Too many elements at once

Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries

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Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries is in one word, odd. But not in the usual sense of things. The story is straightforward: a person is coming to terms with the changes in their lives, the fact they are not like their siblings as they are the “normal one” (ie: does not have powers) and is trying to deal with headache and heartaches. But there are several places where things fall short of being “smooth” and go into the odd. First, the pages are crowded. […]

I recommend BINGO and this book

The Last Time We Spoke: A Story of Loss by Jesse Mechanic

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cbr17bingo Rec’d: Grief stories are not new, but each is unique to that person. The main thing I came away with from reading The Last Time We Spoke: A Story of Loss, is that the author (Jesse Mechanic) is human: selfish, loving, scared, fearless, angry and hopeful. They are both a reliable and unreliable narrator as they are telling the story from their eyes and over a 20 year period. The art is tone setting and allows us a peek into the mind of someone […]



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