Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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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 […]

Love, family, friendship makes it all right

Lost and Found Hanukkah. by Joy Preble

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When you are browsing online reader copies you can find everything from books about women’s health, sexuality, horror, mystery, humor, dogs, cats, rhinos, birds, environmental war, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, various New Year celebrations and Hanukkah books. And that’s all in April and May.  And one of those books is one called Lost and Found Hanukkah. The author Joy Preble and illustrator Lisa Anchin put together a book with many layers. In no particular order, it is a book about family, friendship, community, parents, same sex couples, […]

I had more images I wanted to add, but ran out of space

A Party for Florine: Florine Stettheimer and Me by Yevgenia Nayberg.

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For Christmas 2024 one of my gifts was a glass drink-jar from my nephew and his family. It is cute and great for the grand aunt of yesteryear. Except I’m more of a fun flower on a cool simple skull girl and not all pretty flowers. But it does have books and the saying There Is No Such Thing as too many books. And that I do agree with. And I also agree you can’t have too many online reader copies, you just need to […]

“You can forever remember the wrongs done to you as long as you live,” she said. “But if you forget ’em and go on living, it’s almost as good as forgiving.”

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

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This book was given to me as a CBR Book Exchange Gift last year (thanks, friend!) and had a lot of buzz about it last year; I finally got around to reading it this year, nudged by the fact that it was the November book club selection of my library book club. It was great for book club, in that overall reception to this novel was very divisive, which made for great discussion. This novel is about 1960s Americana, focused on the lives of Jewish […]

Just a couple of moms and their talking cats

Urban Tails by Ilana Zeffren

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I first found Urban Tails by Ilana Zeffren as an online reader copy, though the book has been available since May 2022. I was having trouble reading it online due to the illustrations. The text bled into the images. The colors were dull and this made things feel unfinished overall. The story wasn’t engaging me. But there was something about it that made me want to read it. I knew there was something there. Perhaps it was because it was about Israel. Or because there […]

Love, Kindness, Danger

The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout and Sammy Savos

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“There are very few survivors left, and I want the world to know that there was a Holocaust” The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival is a short graphic novel, but has a lot packed in. Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout and Sammy Savos created an informative, quick story about how one girl survived during wartime, a girl who was lost and how she found her voice when all seemed to be the end of the world.  There are uncomplicated illustrations supporting […]



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