Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Hair of hard candy Jolly Rancher; ghost of chance for redemption

Archival Quality by Ivy Noelle Weir

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Maybe it was the cover (hello! A skull???) or the author (Ivy Noelle Weir) or because I had heard of illustrator Steenz. But whatever it was, Archival Quality found its way on my TBR and my library finds. Turns out it is a little fun-spooky but also dealing with mental health issues, so it is not “just for the spooky crowd,” and therefore, it is a bit intense in places, graphic novel. After finishing, I was thinking it was one of the better reads I […]

You’ll flip for this adventure(s)

Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat by Pangburn, Kim Shearer and Nic Touris

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Do you remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books? (FYI: they still have them. ) Anyway, at first, I thought that the book, Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat by Pangburn, Kim Shearer and Nic Touris, was going to be one of them when I found an online reader copy of it (though currently available). I figured, well this will be interesting to try and read. Thankfully (or maybe not thankfully depending on if you think it might be fun to try a […]

Ghostly friendship

The Ghost of Blanes Museum by Lau Moraiti

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The Ghost of Blanes Museum by Lau Moraiti (both text and illustrations) is due late May/early June 2024. I had a “do I/don’t I read it” relationship with this book.  I was not sure I really wanted to read it, but the cover kept pulling me in. I finally had one too many cosmic hints that said, “Read it already!” And I finally read it via an online reader copy. In the end I am not sure why I waited so long! Yet, I think […]

It’s time for the girls to get the job done

Aru Shah and the End of Time: the Graphic Novel by Roshani Chokshi

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Step aside all you Pandavas (heroes), Aru (and Mini) are in town! Aru Shah and the End of Time: the Graphic Novel is a heavy feminist take on the hero/heroine story arc. Two Indian American girls (who are two of the reincarnated Pandava brothers who battled in a civil war with their 1000 cousins), must battle mythical beings, with help from the Gods that claim them. With quirky humor mixed in, this heavy on text graphic novel has some fun illustrations, interesting adventures and a […]

Art Crime Makes a Reappearance

Stealing the Show: A History of Art and Crime in Six Thefts by John Barelli

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May is Preservation Month, and in honor of that there is a push in the museum community to work on safety and preservation policies and procedures that all too often get pushed to the bottom of the to do list. Disaster and emergency preparedness are parts of my job that I enjoy and this year’s May focus for me was theft reporting procedures, which made Stealing the Show timely reading. But I wanted the book that this one’s subtitle describes and this isn’t it. (I’m […]

“Art thieves steal more than beautiful objects; they steal memories and identities. They steal history.”

Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures by Robert Wittman, John Shiffman

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Sometimes professional curiosity places books on my to read list, and that’s certainly how Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures ended up there. While I don’t work in an art museum something that remains a point of interest for me from my days in grad school is the world of stolen and looted art and its recovery. Historical objects can fall into this category easily (and represent a good portion of the cases covered in Priceless) but art and antiquities […]



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