Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Before I grow up I want to read all the books in the world!

Before I Grew Up by John Miller

The Snail with the Right Heart: A True Story by Maria Popova

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Picture book time! The roundup of two different but equally marvelous books are below. They are for all ages, but best for the older (at least five and up) child, but adults please note that these two books are a must read for you. Maybe you will not learn something (though the second does have a bit of gender commentary) but you should find something to be in awe over. The artwork alone is worth the price of admission! Before I Grew Up has some […]

Should I give my frog a mug of hot chocolate too?

Do Frogs Drink Hot Chocolate? How Animals Keep Warm by Etta Kaner

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I like a fun science book. A book that does not go deep diving into all the ins and outs of a subject. I like to get my feet wet and then see how far I want to explore. And with Do Frogs Drink Hot Chocolate? How Animals Keep Warm I am in the shallow end of the wadding pool. You get your feet wet as an adult, but the aged three and up gets up to their waists, laughing and learning with the best […]

Family Drama

The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones

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In my 2022 quest to read Diana Wynne Jones’ full body of work, I’m running down the Chrestomanci books first. After completing The Lives of Christopher Chant and Charmed Life last year, I’ve moved on to The Pinhoe Egg. Picking up about a year after Charmed Life ends, The Pinhoe Egg focuses on a huge family of Dwimmers, or nature-magical mages, who are trying their best to keep their magical abilities away from what they believe is the oppressive oversight of Chrestomanci. Things have gone fine for years, with them […]

A pleasant but rambling (and jarring) journey

Where the Dear and the Antelope Play by Nick Offerman

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Nick Offerman’s fifth book, Where the Dear and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American who Loves to Walk Outside is as unnecessarily wordy and rambling as its title. Arranged as a collection of three separate journeys, Where the Dear recounts actor/writer/humorist Nick Offerman’s hiking trip in Montana with Wilco musician Jeff Tweedy and writer George Saunders, his repeated visits to the farm home of James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd’s Life, outside of Liverpool, and finally a cross country ramble to […]

A hurricane of jacarandas, strangling figs, hanging vines.

Nature Obscura: A City’s Hidden Natural World by Kelly Brenner

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I’ve always been intrigued by (OK obsessed with) nature. Stick me next to a window and you’ll find me staring outside, looking for signs of wildlife. Come spring, you’ll find me kneeling on the sidewalk next to every snail and slug I see, trying to get the perfect picture. When I worked at a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, a spider made a web on the light in my office and we named him Stanley and fed him mealworms meant for the baby birds. When I moved […]

Why every species matters, and how to convince your friends and family

The Nature of Nature: Why We Need the Wild by Enric Sala

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In the antepenultimate chapter of The Nature of Nature, conservationist and National Geographic Explorer in Residence Enric Sala shares the story of how, in 2012, he and some colleagues sought to persuade Gabonese President Bongo Ondimba of the importance of protecting the country’s marine life. The president listened politely to Sala’s presentation, but when his interest began to wane, the team offered to let Ondimba pilot a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that would allow the leader to observe the life beneath the water in real […]



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