Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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The story in grandmother’s attic

A Family Secret by Eric Heuvel and Lorraine T. Miller

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Due to the familiarity of the story presented in A Family Secret by Eric Heuvel and Lorraine T. Miller (Translator), things were not as impactful as it could have been. However, if this is your first or near first time reading a WWII / Holocaust story, it is good. The images are busy, so take your time with them. The ending is a smidgen idealistic, but it’s also a nice touch. I am now curious about the sequel / companion graphic novel. I would have […]

An Adults Only Lord of the Flies

Batavia by Peter FitzSimons

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The Batavia, the pride of the Dutch East India Company, is on its maiden voyage from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies when it wrecks off just off the coast of western Australia. But the tragedy of the Batavia stems not from the forces of nature, but from the evil in men’s hearts. I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts about this story in the last couple years, and was so curious about this strange, dark story, part survival story and part true crime, that I decided […]

The woman and the slave girl

Raging Clouds by Yudori

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Books sometimes find me. I was going to the library to pick up some I had ordered and Raging Clouds by Yudori was sitting off to the side of the entrance. I almost didn’t go that way to the checkout desk (I usually go left, not right) but something made me go right. And there it was. Fat, shiny and new. It was shyly facing away from me. And that’s the last time this book was shy. Even the librarian when I checked it out wasn’t […]

A piece of the story

Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout

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To be honest, I have a lot of books that get misplaced. I put them in safe places and well, they are so safe even I can’t find them. But there is always a way to find them. And with Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout that way was the library and interlibrary loan.  A powerful and beautifully done story of family and the horrors of war unfolds across the pages. As it is told via a blackbird, things at times become almost […]

Review 2?

The Sunflowers: Vincent van Gogh's Search for Beauty by Zahra Marwan

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As many of you know, I am in the bookselling business. Currently I am behind the scenes, but I occasionally still “hand sell” a book (usually via an email or over the phone, not on the sales floor). And because I am in retail, it might seem odd I would go to the library as I practically have access to any book I want. But sometimes you just have to.  I want to see if I would like a book before I buy it, or […]

Mevan and their bike

The Bicycle: How an Act of Kindness Changed a Young Refugee’s Life by Patricia McCormick

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I did not read the entire article I had about some new books coming, but it was highlighting summer and bicycles. The list was around half a dozen titles long, all picture books. I figured I could locate copies of most of them. And in fact, was able to find online reader copies for all of them. However, four of them stood out for me. These four were different but still had familiar elements that I found comforting.  In The Bicycle: How an Act of […]



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