Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the Yay for YA Discussion About YA Books Now  

Kindness can go a long way.

La bondad brilla en la oscuridad / Kindness Glows in the Dark (Spanish and English Edition) by Gama Valle and Mrinali Álvarez Astacio

by Leave a Comment

While food insecurity is not a new subject, it is not one that is always talked about, especially in a picture book form or is not always accessible to all readers or listeners. The story La bondad brilla en la oscuridad / Kindness Glows in the Dark (Spanish and English Edition) by Gama Valle and Mrinali Álvarez Astacio (Illustrator) introduces this concept to a younger audience, but the extras at the end allow it to grow with the reader. The format, the place the story […]

I’m glad the author is enjoying international success

Stargate - en julefortelling/Brightly Shining by Ingvild H. Rishøi

by Leave a Comment

Nowhere Book Bingo 25: Local author (the story takes place about 15 minutes from where I work) The full review of this on my blog contains spoilers so if you don’t want to know how the book ends, and why I can’t rate this book higher, skip the paragraphs I’ve highlighted. Ten-year-old Ronja and her sixteen-year-old sister Melissa are used to disappointments, living alone with a father who only occasionally sobers up long enough to hold down a job for a month or two. They’re […]

Politics, Economy and Gender of Gaming

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow

by Leave a Comment

My review of In Real Life by Cory Doctorow has borrowed pieces from a couple online reviewers. I figured they said what I was feeling, and it’s validating to know I wasn’t the only one that wasn’t “wowed” but the book, yet still found enjoyment. I will start  with: This is not a perfect story, still, I had… fun reading it. The online world vs real world has been done before.  You can … connect on a virtual level, but it can’t replace human (…) […]

“I looked and listened:” Two Photojournalism Books

World Press Photo 2021 by World Press Photo Foundation

Below the Line: Living Poor in America by Eugene Richards

by Leave a Comment

World Press Photo 2021 was an interesting one for me because it made me think a lot about what I like about photojournalism and why this particular volume wasn’t clicking for me. There’s a bit in the book where they talk about how the field has switched to focusing more on the photographer having a particular personal vision and trying to capture a photo that sums up some sort of larger issue or event, versus earlier photographers who were trying to capture an exciting photo […]

I really did not like this book.

What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell

by Leave a Comment

“The trouble with you is you don’t know what you want,” he said. “You say one thing and then another.” I knew he was right, and not just about my relationship with him; always I feel an ambivalence that spurs me first in one direction and then another, a habit that has done much damage. I didn’t deny what he said, I even nodded in agreement, at which his mood only darkened. ― Garth Greenwell, What Belongs to You “Though I thought of him often, […]

The defining feeling of my childhood was that of being told there wasn’t a problem when I knew damn well there was.

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh

by Leave a Comment

It wasn’t all bad, that poor rural place. Though money was scarce, you would have had your basic needs met because we knew how to grow and build things. ― Sarah Smarsh, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth I am grateful for my early life, and I wouldn’t wish it on any child. ― Sarah Smarsh, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth The women I knew were […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo