Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


My over-excitement was beyond all description.

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

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Jules Verne occupies a few disparate corners of my imagination, and since I am reading and reviewing two of this novels here, I will share them. First, I read pretty much every edition of “Great Illustrated Classics” that I could as a kid. I would like to go on some kind of fake affected rant about how they opened up doors to me, but really I used them for Book It and Accelerated Reader to earn points with my friends. I think ultimately they proved […]

To the Stars!

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan

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In this book, Carl Sagan gives at first an overview of the then current state of the exploration of the Solar System (as it was in the mid-1990s when the book was published), and then debates the question whether we should try to send humans to Mars or not as a first stage of further exploring space with people rather than robots. This leads to speculation not only on the future of space travel and its vital importance, but also on the future of humankind […]

They blinded me with Science

The Truth about Crocodiles: Seriously Funny Facts about Your Favorite Animals by  Maxwell Eaton III

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#cbr11bingo #Science The first of my  cbr11bingo books is: (drum roll please): The Truth about Crocodiles: Seriously Funny Facts about Your Favorite Animals by Maxwell Eaton III is a funny and educational book. Humor is both kid and adult friendly, but some jokes are slightly more adult. Not inappropriate but slightly more sophisticated. This and the fact the way it is set up (story text and fact text) allows the book to grow with your child. It is a multilevel and multi-aged book. There is something […]

To Build or Not to…. Nah! Just to Build!

In Made by Maxine by Ruth Spiro

Builder Brothers: Big Plans by Jonathan and Drew Scott

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In reverse alphabetical order, this review covers two different books about building, about trying and not giving up. In Made by Maxine by Ruth Spiro, we see our heroine trying to figure out how to make things bigger and better. When she gets a pet fish (who she thinks is waving at her), she builds it the biggest, funniest, craziest fish tank as the bowl she had for him was just too dull. And how proud both are of it! That is until the class […]

An homage to Granny, the world’s oldest known orca, who lived to be 105 years old!

Wild Orca: The Oldest, Wisest Whale in the World by Brenda Peterson

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Wild Orca: The Oldest, Wisest Whale in the World has a little quirk that at first, I missed (looking back, it was pretty obvious). The Granny the young girl speaks of is not her Granny, but Granny the orca whale that is the matriarch of three different pods of whales called J, K and L. My first clue something was up was the fact Granny might not show up if she was busy, and since she was busy being 105 years-old, that might be the case. […]

My first DNF in years

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science - and the World by Rachel Swaby

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From Goodreads: Fifty-two inspiring and insightful profiles of history’s brightest female scientists. In 2013, the New York Times published an obituary for Yvonne Brill. It began: “She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job, and took eight years off from work to raise three children.” It wasn’t until the second paragraph that readers discovered why the Times had devoted several hundred words to her life: Brill was a brilliant rocket scientist who invented a propulsion system to keep communications satellites […]



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