Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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I’m trying to think of a clever title that will grab attention but it all seems to frivolous for the subject

Run and Hide: How Jewish Youth Escaped the Holocaust by Don Brown

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The haunting cover of Run and Hide: How Jewish Youth Escaped the Holocaust by Don Brown does not really give you the whole picture of what is going to happen inside this book, but it is a great start. There are layers that will overlap, some things are familiar, others will give you more insight and others might be new stories or concepts. It does not feel like a subject for a graphic novel, but the subject translates well into this format, but it works […]

I was going to send all the spider pictures to my sister, but she’d unalive me….

The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid World War II Army by Penny Parker Klostermann

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Disclaimer: Realistic spiders are drawn in the book The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid World War II Army by Penny Parker Klostermann and  Anne Lambelet. It is due early May 2025, and was read via an online reader copy. OMG! Now, if you do not like spiders, you probably should not read this book. However, I wish you would. Yes, there are spiders (a lot of spiders) but the art of Lambelet makes them so darn cute!  I mean, I’d cuddle with them…. […]

A little hope goes a long way

Two Pieces of Chocolate by Kathy Kacer and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

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Two Pieces of Chocolate by Kathy Kacer and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard is not an easy book to talk about. It is a story about strength and survival illustrated by imagery that brings to life the situation realistic, but also does soften the seriousness. But after that if you tell what happens, it really tells the whole story and you will not need to read it. Based on real events that happened to a young girl, her mother and fellow prisoners in their final concentration […]

During World War Two, in the concentration camp Terezin, something grew

The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Elisa Boxer

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The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Elisa Boxer and illustrated by Alianna Rozentsveig was not what I expected. I think I assumed it would be a lot darker than it was, but oddly enough, it is a hopeful introduction to the subject and one that does offset the darkness of the situation and times.  Perhaps things are a bit more poetic than the actual events were (a teacher in Terezin risks her life to ask another prisoner (also risking […]

“If you are going to tell a lie, tell a good one”

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

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Juliet is in her early twenties when World War II starts, and like so many girls and women her age she finds herself working for MI5. This sounds more exciting than it is; mostly, Juliet types things. One day she is ordered to join a mission in a small flat in London, where an agent named Godfrey Tobey ingratiates himself with Nazi sympathisers.  I haven’t read the blurb at the back but I imagine it continues with something about Juliet not knowing what she’s getting […]

The Strange People

They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer

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I don’t know how I feel about this one. The effort and research are great. Milton Mayer has the patience of a saint to be able to put up with it. I think in finally reading this (which I’ve been meaning to do for a while), I’m dealing with a It’s Not You It’s Me situation. There was a time pre-Covid where I really believed most Trump-loving people in my life would get over it. That they’d see the error of their ways, their hearts […]



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