Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Even slime molds find their way better than I do

Supernavigators: Exploring the Wonders of How Animals Find Their Way by David Barrie

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My friends, I have a condition. I suppose the commonly used term for it is “directionally challenged.” When I go back east to visit my family, my husband has to navigate even if we are driving in an area where I grew up, because his ability to remember where we are is so far superior to mine, even though he’d never been to the area before we met. When I go to a shopping mall or a medical complex, the only way I can find […]

Save the Flower Vampires

Tiny Bird:  Hummingbirds’ Amazing Journey by Robert Burleigh

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I think I was in love with Tiny Bird:  Hummingbirds’ Amazing Journey before I even opened this picture book. The illustration that was the cover was as eye catching as the hummingbird itself. I knew that Wendell Minor would not disappoint with the art (or so I was hoping) but could Robert Burleigh create text that would be interesting and as bold as the illustrations? And they did. The result of these two artists was an accessible for multiple ages and levels picture book that […]

“So Much for King Kong”

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani

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I had seen the book Primates since it came out in 2013 (hardcover) and 2015 (paper). I had no real interest in it at the time. It was non-fiction (which I have had a love-hate relationship with over the years) and judging by the cover, young and maybe a little preachy due to the subject. And while it is non-fiction, it is what I have started to call a non-fiction novel which allows stories to have the best of the novel-flow and the facts of […]

“This is a story of light and dark…”

Moth by Isabel Thomas

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My goal this year was to read more novels. But how can I when there are books like Moth by Isabel Thomas? This is an amazing non-fiction story about a particular moth and how it changed over the years. The cover is gorgeous. The illustrations are a unique combination of romantic, realistic and abstract. These contradictions help give the feeling of night and day and the surroundings, plus making a story. The moths are black and white, and the rest of the animals are in […]

This book is cute. Wombats are way cuter.

The Secret World of Wombats by Jackie French

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CBR11bingo: I LOVE THIS What do I love? Wombats! To be fair, I’m partial to animals in general. I even try to coexist peacefully with centipedes, in spite of them giving me massive heebie jeebies. But wombats belong to that incredible group of mammals known as marsupials, of which I’m something of an aficionado. As my friends and more than a few disinterested strangers know, I volunteer on the weekends as a docent at the Los Angeles Zoo, where I not only educate the public […]

Put down the Google. All the answers you’re looking for are in this book.

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I received Does It Fart? for my birthday from my sister and brother-in-law, who know that I like to read all manner of animal-related information. “It’s a bit silly,” my sister warned. Silly, perhaps, but also revelatory. I often stick post-its on the pages of books I’m reading to help me locate the interesting bits when I’m writing my reviews (I can’t bring myself to underline), and I’ve applied a remarkable number for such a short (133-page) book! The Introduction explains why the authors decided […]



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