May 2020
MsWas's Message Corner
Hello CBR12 participants and friends of Cannonball Read,
How’s everyone doing these days? In our home, we’ve been spending a lot of time in our vegetable garden getting everything ready to plant (it’s still a little too cold). MrWas joined a gardening group on Facebook and has been encouraged to try potatoes and carrots this year. If you are getting your garden ready for this summer, I encourage you to plant a couple of extra plants if you have space, and donate that produce to a local food pantry. They can use the fresh food too. (Shoutout to Fish Inc. in Dunellen NJ.)
What have you been able to get your hands on and read lately? I was able to swap a couple of library books with my mother and so just finished The Girl in the Glass Box by James Grippando. It was a decent read, but halfway through I found that it was part of a series. As a standalone, it was ok, but I wonder how it is as part of a longer whole. Anyone read the Jack Swyteck series? Next up, I have Dread Nation by Justina Ireland via Hoopla through my local library. This is a quick reread for me, before I track down the next in that series, Deathless Divide. Check out Bea Pants’ review - looks great, can’t wait!
Hope you are all hanging in there and are getting some time out in the sun (with sunscreen!) and have plenty of books to read.
Take care and Happy Reading!
Bonnie (aka "MsWas")
Q&A with a Cannonballer: KimMiE"
 You and MsWas used to do long-distance George R.R. Martin book discussions? Did that early incarnation of reading and internet chatting help prepare you for CBR?
Yes, that was back in the days before Zoom, before smartphones, even before any decent chat system. We sometimes communicated by Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels, where there could be a 10-second delay between responses. It was hilarious.
Anyway, the first thing I learned from that is MsWas reads way faster than I do. We would agree to read up to a certain chapter and then regroup, and she’d always have to wait for me. What I really liked about it was, like any book club, it let us talk about our observations, and we’d often share something the other person missed. Because we planned to discuss, I think I was more focused and took note of interesting points, which is what I do now when reading for CBR. It was also a great way to stay connected since we lived in different states. Books bring people together!
New feature: Lightbox
Want to embed images in your review without making them huge and overpowering, but you still want people to be able to see the full glory of your photos? The new Lightbox feature lets readers click on a photo and get the full size image in a pop up.
To add the Lightbox to any image, when you are inserting (or go back and edit) a picture, on the screen where you can pick the size and add a caption, there's the field: "Link to" - select "Media File" > Publish/Update and that's all you have to do. The link will pop up the full size version. (Technically that could be a huge file, but it's your choice to click it so if you're on a slow connection, you can choose not to click.) If your image is already in the post, click the image and then the pencil icon to edit.
Images with a double border line can be popped up. For a good example of how this works in the wild, see Ale's roundup of gorgeous Game of Thrones costumes. Click to embiggen and see all of the amazing detail on Sansa's dresses!
While we're talking images, remember that WordPress doesn't always like huge file sizes. If your picture is too large, it likely won't upload. One weird trick: change the file name completely if you resize an image. WordPress remembers that you tried it already. So if CatBook1 is 8MB and won't upload, but CatBook2 is 1.5MB and still won't upload, try saving the second one as AdorableFeline or something totally unrelated to the first attempt. And if all else fails, MsWas is here to help!
New CBR Diversions
Things are weird right now! You know it, we know it. If you need somewhere to connect and chat, join us in one of the new Diversions! Even if you haven't been reading or posting much lately, we'd love to hear from you (and hey, we're all struggling with focus these days).
The second Diversion just posted yesterday. Weeks of sheltering in place have been isolating for a lot of people, so we invite you to introduce your stay-at-home office assistant, new co-worker, or reading buddy. Share your stories and photos about the kids, creatures or inanimate objects that are keeping you company right now.
#CannonBookClub
Next month (June 19 and 20), the #CannonBookClub theme is The Future is Queer. Celebrate Pride Month the Cannonball way, with a focus on speculative and science fiction written by queer authors and/or featuring queer characters. Check out this short list of four choices to pick your thematic book, and join us for a wide-ranging discussion next month.
Cannonballers should count for extra
Have you filled out your 2020 Census yet? For those of you (us) who tend to procrastinate, good news! The Census deadline has been extended till October 31. You can fill it out by phone or by mail, or you can make history by filling it out online for the first time since the Census was invented! (Random aside: I put something in my employee newsletter at work about the Census being online for the first time in human history, and my boss edited out 'human' because she said ALL history is all of human history. Speciesist!)
Due to COVID-19 social distancing concerns, the door-to-door Census taker portion has also been delayed. But if you do your Census now, you don't have to worry about anyone coming to your home!
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