Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About cheerbrarian

CBR 6
CBR 7
CBR 8
CBR 9
CBR10 participant
CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR14 Participant
CBR14 Bingo Badges
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR18 Participant

I am a born and bred southerner and transplant to the Midwest. I read because I NEED to (as a former English major, it's in the DNA) and because I'm possibly ignoring frigid temperatures. Until summer, and then I'll just be reading outside. I also enjoy cooking, witty banter, and cheese. All the cheese. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: ardaigle's Quick Questions interview.)

cheerbrarian's Reviews:

“Niceness is all about what we do when other people are looking. Kindness, on the other hand, runs deep. Kindness is what happens when no one’s looking.”

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

by Leave a Comment

I have been in a bit of a slump lately..my life has felt heavy, and so did my books. Not physically, but both my monthly book club selection (Heaven and Earth Grocery) and a read along with a friend (Beartown) cover darker topics and I needed a break!  I was craving some whimsy and lightness and this book was just what I needed. It’s a cozy, warm, found family fantasy (alliteration) that will bring a smile to your face. Mika Moon is a witch in Britain, […]

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.”

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

by Leave a Comment

Somehow, despite being an English major in college and a big reader my whole life, this is a classic I had never heard of or come across. I discovered it in a very weird way, which I’ll detail after my brief review. (Isn’t reviewing classics weird? What else can you add to the narrative?) This finalist for the Pulitzer is a vibrant, gripping meditation on war, specifically, the Vietnam War, and I’m glad it’s been a focus in the American education system over the years, […]

“When you’re growing up, you don’t ask whether your family’s good, do you? Especially if you don’t know anything else. They’re just your family.”

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

by Leave a Comment

Stepmoms in pop culture get a bad rap. Actually bad rap isn’t right. We are maligned and reduced to a trope, typically gold diggers, people who don’t like kids, and someone who isn’t at all interested in the work of parenting (i.e., the original OG stepmoms like Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White or modern like Parent Trap, or the newer Parent Trap, repeat infinity with basically every stepmom forever). In a recent episode of my podcast (linked here, self-promotion is never done) I […]

“Friendship is a contract between two hearts. With hearts united, women can laugh and cry, live and die together.”

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

by Leave a Comment

My local library has us go around in a circle and sum up the book in one word (Or a few words, I mean, they aren’t strict about it and sometimes one word just won’t do!) and my word for this one was “unrelenting” because I found it to be one of the toughest reads I’ve gone through in a while. That’s not to say it isn’t a good book, it is but, it’s about being a woman in China in the 1400s so there […]

“The problem with family is that they know where all the levers are that make you move. They’re usually the ones who installed the levers in the first place.”

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

by Leave a Comment

I picked this book up for a  read along with a few friends and it’s a great one for the season: one part silly, one part spooky, one part WAIT WHAT?! The general consensus from the group was that we liked it, but maybe didn’t love it and that it was a bit of a slow build, some felt it was too slow, I was along for the ride. Someone who had read other Kingfisher novels was surprised at how differernt it was in tone, […]

“To me, the allure of history lay in the minutiae of life long ago, the untold secrets of ordinary people.”

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

by 4 Comments

A friend loaned me this book and I dove in and read it in two days, tackling the first 13 chapters in one go: highly readable, and a breeze to get through. That said, I know that reading this book will be relegated to the pantheon of things I forgot I have read two months from now. I was quite surprised to learn it was a Goodreads nominee for Best Debut Novel and Best Historical Fiction because I wouldn’t have given it such high praise. […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo