Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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About Merryn

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Merryn's Reviews:

Too much for me. You?

The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lukas Rijneveld

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My local book club had a theme this year of reading books from around the world.  I selected this one for our November read as it won a major award- the International Booker Prize for works translated into English, in this case from the Dutch, and I read a review article that really sold it.  The young non-binary author had drawn on their own childhood in a strictly religious dairy farming family, which I could personally relate to.  My book club buddies were also keen. […]

Brutal beauty

Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett

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“Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water – black and cold and roaring.  Rolling out the invisible paths.” This was the second book I saved to read on the trip back home to my home state.  Like The Survivors, Past the Shallows is also set on the Tasmanian coast, and also about the echoes of a tragedy.  But we’re not in a pleasant tourist-oriented town among flawed but loving family and friends.   We’re with Harry and Miles, out past the […]

Clash of destinies

Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb

Forest Mage by Robin Hobb

Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb

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** Light spoilers for general plot direction of later books in the series ** Robin Hobb writes pain so well.  I remember reading Shaman’s Crossing and Forest Mage when they first came out and choosing not to buy Renegade’s Magic because I couldn’t face Nevarre’s life getting any worse.  This time around I stayed the course. Nevarre is the second son of a retired soldier who has been elevated to the nobility with a grant of land far from the capital.  This determines Nevarre’s future […]

Too many ingredients

The Spotted Dog by Kerry Greenwood

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The Spotted Dog is the seventh instalment of Kerry Greenwood’s Corinna Chapman series.  The professional baker/amateur sleuth, her private detective boyfriend, and growing collection of quirky friends and neighbours unravel a knot of mysteries.  A kidnapped dog.  A series of burglaries.  Ransomware.  A mysterious mute woman.  Is it all connected? Between the morning baking, napping with her cat Horatio, and lustful encounters with the tall, dark and handsome Daniel, Corinna checks in on the other inhabitants of her Roman style apartment building and her fellow […]

Submerged secrets

The Survivors by Jane Harper

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  The sea at Evelyn Bay washes over the Survivors, the rising and falling tide measured against the bronze bodies commemorating those who survived the long ago wreck of the Mary Minerva.  They were designed to be permanently visible from the cliff and sea, and tall enough to never be fully submerged.  But Kieran is haunted by the day twelve years ago when the Survivors were gone, the day two men drowned and a young girl disappeared.  He’s not the only one. Kieran has returned to […]

Tell me it gets better

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

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Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series has been on my radar for years, so when the first book in the series popped up as a Kindle Daily Deal I pounced. A pandemic seemed like a great time for an overdue dive into a highly rated series that ticks so many of my boxes – fantasy, crime, humour, and many more to look forward to. I’m sorry to say I was not impressed. What ticked me off the most was the gender politics.  Maybe it was so […]



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