Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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About Nart

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Nart is an avid romance reader who dabbles in other stuff when she has the spoons. When she’s not reading she’s a bureaucrat both professionally and as an activist because she’s a masochist. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Nart's Quick Questions interview.)

Nart's Reviews:

“Some called it arrogance. She called it competence untainted by performative humility.”

The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

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First a warning – this is a two novel story and there is only one out. The second book comes up July 7, 2026. If you are the kind of person who, like me, hates incomplete stories, delay reading this. Second warning – I understand this is a reskinning of a very popular Harry Potter fan fiction, and that readers of said fan fiction have mixed feelings about this book. I am not a Harry Potter fan at all, so I neither read that originating […]

Finally, sports science focused on women’s bodies

Roar by Stacy Sims

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Man was I sleeping on this author and this book. Don’t be me. Dr. Sims is one of the foremost experts on women’s health, particularly as it relates to fitness. Is she a good researcher? I have no idea, but in my research, I’ve yet to encounter anyone else even seriously looking at women athletes, so I’m taking what I can get. The book looks at the research around the ways in which our hormones affect us, the way our metabolism differs, the ways in […]

“Toads are capable of sarcasm, but their blood runs too cold for hysteria.”

Thornhedge by T Kingfisher

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A fairy tale novella by T Kingfisher. Plot: Toadling is a hideous toad that lives in a forest cloaked with a spell to keep people out. Her job is to protect the forest and its secrets from the odd knight and adventurer that might try to break through, hoping to find riches and glory. It has been a long, long time since anyone has tried to come, but one day, sure enough, another knight comes through. Having nothing left to lose though, the knight is […]

“the history and present of tuberculosis reveal the folly and brilliance and cruelty and compassion of humans.

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

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Maybe not everything, but a surprising amount for sure. Green is entirely right that I don’t give much thought to tuberculosis. It feels like a historical disease, like scurvy. But of course, tuberculosis is still enormously pervasive in certain parts of the world. It’s interesting to me that he focuses on the way the disease is ravaging parts of Africa when even within North America there are communities being affected. For example, here in Canada, of the 23.8% of cases of tuberculosis that manifest in […]

“Romance exists. It’s just so hard to define, we stopped trying and told ourselves we can buy it instead.”

How Freaking Romantic by Emily Harding

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A romance that involves the legal profession and doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out (note that there are still some liberties being taken but on the whole it’s actually reasonably consistent with how legal practice can happen)! It’s a Liftmass miracle! Plot: Beatrice is (usually) intelligent, clever, and loyal. She’s also got a chip on her shoulder a mile wide and her friend’s ex and his smarmy divorce lawyer have gotten on her last fucking nerve. So she bursts into the lawyer’s […]

“There’s an old saying about stories, and how there are always three versions of them: yours, mine, and the truth.”

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

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Plot: two reporters, one in need of an opportunity to prove her muster, one in need of proving that he’s not a one hit wonder, compete for the story of the year. The reclusive daughter of one of the most infamous families of the 20th century is apparently finally ready to tell her side of the story, and it’s a doozey. All they have to do is keep out of each other’s way and impress her more than the other person. But something’s not adding […]



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