Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“Why do you want my voice?” “Because I’m a sassy sea witch and I’m gonna keep it in a nautilus necklace, then use it to steal your man from right under your nose”

Can't Escape Love by Alyssa Cole

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3.5 stars CBR17 Pie Challenge: Inclusion CBR17 Bingo: Borrow (read through Libby, since I don’t actually own the book) Regina “Reggie” Hobbs is working hard to make her nerdy website, Girls with Glasses, a success, and prove to her over-protective parents that she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself, even if she’s in a wheelchair. She loves the work, she loves her very capable team, but lately, she’s been struggling with insomnia, and the only thing that seems to soothe her to sleep is […]

I struggled, but it’s still a Martha Wells book

Queen Demon by Martha Wells

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When I read and reviewed Witch King in 2023, I was hoping there would be more books in Kaiisteron’s story. I got my wish, but I flailed around for a while before I was able to sink into it. First, I realized that I needed to reread Witch King. Next, I needed to recalibrate. In a lot of fantasy series, there’s a person or entity that is the ultimate antagonist. In The Rising World series, I think the antagonist is a kind of power. I […]

“Every war is a war against the child.”

The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear

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CBR17 Bingo: White – Behold, the cover. Also, a bonus! The title. Elinor is a veteran of two world wars and a trained killer, but all she wants now is to retreat into a peaceful, solitary existence in the English countryside. But when a violent past comes back to haunt her neighbors, she cannot help but become drawn in. I’m sure I’ll eventually get around to checking out Winspear’s long-running Maisie Dobbs series, but in the meanwhile I figured I’d pick up the standalone The […]

A new spin on an old idea

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia

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Moreno Garcia does an amazing job setting the right mood in this newer gothic tale. Set in Mexico in the 1950’s, you forget that the world is more modern than what Noemi Taboada experiences. Having grown up in Mexico City to an affluent family, Noemi’s life is more about finding a worthy suitor and getting married than education or developing skills to join the workforce. Despite this, Noemi is a confident, charming, smart woman who would like to study at the University. While she enjoys […]

The Word ‘Turbulent’ Is Bearing a Lot of Weight Here

Bomb Season in Jakarta: A personal account of a turbulent period in Australian diplomacy by Grant Dooley

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This is yet another book I’ve discovered via listening to ABC’s Conversations.  The subtitle of Bomb Season in Jakarta is A personal account of a turbulent period in Australian diplomacy, and Grant Dooley is not kidding when he writes this. Back in 2004, Dooley and his family had moved to Indonesia to start a three year stint working at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. This was a few years after the 1999 East Timorese crisis and only two years after the 2002 Bali Bombings, Indonesia’s […]

I still don’t understand how you get “Jet” from “Margaret.” CBRBINGO – ‘N’

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

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This was a bit of a disappointment for me, but I still had an overall good time with it. I don’t understand why Holly Jackson keeps writing books about Americans when she is very British. (Nothing of hers has hit for me like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.) There was also a key moment at the end of the book that was totally dumb and out of character, which I’m deducting 0.25 stars for. But the mystery was very well plotted and intricate, and […]



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