Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Drugs don’t always help

Unshrunk by Laura Delano

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Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance (2025) by Laura Delano is another book I discovered on NPR’s List of Favorite Books. I have an older brother who fell into some major mental health problems when he was in college. He has had a very hard life since then. He is often difficult, nonsensical and hard to be around, but I also know what he was like before he got sick. In an effort to understand him better or maybe find something to help him, I find […]

Three extremely different books about space

Otherworldly by Dwain Worrell

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

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I’m being lazy and combining these three VERY DIFFERENT BOOKS because Space! I read Otherworldly and Project Hail Mary as ebooks, and Atmosphere as an audiobook. Otherworldly first! So, one of my favorite book genres is space horror. My list of fears (to read or watch a movie / TV show about) is not very long. Deep down in the ocean scares me to bits, and so does outer space. I think they’re similar in that once you’re there, you’re at the mercy of however […]

“Writing gives you the power to shape your own world when the real one hurts too much”

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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Dark Corner Selection: March 2026 In a different version of 16th-century Spain, young Luzia Cortado works grudgingly as a scullery maid for the miserable and petty Doña Valentina. Luzia can use what she calls “small magics” to make her life easier. She can mend seams, multiply the groceries, unburn bread or reassemble broken things. She performs these little spells, learned from generations of her Jewish ancestors, by singing quietly. Luzia is a convert; she dutifully goes to Mass and hides any traces of her Jewish […]

“You know, Kiley Forge, most people like me.” “I’m not most people.” “Oh, I’m aware.“

The Scoring Secret by Ainsley Booth

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One of the reasons I like duet narration is because the way many men voice women grates on my nerves. In duet narration, that’s not an issue. This very much increased my enjoyment of The Scoring Secret. In general, I like Ainsley Booth/Zoe York’s books. They are very readable, and satisfying. The first book in the series, The Playing Game, is one of her best books. The Scoring Secret is a good read, not quite as good as its predecessor, but still good. The narrators, […]

“Education had taken something from her. She could not just BE.”

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

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Despair, hope, and the future of our world. Also, what does it mean to be a good parent? Big aspirations for a science fiction novella, but boy are they met. Plot: Elephants are going extinct, yet for some reason, there are still scientists spending their lives studying them. Dr. Damira Khismatullina is one of these people. She has spent a lifetime learning about the habits of elephants in the wild, and protecting them from humanity. Unfortunately, humanity is actually quite good at eradicating things like […]

A prime example of how a poor narrator can almost ruin a book

Phantasma (Wicked Games #1) by Kaylie Smith

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As you can probably tell from the title of my review, I listened to this as an audiobook. I didn’t fully dislike the book, but the narrator’s portrayal of the main character had me annoyed. Ophelia is a budding necromancer, and she’s reeling from the sudden death of her mother. She has to basically take over the family business of bringing back people’s loved ones for closure before she’s fully trained or ready. There’s a whole game aspect (some might call it the plot) with […]



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