Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Great Idea and Strong Execution

T-Shirt Swim Club: Stories From Being Fat in a World of Thin People by Ian Karmel and Alisa Karmel, PsyD

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Best for: Fans of Ian Karmel’s work, people interested in hearing from siblings who have been fat most of their lives, people interested in learning more about how anti-fat bias impacts the lives of fat people. In a nutshell: In this clever set-up, comedian, comedy writer and podcast host Ian Karmel shares what is essentially a memoir, told through the eyes of his life as a fat child, fat teen, and fat adult. His sister Alisa Karmel, who has a doctorate and is a nutritionist, […]

“Sometimes the only way to find the route forward is to grumble about all the paths that have closed.”

After the Wedding by Courtney Milan

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The second novel in the Worth saga. Plot: Camille’s father and brother betrayed the British Crown and paid for it with their lives. She chose comfort over keeping what was left of her family, and paid for it by never being loved again. In fact, while they’ve had each other, she’s lost more and more and more of the life of her youth, until it felt more like a dream than a memory. She’s working for half-wages in the middle of nowhere, constantly on the […]

“That’s a terrible argument. The side of proper English morality also has pastries and tea. They practically invented it.”

Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan

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The hero’s name is Crash and somehow this is heartwarming. That’s Milan for ya. Plot: Daisy’s got a dream that shit will suck less at some point. It hasn’t happened yet but there’s always tomorrow, right? And right now, she’s on the precipice of a new goal – her own business. All she has to do is win a contest no woman has ever entered and convince an audience of people who believe women belong in the home to believe her more competent than a bunch of […]

“It sounded like the first line of a poem: They never stop, these Stepford Wives, they something, something all their lives. Work like robots? Yes, that would fit. They work like robots all their lives.”

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

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Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. Another banger from Ira Levin. I didn’t love it quite as much as Rosemary’s Baby, but you can clearly tell that this dude could write, and was waaay ahead of his time. And the actual book is much more subtle and impressive than its pop culture residue would have you believe. (Don’t even get me started on the bastardization that is the 2004 film. Now that I’ve read […]

Space horror is my jam

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

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One of my top horrors is space. Another one is under the sea (like deep under the sea). I also don’t like to fly, and caves freak me out. I never thought I was a control freak until I realized that the thing that scares me the most about these things is that I’m not in control. I can’t “get out” of whatever I’m in (space ship, submarine, airplane, etc) when I want to. As far as space, under the ocean, and caves, I have […]

Time traveling is for nerds.

Blackout (All Clear, #1) by Connie Willis

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30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4 Book 1/30 I’ve sat on this review for several weeks now and the feelings that I have for this book—despite its clear flaws—are overwhelmingly positive. So I’m rounding up to four stars! I always enjoy a Connie Willis book, even when they are debilitatingly sad (looking at you Doomdsay Book), but they do have their flaws. She is OBSESSED with miscommunication and people being unable to find each other, and those kind of plots (which I am not interested […]



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