Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“You could have kissed me or slit my throat and either would have made as much sense.”

A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson

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CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books you already own #1 In a lyrical letter to the lover she killed, Constanta recounts their history together, as well as that of his other ‘brides,’ and what drove them to do as they did. I had high hopes for this book. I don’t usually love vampire romances, because I feel like they often underplay the dark and twisted nature of the vampires of myth – so the fact that this book promised to go back to those terrifying roots drew […]

How to handle mental health issues in a novel

The Art of Insanity by Christine Webb

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CBR15passport – a new to me author My Cannonball15 is off to a great start; I’m three for three so far. This book, The Art of Insanity by Christine Webb, was an “extra surprise” gift from Black Raven as part of the CBR14 Holiday Book Exchange. It is a wonderful story about a high school senior named Natalie Cordova who has bipolar disorder and who struggles with the illness, its stigma, and her friends’ and family members’ reactions to it. Author Christine Webb tells readers […]

The value of a good cupcake, art and great friends

Dear Unicorn by Josh Funk

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CBR15Passport Books recommended by friends  (I was recommend by the author and I have exchanged more than just tweets with him)   The cute companion to Dear Dragon by Josh Funk has arrived! (Or will in September 2023). We will now enjoy pen palling with a young girl and her unicorn pen pal in Dear Unicorn. This is a fun story about a young girl and her pen pal, who do not realize that they might have a lot in common (they like art, sports, […]

Chinelo Okparanta (2)

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

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“Midway between the Old Oda-Nnewi Road and New Oba-Nnewi Road, in that general area bound by the village church and the primary school, and where Mmiri John Road drops off only to begin again, stood our house in Ojoto.” This is the first novel by Chinelo Okparanta, who had already released a story collection a few years earlier, and more recently the novel Harry Sylvester Bird, which I read the other week and really enjoyed. This novel is also enjoyable but very different from that. […]

A cuddle bug sorta day

Secrets for the Mad: Obsessions, Confessions, and Life Lessons by Dodie

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse: The Animated Story by Charlie Mackesy

You're My Little Cuddle Bug by Nicola Edwards

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Having adored the original book, my excitement was palpable for the animated version I stumbled across thanks to my free trial of Apple TV. For me, it was one of the best Christmas presents I received. My wife wasn’t really on board, but it happens. So when I saw this new version of the book with art from the film at Target, I snatched it up immediately. The art of the film maintains much of the charm of the original book, all while breathing new […]

Quite an Epic

The Passage by Justin Cronin

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Where to start? There so much that happens in this 800-page novel, which almost defies genre. Is it science fiction? Dystopian? Horror? Probably all of those, and more. The novel starts in the near future, or what was probably the near future at the time it was written over a decade ago. Humans have discovered a naturally-existing virus that, when it doesn’t kill them, essentially turns people into vampires: long-lived, strong, easily heal, don’t do well in sunlight, etc. As mankind is wont to do, […]



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