Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

It’s hard trying to look at something unfiltered by the vast acclaim of its author

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

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I think I’m a well-intentioned person. But we all do, I suppose. I try to read more books written by women. But I often don’t. Since I started reviewing books for CBR, I’ve reviewed 91 stories written by women, which is a hair over 20% of everything I’ve read. CBR07: 2 (7%) CBR08: 32 (29%) CBR09: 20 (26%) CBR10: 6 (11%) CBR11: 5 (18%) CBR12: 16 (26%) CBR13: 9 (18%) CBR14: 1 (8%) That’s abysmal. There’s no two ways about it. And that’s after some […]

A Very Special Christmas… or is it?

Tangled in Tinsel by Trilina Pucci

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If you have read any of the reviews I’ve posted over the last year or two, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve mentioned BookTok a good bit. Honestly, I probably spend more time scrolling through the clock app than any other form of social media right now. All of this is to preface where I’m going next: SmutTok, the part of BookTok that is for the people that like a *serious* amount of spice in their romance. As in, more pages are dedicated to sex than […]

Return to middling

Top Secret Twenty One by Janet Evanovitch

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The Janet Evanovitch series started off really strong (One for the Money), and the first five-ish entries were also solid. That was over 20 years ago now, and for a while the entries were increasingly outlandish and ridiculous. I probably wouldn’t have bought another entry, but this arrived free of charge (a friend clearing out their book hoard) and it was right on time for my New York trip pre-reading (technically the series is set in New Jersey, but this one dips across into New […]

“Stories aren’t fiction. Stories are fabric. They’re the white sheets we drape over our ghosts so we can see them.”

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

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I’ve loved Sarah Addison Allen’s books since the 2007 Garden Spells (the first of the Waverly family books) and have eagerly been waiting for this one since her last book out was in 2015 (the second Waverly family book). I often recommend her to someone looking for something light and charming, as she typically weaves together magical realism with small-town charm, great for a bit of escapism or some relaxation. This book has a very different tone and while I think it’s a good book, […]

A Truly Heroic Narrative of Human Effort

On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers by Kate Marsden

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This was a great book to end the year on — compulsively readable, extremely grim, and a triumph to the power of the human spirit. I loved this book and read most of it out loud to my mom as I went, so it would probably make a great audiobook, too. On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers is, as the title describes, a travel narrative of Kate Marsden’s trip from England into the Siberian wilds to visit the lepers there. She was a […]



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