Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

another author definitively on the must read shelf

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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This isn’t my favorite book by Reid (that’s probably still Daisy Jones & The Six, followed closely by The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo) but it’s not my least favorite (One True Loves). That being said, every book of hers is the same: imminently readable, not too frothy/not too froufrou, focusing on the emotional life of a female, and so very fiction forward. She’s…a very good writer, to put it bluntly, and can weave together stories about fictional events like very few other authors. There’s no gimmick, […]

Was an old favorite, but now it seems boring

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

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“It is helpful to know the proper way to behave, so one can decide whether or not to be proper.” Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine used to be one of my favorite books of all time. Now, reading the description, I’m not sure if it sounds all that. But, maybe I’ll re-read it and be surprised. At birth, a foolish fairy bestowed a “gift” on Ella of Frell. The “gift” of obedience. Ella must obey any order given to her, whether it is to […]

Eat the Rich.

Strip Jack by Ian Rankin

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On a balmy summer night in Edinburgh, the filth razes an illicit brothel in a well-to-do area. Johns and working girls alike are piled into the back of a police car to be given a fine and a stern talking to, with one exception. One of the men coming out of the building is MP Gregor Jack. He is well-liked by his constituents and respected by his peers, but the press are waiting outside and he is proverbially, if not literally, caught with his pants […]

Worth your time, but maybe not the lingering headache

The Treatment by Mo Hayder

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Crime fiction is an odd thing. Visit your average thriller-horror-Facebook group and you’ll regularly find people looking for books that portray the extremes of human behaviour. “The sicker the better”, as they put it. Weirdly, The Treatment by Mo Hayder is not one that pops up very often – possibly because it’s about 20 years old – but in all honesty, this book is intense. We didn’t believe in Trigger Warnings in 2022 but this book could do with a couple of them.  On a […]

Good book, but geared for a younger audience

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

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“That’s the problem. People don’t want to listen to their thoughts, so they fill the world with noise.” Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly is a book about friendship and belonging. It is told from 4 different perspectives… Virgil Salinas – Shy, kindhearted boy. He feels out of place in his loud, boisterous family. Valencia Somerset – Brave, smart, deaf, and secretly lonely. She loves everything about nature and the natural world. Kaori Tanaka – Self-proclaimed psychic (she is 11 years old, and no religious […]

READ. THIS. BOOK.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. I know a lot of people have probably already read it since it’s very popular, but if not READ THIS BOOK. Some people think that the characters are one-dimensional and they are stereotypical, but they aren’t. every character has a unique backstory, but they’re obviously aren’t enough characters for every single opinion and viewpoint to have a place in this book. But it deals with a very important issue, can lead to good discussion, and is overall just a good book. […]



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