Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I am a bad Mother, but I am learning to be good.”

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

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I finished this book several days ago, but I feel like I might need even more time to fully digest it. I think this review is going to be difficult to write, just because I’m still sorting through all of the feelings that the book brought up. Frida Liu is a struggling single mother, living in the near future in Philadelphia. She gave up her career to have her baby, Harriet. When her husband, Gust, leaves her shortly after Harriet’s birth, Frida is forced to […]

Women’s work and worker’s rights in 1920s Appalachia

The Widows by Jess Montgomery

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My work book club read for May, I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Set in the early 1920s in the Appalachian region of Ohio, The Widows is based on the true story of Ohio’s first woman Sheriff. Daniel Ross, the Sheriff of Kinship, Ohio, is shot while transporting a prisoner. His wife, Lily, is temporarily appointed to fill the vacancy, at least until a special election can be called. What no one counted on, however, was Lily using her new position […]

The Pandemic mystery that got me out of my thriller slump

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

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I have been deeply disappointed by the last handful of thrillers I’ve read. It seems like each one has some over the top plot twist or framing device designed to make the author look super clever and creative, but actually just gets my eyes rolling so far back I give myself a headache (see Survive the Night or All I Want). But, I needed something light after finishing How the Word Is Passed, 56 Days was available on Libby, and multiple coworkers raved about it. […]

Fresh Setting, Familiar Story

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

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I was ready to absolutely love this book. Honest! Fantasy, based on Chinese mythology, super stunning cover: check, check, check. Xingyin lives on the moon with her mother, Chang’e, the Moon Goddess. Chang’e is loving, but sad, pining for her mortal husband. Xingyin leads a sheltered life, not realizing that her mother has hidden Xingyin’s very existence. When Xingyin reaches for her innate magic for the first time, it sets off a chain of events that lead her to flee from her home on the […]

A three for one deal

Kind Like Marsha: Learning from LGBTQ+ Leaders by Sarah Prager

Cinderelliot: A Scrumptious Fairytale by Mark Ceilley and Rachel Smoka-Richardson

Dolls and Trucks Are for Everyone by Robb Pearlman (

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These titles, Kind Like Marsha: Learning from LGBTQ+ Leaders by Sarah Prager (and illustrated by Cheryl Thuesday), Cinderelliot: A Scrumptious Fairytale by Mark Ceilley and Rachel Smoka-Richardson (illustrated by Stephanie Laberis) and Dolls and Trucks Are for Everyone by Robb Pearlman (illustrated by Eda Kaban) are the perfect trio. Each one different, but each dealing with the themes of GLBTQ+ movers and shakers, being yourself and the “should” and “should nots” when it comes to toys, games, playing and more. They are clever, but not […]

Thanks to all the Cannonballers who put this on my radar!

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

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30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 2 Book 4/30 I think this is one of those books that I will love more and more as I inevitably revisit it again and again, but for now I’m holding strong at 4.5 stars, rounded down. Everybody I know who has read this little hidden gem loves it, and I’d sort of had it in the back of my mind for a special occasion, but my TBR Jar said now, so I read it now. And it was […]



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