Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Familiar plot, new characters

Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski

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I’ve stumbled into a book time-warp – many books I’ve read recently seem to be set in the late 1990s. It’s an interesting choice – I wonder if the authors are deliberately trying to set their work in a space before the world changed with everything that happened between 9/11 and Covid. I grew up hearing the adults around me talk about  the “simpler time” of their own youth, and I think I’ve reached a stage where I can also reminisce about a relatively more […]

When reality plays whack-a-mole

At the End of Your Tether by Adam Smith

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All I want to say about At the End of Your Tether is that it is the result when what seems like reality takes a walk in the other side. I mean, there is no logic to this illogical ride of madness, time travel, alternative realities overlapping and coming of age. Adam Smith, you might be a nice person, but you have one heck of a warped mind. What starts out as a graphic novel of a teen name Ludo moving to the Air Force […]

No amount of sugar could sweeten the deal

Lemonade Code by Jarod Pratt

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I really have no idea what I read in Lemonade Code by Jarod Pratt. At first, it seemed like it might be a funny story about a boy and girl (he a mad scientist; she his new perky neighbor with a big ol’ cat) and how they have lemonade stands that rival each other. There was the diverse cast which was a plus. I did not expect it to turn out to be a full on “kill or be killed” with nanobots, bullies and a […]

Arkham Center for Independence? Sounds cozy….

The Oracle Code_ by Marieke Nijkamp

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I know a bit about the DC universe, but not as much as I would like. Therefore, when I saw this graphic novel, The Oracle Code_ was Barbara Gordon but in a wheelchair, I was surprised. I don’t remember that…. but then again, as said, I don’t know as much as I would like. I wondered if this was an alternative universe story, or had it happened before in other works? Either way, it is an interesting story that Marieke Nijkamp created. We find Barbara […]

The plot within the plot

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

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My boyfriend read The Plot (2021) by Jean Hanff Korelitz and recommended that I read it. Somehow I got it into my head that it was also one of President Obama’s recommended books from 2021, but I just checked and it’s not on his list. However, because of these recommendations (real and imagined), I started this book with pretty high expectations. It also helped that the Amazon blurbs had language like: “Insanely readable,” and “breathtakingly suspenseful,” which sounded promising. Jacob Finch Bonner is our protagonist and a […]



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