Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

the december rush

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Haunting of Gillespie House by Darcy Coates

Your Fathers, Where Are They? And Your Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens

The Lightness by Emily Temple

The Very Nice Box by Eve Gleichman, Laura Blackett

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

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Franny, Jet, and Vincent Owens take special joy in disobeying their mother’s rules. They wear red shoes and black clothes. They read books about magic. They fall in love. It’s the Lower East Side in the 60s. Who can blame them? I didn’t realize this was a prequel. I just picked it up at an airport bookstore when I had 3 hours to kill and a low phone battery. I’m grateful this is the only book that called out to me. I’m always drawn to […]

“On that long journey she wept all the tears stored in her soul, leaving none in reserve for later sorrows.”

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende, Margaret Sayers Peden (translator)

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It has been a few years since I last tackled an Allende work, but with tasks in both the Read Harder and Reading Women challenges about translated works (the former asking for non-European novel in translation, the latter asking specifically for a book by a South American author in translation) I had the perfect excuse to move Eva Luna up my to read list. The amount of emotion, detail, and characterization that Allende weaves into her writing is simply astounding. It always takes me a […]

“Conventional lives are the perfect refuge if you are a terrible artist.”

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

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Scrambling to get this review done! I’m two past my cannonball (queue shock) but want this one on the books as I completed it at the buzzer. This book was a gift of mine from a literary pal who read it, liked it, and thought of me. After I got a chapter or two into it I texted her and said that this book was weird and kind of good and maybe I liked it. That sentiment remained through the whole read. Camille and Caleb […]

Last two I guess

The Fabulous Riverboat by Philip Jose Farmer

Black Stars by Nisi Shawl; Victor LaValle; Nnedi Okorafor; Nisi Shawl; CT Rwizi; Chimamanda Adichie

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Fabulous Riverboat – 4/5 Stars In this follow-up, we have Sam Clemens deciding that he’s going to use the height of his power and 19th century technology to build himself a huge riverboat to cruise the long river in the center of the world, searching ala Inferno for his lost love. That said, the woodburning 19th century boat is offered some interesting upgrades via 20th and 21st century people in Riverworld. And like with the first book, the racial politics that were at play in […]

A Book that Deserves Much More Buzz than it Received

A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti

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A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wow. This was a powerful book from cover to cover. It’s a slow burn that draws you in and once you get to the reveal you’re so invested you hate to put the book down. We start with a young woman who has experienced a recent trauma and is still putting her life back together from it. What starts out as a run away from her tragedy turns […]

When the Sequel Improves on the First, But Still Leaves Room for Improvement

Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera

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Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera My rating: 3 of 5 stars “Infinity Reaper” was a little better than “Infinity Son” when it comes to the characters. We are still in the same world and dealing with the same problems, but the main characters start to have more complex decisions and conflicts to navigate. One of the brothers is still obnoxious and feels really flat to me and the other brother has moments where I’m really rooting for him, only for him to fall into the […]



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