Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Another hate-to-love Romance

Love at First by Kate Clayborn

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I can count on my friend for good book recommendations, so when she told me that she’d really enjoyed Love at First (2021) by Kate Clayborn, I did not hesitate. We both read many different kinds of books, but we often pass along our romance recommendations. I had high hopes for this book. This book takes place in Chicago. Dr. Will Sterling has just inherited a unit from his estranged uncle in a six-unit building filled with very eccentric, close-knit owners. Conditions of the will prohibit Will […]

“Love and Fear. The most destructive forces on Earth.”

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

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My brother gave me The Great Alone (2018) by Kristin Hannah at least two or three years ago. It looked interesting, but I have a hard time starting books I already own. I’m always distracted by new library books with due dates, as the books on my shelf sit forlorn and neglected. I finally grabbed The Great Alone when I was heading out on a solo road trip/backpacking trip, and it was the perfect choice. It had adventure, suspense, grittiness, and well-written characters. I can’t believe it took me […]

Got brass in pocket Got bottle I’m gonna use it Intention I feel inventive

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

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Wow, that was a tremendous letdown. I really ate up the first, say, third, of the City of Brass, and then slowly watched the wheels come off. The premise is terrific. Nahri is a conwoman and healer living in Cairo and scraping by because of her skill at picking up languages and her remarkable healing (both herself and others) prowess. Little bits of backstory emerge in a fairly organic way: she is an orphan who grew up on the streets, she is ‘odd’ in some way […]

Thank you, llamareadsbooks!

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Thank you, llamareadsbooks!  Emmalita’s review got me quite interested in Sword, Stone, Table: Old Legends, New Voices since I’ve always liked Arthurian myths and retellings.  As I’m working on improving the diversity of the voices I read, this anthology of “gender-bent, race-bent, LGTQIA+ inclusive retellings” from a diverse group of authors will help with that.  I’m looking forward to reading this next year 🙂 Giving and receiving books is the best way to celebrate the holidays!  Merry Book Exchange!

The smell of hospitals in winter And the feeling that it’s all a lot of oysters

The Road through the Wall by Shirley Jackson

Selected Prose of TS Eliot by TS Eliot

The Burden of Southern History by C Vann Woodward

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The Road through the Wall A novel that reminds me of what I’ve always known, that American suburbs are deeply rotten states. Shirley Jackson earned her fame by writing about small towns, but this novel published around the same time of the The Lottery story collection is a reminder, along with most of those stories, that all parts of the US have a deep cultural rot to them that is not housed in specific places. Those places just have their own flavors. The novel takes […]



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