Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

As It Says on the Tin, a Novel in A Flat

Ellington Boulevard by Adam Langer

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cbr17bingo Green Now I’m not even gonna pretend to understand the world of semi-rent controlled rental property, not to mention rampant gentrification, of the 1990s New York.  Seems like a product of an endless supply of need and a limited amount of acreage on which to build. Be that as it may, this is the story of a man (jazz musician) and his beloved dog Herbie Mann, a formerly abused mutt saved from an animal shelter death sentence.  They have lived in an apartment in […]

Digging Deep

Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon

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CBR17 Bingo: TBR – Ruby Dixon is one of my favorite authors, and despite preordering it, I have been holding onto Bull Moon Rising for a rainy day for some time. (Then I read it in one morning, and immediately devoured the sequel By the Horns that afternoon!) Aspeth is the heiress to one of the oldest holdfasts in the land, but since her father’s gambled away all the family’s magical artifacts, they’re safe only as long as no one realizes how vulnerable they are. […]

“You are the queen. You are the queen that Antoinette wanted to be . . .”

Antoinette's Sister by Diana Giovinazzo

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CBR17 Bingo: Black – Behold, the cover. Though her tragic sister Marie Antoinette is better known today, Maria Carolina Charlotte, the queen of Naples, ruled with better success but faced her own share of troubles and tribulations in her years on the throne. The thing with historical fiction is that the story can live or die by the events it’s based on, especially when it follows the life of a historical figure. Luckily, Charlotte is an interesting main character. Though her attitudes toward the monarchy […]

An appalling, vital read

Women Talking by Miriam Toews

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CBR 17 BINGO: Citizen. While Mennonite women theoretically have the same citizenship rights as anyone else in their country, this isn’t the reality for the women of Molotschna. Women Talking, adapted for film in 2022, is a fictionalized response to very real and appalling incidents that occurred in Bolivia between 2005 and 2009. During that period, more than 100 women in a remote Mennonite colony woke up to signs that they had been raped during the night. Their claims were dismissed by the colony elders: […]

Mesmerizing roller coaster

Cry Wolf Girl by Ariel Slamet Ries

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I think I dislike everything about this book, Cry Wolf Girl, yet it was an amazing read. I just could not put it down. There are no natural breaks so it was not like I could stop at the end of a chapter but that didn’t matter. I just wanted to gobble it up. The book makes you think, feel and question. There are clearly marked paths we are taking, but things are not straight forward. It is artistic. It is not what you think […]

Talk to the mountain

I Am the Mountain by Steven Weinberg

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I Am the Mountain by Steven Weinberg is a fun and cute illustration that paints the seasons as seen by a mountain. While good for most ages, this book is broken into four “chapters” (each season) that might be best for an adult lover of art, nature or unique picture books. It might seem easy at first glance, but there are layers and it can be deeper than you would think. Read via an online reader copy but I think I might find a finished […]



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