Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Starts strong, fizzles in the middle

The Odds of Getting Even by Amanda Sellet

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Amanda Sellet’s The Odds of Getting Even was entertaining and frustrating in equal measure. The first few chapters made me laugh and then in the middle of the book, all the tension fizzled. The epilogue was a nice return to the beginning, so I’ll pick up more of Sellet’s books, but this one was a disappointment. Jean is an artist, but to make money, she’s a concierge at a stuffy resort in Hawaii. She is a madcap adventure waiting for an opportunity. Opportunity arrives when she […]

The Rise of Sanctuary Noodles

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

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There are many reasons that Annalee Newitz’ Automatic Noodle felt like it was written for me specifically. It has cooking, which is one of my great loves and is a way I show love and feel worth when I am anxious. It has characters trying to live and be in control of their lives in a country with laws that don’t grant them full autonomy. Every one of these characters, whether we get their backstory or not, is a weirdo with enormous trauma just doing […]

Culture has many forms

The Runaway Pancake by Tiny Fisscher

Sleep Here, Wake There by Caio Zero

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cbr17bingo Culture (Runaway Pancake) and Work (Sleep Here, Wake There) When you are a reader of the children’s genre you find all types of books. One of my favorites are picture books as they are fun, unique and quick reads. Still, they can have deep messages and/or be quirky and fun.  The Runaway Pancake by Tiny Fisscher and illustrated by Sophie Pluim (currently available but read via an online reader copy) (CULTURE) is a fun and quirky one with a  fun take on the Gingerbread […]

This book hits a little too close to home

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

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CBR17Bingo: “O” for “Our” I’ve read a number of books by Celeste Ng, and I’ve even met her at a book reading. I’ve enjoyed all of her books, and I usually end up reading her new books when I see they are out. However, Our Missing Hearts (2022) came out a while ago, and I somehow missed it until now. I thought Our Missing Hearts was interesting, powerful, and memorable. Because it takes place in a world not exactly like our own (although eerily familiar), it is also […]

Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee

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CBR Bingo: Review When deciding what book to read next, I often read reviews of the book to see what I’m getting myself into. What’s somewhat interesting about this one is that it was actually a negative review that convinced me to read it. One particular reviewer didn’t like the book because it contained “so much climate activism”, “brief meat shaming”, “transgender characters”, and “reverse racism”, which was only successful in making me want to read it. Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee is an Arthurian […]

Adopt from the Shelter for Slightly Magical Pets. It’s magically mischievous

Hocus and Pocus and the Spell for Home by A.R. Capetta

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cbr17bingo  Purple (cover) Recently I said in another review you can judge a book by its cover. Sometimes there is something about it that lets you know it is going to go in X direction (or XXX as a recent coloring book with an Alice from Wonderland in a dress so short you can tell if she was a natural blond or not). Thankfully the cover of Hocus and Pocus and the Spell for Home by A.R. Capetta and illustrator Charlene Chua tells a radically […]



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