Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I’d like to see the “cozy” come back to this mystery series

What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley

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“I know I’m not the girl I once was, but I’m not really sure yet who I am,” Flavia de Luce bemoans at about the midpoint of What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust. While she’s still quite young (I don’t think she’s progressed past 12 in this latest installment), she does carry the weight of adulthood on her shoulders at times. Technically she’s not alone in the world–she has her dear friend-of-the-family-part-time-servant Dogger, grandmotherly housekeeper Mrs. Mullet, bookish sister Daffy (Feely still being away […]

An impressive example of a first novel

The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

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I have had this on my TBR for a while but had ended up reading The Will of the Many, the first and only one in the author’s newer trilogy first because I didn’t want to get sucked into binging a trilogy. That’s always the question – go with something that will leave me waiting year to year for the next book, or something that will end up dictating my next few reads. I really enjoyed this one as well (and predictably got sucked into […]

When generational trauma meets childhood trauma

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson

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This was our March book club selection, and I really enjoyed it. I read the author’s debut novel, Black Cake, in February and I feel like she resolved all the issues I had with her writing in that novel here. If anything, I think she could have devoted a bit more time to the past but she genuinely made me care about the present day characters. Good Dirt in this case refers to clay, and a family’s historical legacy that they trace back to an […]

Brains are food, not friends.

Zombie and Brain Are Friends by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic

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Brains are food, not friends. Well, Brian the Brain is a friend to Zeb the Zombie. Which would be okay, if Zeb’s family didn’t farm brains for food (themselves and sell at the local market). But how could anyone in their right mind eat Brian? He’s the pinkest, squishy, cutest brain ever! And this starts Zeb and Brian’s journey in Zombie and Brain Are Friends by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic and illustrated by Laan Cham. Due early August 2025, I had the pleasure of reading this […]

Their voices

Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology by Amber McBride, Erica Martin, Taylor Byas and LLC Ashwin Writing

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Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology by Amber McBride, Erica Martin, Taylor Byas and LLC Ashwin Writing (photographer) is getting a lot of press. It will get a lot of awards and a lot more attention before things are said and done. And it deserves all and everything it gets. It is a very lovely collection of poems. We have contemporary poets and classical ones, too. You will know some of the poems and others will […]

Roaming pack of dogs and her own worn out memories to keep her company

Land of Mirrors by María Medem,

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Every so often I find myself reading a book that I think I like but am not sure. Land of Mirrors by María Medem, Aleshia Jensen (translator) and Daniela Ortiz (translator) is one of those books. It is a graphic novel, but does not flow necessarily as a “pure” one. There is something “different” about it. It might be because it is translated or it might be because of the almost abstract minimal illustrations. However, whatever the reason this is the most organized piece of […]



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