Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“Reader, I married him. Because it should be me or no one.”

Murder Road by Simone St. James

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When newlyweds April and Eddie pick up a mortally wounded hitchhiker on a deserted road, the last thing they expect is to be suspected of the crime. But to prove their innocence they will have to solve a decades-old mystery. The book’s blurb leans a bit heavier on the mystery-thriller aspect than the horror-paranormal, so I’m glad that other readers’ reviews emphasized the latter, or else I might have been disappointed expecting a straightforward cold case mystery. There’s an eerie feeling which hangs over the […]

Unspeakable pain, unspeakable loneliness

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

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Decades ago, when I first heard the term “footbinding,” I thought it simply meant that the feet of Chinese girls were wrapped tightly to keep them small and delicate. Then when I learned that there was much more to it than that, I realized it was awful but didn’t give it much more thought. After reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which goes into detail about how girls as young as 5 or 6 were subjected to the practice, I’m truly horrified. If you […]

History May Not Repeat Itself But It Does Rhyme

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick

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Rating: 3.5 Stars In a nutshell: Four women living outside D.C. in the 1960s find themselves at crossroads, motivated by reading ‘The Feminine Mystique.’ Best for: Those who enjoy stories of women finding themselves. Those who need a reminder of where we’ve been given where we are headed. Quote that made me think: “Somebody has to have the babies, don’t they? If they can?” Why I chose it: I was looking for a book about women, written by a women, as I’ve been reading a […]

Lesbian Space Heist 2 – 2 Lesbian 2 Heist

The Obake Code by Makana Yamamoto

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Last year, Hammajang Luck was one of my favorite reads, so I was delighted when I saw that there was a book 2 and it was out now and the audio was available through my library. The audiobook becoming available in time for the 2026 Trans Rights Readathon felt like kismet. The Obake Code is largely a standalone, though I do think everyone should read Hammajang Luck because it is excellent. Jolene Kim did a lot as narrator. She had different voices for Malia’s inside thoughts, […]

When the overshadowed friend gets her turn as the MC

The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon’ King’s Lap by Aki, Kureha, Yamigo

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This was a library impulse grab. The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon’ King’s Lap (v.1) is as you might guess from the title one of the trendy isekai manga with a long-ish title.  It is also as you might guess total fluff, wish fulfillment for anyone who might have felt overshadowed or overlooked. IT’s basically a Cinderella tale of two childhood friends, one of whom (Ruri) never seems to get to enjoy things for herself thanks to the presence of her golden […]

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

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I went back and forth on this one. And ultimately, I settled on three stars, not because of the subject and how graphic the sex scenes are, but honestly, it just peters out at the 60 percent mark. After that, I really had a hard time believing the Waldo (main character) we have been following and their obsession with Mr. Korgy was the same person. McCurdy perfectly captures the obliviousness of Waldo at 17 and 18, but after graduation somehow she has morphed into a […]



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