Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Frequent Tension Made It Hard to Put Down

Kindred by Octavia Butler

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This was such an intense book. I have never been this on edge for this many pages at a time when reading, which speaks to Butler’s ability to build tension and dread in this novel about slavery. We follow the first person perspective of 26-year-old Dana who one day is suddenly yanked from 1976 to the early 1800s, where she helps a drowning boy. Soon after she time travels back to her home and her husband Kevin to find that only seconds had passed. This […]

“Katarina Shaw was in the building, and she had come to win.”

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

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Confession 1: I have rewritten the quote used for the title of this review.  The actual line from the book is “Katarina Shaw was in the building, and that bitch had come to win.” but I didn’t want to swear in the title of a review.  Katarina (Kat) Shaw and Heath Rocha are ice dancers with Olympic aspirations, while they have talent they don’t exactly have much support (emotionally or financially) from the people in their lives.  Kat’s mother died when she was six, and […]

Seriously? That’s It?

A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

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As I finished this book, I was hit by the immortal words of Camila Cabello in her Havana video.  “That’s it?  That’s how your story ends?”  (BTW, if you haven’t seen it, check it out.  It’s a whole movie in about 5 minutes, and is hilarious.  Abuelita is the best.)  But with some googling, found out there is a second book, which is not mentioned anywhere at the end of this one.  Anyway! Cadence is an island off the coast of Scotland (apparently) and is […]

A few quick reads to take my mind off things

The Holiday Disaster: A Brother's Best Friend Gay Romance (Doves of Destiny Book 1) by Rye Cox

Knot Your Average Christmas: A FFM Holiday Omegaverse story by S.R. Griffith

Affogato (BrewBiz book 1) by E.M. Lindsay

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The Holiday Disaster: A Brother’s Best Friend Gay Romance (Doves of Destiny Book 1) by Rye Cox Two stars Ethan is in his first year of college. He’s doing okay, but he’s terrified of falling behind in his studies. He’s never had a boyfriend or even come out to his family. So, when he runs into his longtime crush, Kingsley, he gets tongue tied and runs away. Kingsley is Ethan’s older brother’s best friend and he’s known him his entire life. He thinks Kingsley dislikes […]

Alley

Alley by Junji Ito

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This is one of the rare cases where I’m not going to full-throatedly recommend a Junji Ito. Most of the stories in Alley are the same stories that made it into the Junji Ito cartoons, alongside Shoichi, which is a terrible series of stories in my opinion. These are a lot of the weirdest Ito stories that make a little more sense than they did in animated form, but not enough to really make the difference. A standout story is Mold, which continues Ito’s grossout storytelling similar […]

The Year of the Hare – Modern Life is Rubbish

The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna

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Last November I got the opportunity to see The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna at the Finnish National Theatre (it is the oldest Finnish-language professional theatre, established 1872). The Year of Hare is one of the most internationally successful Finnish book. And 2025 we are celebrating its 50th anniversary. After reading the book I watched the movie again to complete the Trifecta of the Hare. It is Midsummer’s Eve or Eve’s Eve in Finland in the mid-1970s. Sacred time. Mr Kaarlo Vatanen, the […]



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