Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“There’s something about realizing that the birds have been here all along, and all I have to do is learn to pay attention.”

Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb

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I was so excited when the new NPR’s Favorite Books List came out this year, and I immediately pored over it, surprised by how few books I knew. But one book immediately caught my eye. I sent the title to my husband who said it was written for a niche market of one (me!). The book was Birding with Benefits (2024) by Sarah T. Dubb, and it is a romance novel about birding. Some years ago now, I discovered that there were more birds in Colorado than just Mallards […]

Disposable Crime Fiction for Christmas/New Year Holidays

The Valley by Chris Hammer

Endgame by Sarah Barrie

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Absolutely no offence intended for anyone who writes or reads crime fic – I love it, and read a bunch of it.  However, I already forgot how these ended, and I’ve read them in the last four weeks. The Valley is the latest in Chris Hammer’s series of books starring Ivan & Nell, two detectives based out of Dubbo, servicing a large swath of rural NSW. Hammer’s early Martin Scarsden books have recently been turned into direct-to-streaming movies, starting with Scrublands.  If you saw that, […]

The epitome of a mom mystery

Still Life by Louise Penny

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When deciding on a book for our January book club, we wanted to do an Agatha Christie adjacent cozy murder mystery and someone suggested Still Life by Louise Penny. The immediate reaction of many of us was to say “my mom loves this series!” or “my mom has read all of Louise Penny’s books!” Still Life is a murder mystery set in the small Canadian village of Three Pines. It follows Chief Inspector Gamache, a homicide detective who doesn’t see much homicide and his team […]

Summer camp in the 1970’s

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

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I’ve read two books by Liz Moore so far, and I’ve been very impressed with both of them. Long Bright River and The Unseen World have interesting, three-dimensional characters, original plots, and are well written. I was also surprised and impressed by how different these two novels were. So, when I saw that Liz Moore had a new book coming out, I immediately put it on hold at the library. The God of the Woods (2024) is another completely different story. Although it is a well-written page turner with very interesting […]

I think I am a Joyce

Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman

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The TL;DR version of this review is: these are some of the most charming books you will ever pick up.  Grab a cuppa and a blanket and give them a go. Set in an assisted living complex in England, the Thursday Murder Club meets weekly to review cold case files, and see if they can solve them.  As you would, if you could!  Coopers Chase caters to the sprightly as well as those needing full time care, for a price.  It’s quite idealised, but our […]

Not my favorite

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson

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My book club chose A Town Called Solace (2021) by Mary Lawson. I had not heard of it, but it sounded interesting enough. This story is told from the alternating perspectives of three different people who live in a small town in Canada in the 1970’s. Clara is only 7 years old, and she is concerned. She is concerned because her sixteen-year-old sister, Rose, has been missing for a couple of weeks after an argument with their mother. And now she’s concerned because a strange man just […]



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