Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I’m not the audience, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be

Pi Squad Mysteries #1  Sabotage at Casa Grande Springs by DD Sterner

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There are few books that I read a page or two and feel like I cannot go on. I usually say, okay, it’s slow right now, but it’ll pick up, and it does.  However, Pi Squad Mysteries #1  Sabotage at Casa Grande Springs by DD Sterner (cover design by Alyssa Tora Aman) was not one of  those books. However (again), I kept reading. And my eight or nine year old brain said, “You would have enjoyed this as a kid.”  Just not your adult self. […]

The (rear) end

My Brother's Butt Is Haunted by Dan Poblocki and James Rey Sanchez

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Just in time for the Halloween season (or more accurately, late summer 2025), My Brother’s Butt Is Haunted by Dan Poblocki and illustrated by James Rey Sanchez will be out. Hopefully. I mean someone could raise a stink and say it is inappropriate, it is a real foul bomb or something. I mean, many people will think this is a gas, but you know people can sometimes not get into the spirit of things. When two brothers go to spend the night together at their […]

Truly Ambivalent (also, CANNONBALL)

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

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(Translation of the book by Polly Barton) Best for: People looking for a very long book to sink their teeth into; people who enjoy romantic descriptions of meals. In a nutshell: Journalist Rika is after an interview with Manako Kajii, who is about to undergo a retrial after being convicted of murder three former boyfriends. When she finally gets a meeting with Manako, her life takes a turn. Worth quoting: “A far more important question, she had come to understand, was how to enjoy this […]

The Hindu-Buddhist Empire You’ve Never Heard Of.

Majapahit: Intrigue, Betrayal and War in Indonesia's Greatest Empire by Herald van der Linde

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I mentioned this one in the best and worst books round up at the end of the year so now I feel obliged to post a review before we actually hit the end of the year. While it’s often said that history is written by the victors, I think  reality is a little more complex than that. A great empire celebrated in one era may fade into obscurity in the next. Geopolitical shifts can suppress the stories of past triumphs, and without visible monuments or […]

Dogs might just make any book better

Searching for Rescue by Tonya Burrows

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One day I came upon a list of free, steamy romance novels. I was intrigued and probably procrastinating, so I looked through the list. That’s where I found Searching for Rescue (2023) by Tonya Burrows. I picked it up on Amazon, not sure if I would ever read it. After all, it was free. How good could it be? But in the end, the dog sucked me in. I love dogs, and I figured a romance with a kick-ass, military-trained, Belgian Malinois was going to be interesting. […]

“I’m a cynic. And a cynic is a romantic who’s too scared to hope.”

Funny Story by Emily Henry

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I’ve read a number of books by Emily Henry and always found them enjoyable. So, when I saw that her latest book, Funny Story (2024) was out, I knew I was going to read it. Like all of her books so far, I enjoyed this one. The characters were fun and likeable, and I occasionally felt that ache in my chest that comes with well-written, romantic yearning. The details of Henry’s books don’t usually stick with me for long; I mostly just remember the general emotions. Daphne […]



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