Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Dated and hard to stomach (DNF)

Rivals by Jilly Cooper

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This novel from the 1980s was recently turned into a series on Disney+ of all places. I watched it because it has a bunch of actors I really like in it, including David Tennant and Aiden Turner (who is sporting a ridiculous Super Mario mustache). If you miss the 1980s and enjoy adult, “Dallas” style TV, you should check it out. The first scene is two people having sex in the lavatory on the Concorde and a few scenes later we get full frontal male […]

This week, in ‘Men Doing Stupid Shit’…

Before She Met Me by Julian Barnes

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall

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Two books this week, both about men who do things they either haven’t thought through, or that they should maybe stop thinking about. altogether.  Before She Met Me (Julian Barnes) *** Graham is an academic and teaches history at university. He’s left his shrewish wife Barbara for Ann, a former b-list actress, and he is very happy with her until the day when he accidentally sees his wife in a dumb b-movie. In it, Ann is seen in bed with another actor. Graham’s mind latches […]

Taking a chance can pay off

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

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There’s a part of me – a big part of me – that loves hunting through discount tables and used book stores, looking for treasures long abandoned by people unknown, or those never discovered and left to be sold for bargain prices. But there’s another part of me that is saddened by the amazing things people pour their heart into that never get discovered, and are left to be found by people willing to gamble a few dollars on forgotten and unwanted books. The Storied […]

“History is…tragedy without catharsis.” – Barry Gewen

Wolverine: Road of Bones by David Mack

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One of our local used bookstores has an aisle of trade paperbacks dedicated to tie-ins with video games, TV shows, comics, and the like. I’ve found some fun stuff there, including books based on the Splinter Cell and Halo video games, Tron, 1960s Star Trek, and 1990s Batman. These books are never a bad time. The last time I was browsing that section, I picked up with Wolverine story for a couple of bucks. It made for fun bedtime reading with some unexpected pathos. In […]

Freshman Blues

How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger

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How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger is a coming of age story that we know: Girl has trouble fitting in during high school. She is not ready for the trials of being a teen. But, the thing is, she isn’t really a teen. She should be an 8th grader. She should be having homeroom, going to Six Flags, starting a first crush; not having to deal with boys who think interrupting their English teacher is funny. Doing group projects with a boy (thankfully she […]

Fun with Signs

Begin One Way: A Children's Book of Road Signs by Ioana Stoian

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Recently I had the opportunity to read a book by Ioana Stoian. When I started to look for other books by them, I located the title Begin One Way: A Children’s Book of Road Signs (illustrated by Sophia Vincent Guy). At first, I was thinking how could anyone do a fun or interesting book about road signs? It had been done before; and honestly, it was a bit dull. However, while I am not jumping up and down saying this is the best book ever, […]



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