Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

You’ll never look at a cinnamon roll the same way

Off Sides by Andi Jaxon

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I really enjoyed Andi Jaxon’s Off Sides. It is a MM stand-alone in her Darby U universe. It is not necessary for you to have read her other Darby U books, but it would probably help you understand what is going on with the peripheral characters. (It actually makes me think of EL James’ Grey series, in that you’re seeing a lot of the same events, just through a different lived experience. The difference being that this one is actually well written.) Nick and Joey […]

Not Your Normal Turgenev

On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev

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Now I love myself some classical Russian lit.  Not the big names, but more the second tier; not in quality, but more in popularity.  Gogol, Goncharov, and especially Turgenev, these guys are my jam.  They write of the lives of the Russian gentry, not in the cities, but out on their estates.  There is a certain calm and peacefulness that I am addicted to.  Granted there are serfs and peasants, but they seem to be agents of their own fate.  It all seems to work […]

“As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.”

All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

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In five(ish) words: Free will, space-faring, android, science fiction, charming. I see how “charming” might seem out of place for something called “The Murderbot Diaries” that revolves around our understanding of a security droid’s awakening to and wrestling with purpose, but here we are. This novella packs a lot of meaning and thought-provoking content (and even a little humor) into its pages. This book reads like a space episode of Doctor Who, the type where the Doctor and their companion is stuck on a space […]

Fighting the War of Words

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

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There’s always a risk in going back to a longer book after failing with it the first time. You may invest too much of your time without the payoff you were hoping for. American Psycho is a rare exception that worked for me. Most of them didn’t. Tree of Smoke didn’t work either. This was my third attempt with it and I powered through it because there was enough interest in the characters to see where it was going but no. I don’t want to say it was […]

“And what about a person’s life? How do you make a map of that? The borders people draw between themselves. The scars left along the ground of one’s heart.”

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

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In five words: secrets, Caribbean, sprawling, water, heritage This was a library book club pic that I had heard of (due to the Hulu adaptation) and found it to be intriguing and unique, if also a bit uneven. It’s a story of the gnarled knots and hidden corners of a family tree, and the lengths people will go to protect those they love. After a Thanksgiving Day family blowout, the Bennett family was on rocky ground. Benny, upset at her parents reception to a big […]

Murder Misery

This is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter

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Newlyweds Sara (forensic pathologist) and Will (GBI agent) have decided to splurge on their honeymoon; they’ve rented a cabin at the exclusive McAlpine lodge, deep in the Appalachian Mountains, for a week of horseback riding, fishing, mountain biking and – as is made abundantly clear – loads of steamy sex. But because this a Karin Slaughter novel and somehow everything always has to tie into the character’s personal lives, during their first night, Mercy McAlpine, the resort’s manager, is found dead.  First of all: Mercy […]



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