Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The slow horror of watching your life fall apart, one terrible decision after another

Come Closer by Sara Gran

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I had low expectations going into this book, but I was in the mood for something quietly horrifying and unsettling. I saw someone praising this on Reddit, and it was freely available on Audible. And it was exactly what I wanted. Which is to say, it left me deeply unsettled. Amanda, an architect in what appears to be a happy marriage, finds her life slowly unraveling. It starts off with  a quiet tapping in her apartment that she and her husband can quite track down. […]

Compassion

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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All I could tell you about this book prior to having read it was that it was about racial justice, and was written from the perspective of a girl whose father, Atticus Finch, is one of the most beloved characters in American literature. I’ve seen the movie. Watched it in college some twenty years ago. And while I remember loving the movie, I don’t remember much about it beyond that. Unsurprisingly, the book is pretty damn good. As is the case with many of the […]

Heavy emotions

The Heavy Bag: One Girl's Journey Through Grief (US Version) by Sarah Surgey

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Books about grief are not new, however, the tone of The Heavy Bag: One Girl’s Journey Through Grief (US Version) has a more European or “classical” feeling to it. This allows things to not be the “same old” we are used to. However, as it does say “US Version” in the title, it might have been adapted to a more American audience or possibly just translated into English (the French title is, Un sac très lourd). The more poetic nature of dealing with the issues […]

Food and family

Rainbow Shopping by Qing Zhuang

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The publisher’s description of Rainbow Shopping by Qing Zhuang says “Shopping for and preparing a delicious meal helps a young Chinese American girl feel connected to her family.” But it is more than that. It is a way of her having a connection with her past and the present. And it shows a piece of her old home and her new home. We are able to see that while she cannot find everything she and her mother wanted for their special dinners (the whole family […]

Oh Christmas Smut, Oh Christmas Smut, You Make The Holidays Bearable

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone

A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone

Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey

Christmas on the Thirteenth Floor by Lee Jacquot

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

Kidnapped by the Krampus by Emily Shore

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Here’s a collection of Christmas Romances I read over the Holiday Season: A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone A porn producer wants to branch out and make some movies with the wholesome streaming company, the Hope Channel (think Hallmark meets Netflix), but the majority of the cast and crew are injured at a Burning Man-type festival. He hurriedly sends the director a folder of headshots but doesn’t realize he has sent her the headshots of his Adult Film stars. The […]

Memorable but depressing

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

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I got married last year in August, but when it came to our first wedding anniversary, my husband and I weren’t exactly sure how to celebrate. When I saw that the first anniversary was paper, it occurred to me that we could read a book together! After all, some of our first discussions were about books. We went on a big trip to Florida this year, so we decided to get a book about Florida. I really like this new tradition of ours, and we’re […]



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