Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“To be so ravenous with desperation that the only way out is complete and utter annihilation. A torpedo made of your own sharpened body.”- Senaa Ahmad (or me about wanting to quit this book)

The Age of Calamities: Stories by Senaa Ahmad

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I bought this book for two reasons: the New York Times highly recommended it, and I have always had a fascination with Anne Boleyn and one of the stories was said to feature her. And now you get a story by story commentary on how very much a mistake that decision was. Let’s Play Dead: Right off the bat we have the Anne Boleyn story, and right off the bat I loathe this book. Henry VIII has Anne Boleyn’s head chopped off and the next […]

In the best way, this was not at all what I was expecting.

Book Club Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

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I was expecting to enjoy Jenny Holiday’s Book Club Boyfriend. She has a talent for blending charming characters and easy breezy writing with some deeply emotional topics. In Book Club Boyfriend, she reshapes her typically good writing and pushes the boundaries of genre romance to give us her best book to date. I’ve read a bunch of fantastic books recently, and this one grabbed me and shook me. Blair (most likely inspired by Reese Witherspoon, but this is not veiled real person fanfic) and Jack […]

Stephanie Plum Step Aside

Knife Skills by Wendy Church

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This novel is marketed toward Janet Evanovich fans who appreciate a spunky, messy, crime-solving heroine. Author Wendy Church provides similar appeal with less madcap characters, more depth and a tight plot. I’d classify “Knife Skills” as an action crime thriller. Sagarine Pfister is quickly introduced as reckless and impulsive. She also gets to be a confident, competent and gifted chef. Upon becoming mixed up with the mob, danger manages to both lead and follow her. Sagarine’s ambition, stubbornness and sense of responsibility drive the story. […]

Early Jazz 101

Young Man with a Horn by Dorothy Baker

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A short sharp and brilliant novella written by Dorothy Baker in 1938.  Often called the first jazz novel, it is loosely based off the life of Bix Beiderbecke, a white trumpeter who generally played with black bands, in this era of Jim Crow, and who died young of alcoholism.  Baker nailed the 1920s era, where swing was still just starting to take root, and dance bands were emerging, but then there was jazz, for those who preferred to actually listen to the music. Lady knows […]

The Tapestry of Fate: Supporting women’s rights…and women’s wrongs.

The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty

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Tapestry of Fate picks up shortly after the ending of the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, and is deeply related to some of the happenings towards the end of the first book. So, there will be spoilers below for the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. Amina has been granted super-human abilities and tasked with finding five Transgressions. Well, four after the Moon of Saba. We get a small glimpse at Amina, Dalila, Tinbu, and Majed’s adventure to collect the second Transgression early on in the book, but […]

Finding You

Avery the Fox: The Story of a Non-Binary Fox Finding Love for Themself by Trevor R. Day and Tamara M. Day

Avery the Fox: The Story of a Transgender Fox Finding Love for Herself by Trevor R. Day and Tamara M. Day

Avery the Fox: The Story of a Transgender Fox Finding Love for Himself by Trevor R. Day and Tamara M. Day

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Avery the Fox: The Story of a Non-Binary Fox Finding Love for Themself Avery the Fox: The Story of a Transgender Fox Finding Love for Herself Avery the Fox: The Story of a Transgender Fox Finding Love for Himself Vacation lasted a week, but my online reader site thought it was longer, as it put a billion reader copies up that I had to sort through to find just the ones I wanted to read/keep. I figured I must be exaggerating. I mean it couldn’t […]



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