Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

What the hell is going on here?

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

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My book club picked another book that I’d never heard of and most likely would not have read without their peer pressure. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018) by Stuart Turton takes place on a run-down English estate, probably in the mid 1900’s. It is a unique mix of genres: there is a classic, Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery, a body switching main character who doesn’t know who he is or why he’s there, and a science-fiction-y explanation for everything. Our protagonist, whose name we later […]

When everyone is welcome

Everyone Is Welcome by Phuong Truong

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While reading Everyone Is Welcome, I stopped to think about the subject of the book. While it takes a minute or two to get to the big event, there are smaller events that hit on the racism and acts of violence against Asian people. The main event is a friend of the narrator’s grandmother was pushed into the road in front of the Asian market. Now, the friend and grandmother are afraid to go to market by themselves. Then, the narrator is unable to play […]

Those who prepare for the first day of school.

Get Ready for School by Janet Nolan

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There are many first day of school or getting ready for school stories/books. However, Get Ready for School is a terribly modern telling of the school and those inside (from the principal to teachers to the janitor). These people have much preparing still for the first day of school, and there is so much to do before the school is ready, they are not sure if they are ready for the students to come and learn. From wi-fi troubles to sensory bins to computers, a […]

The Fellowship Diverges and Reconverges

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Spoilers ahead, I guess, for those who aren’t familiar with how all of this ends. Part 1 (or Book III as it’s called in the book, because each of the 3 novels is divided into 2 books) of The Two Towers begins by following Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas as they try to track Merry and Pippin, who have been taken by Orcs. Sadly, Boromir died in the Orc battle, though not without putting up a strong fight. We discover that Gandalf lives. We meet the […]

A miss for me, a possible hit for you

Message in the Moon by Roma Downey

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I started to read A Message in the Moon author introduction. However, I stopped when I saw the phrase “my daddy” and the tone was that of a young child and not an adult. Everyone has their own dynamic with their family, but that was a turn off. And there is no rule saying I had to read it (as I knew it would really color my feelings on the actual story). Therefore, I skipped ahead to Roma Downey’s story. Which also was not for […]

Sending kindness

Share Your Love by Susan B. Katz

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Susan B. Katz might want you to Share Your Love, but I wish they had not done it in rhyming text. However, since I am not the technical audience for the book (which I would say would be a four- to eight-year-old), that is okay. It will work for that younger crowd. This makes things fun, light, and bouncy. This is a “kindness meditation” (as the publisher description says) but since I am not a fan of the word mediation (has too many connotations of […]



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