Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The crowning exception to “The book is always better than the movie.”

Jaws by Peter Benchley

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While I’m sure there are those who disagree, Jaws is the crowning exception to the rule “The book is always better than the movie.” In adapting the book to the script the story was transformed, made stronger and streamlined, and fixed all of the problems of the novel. To be transparent, Jaws is my all-time favorite movie. Ok, maybe the top five but that’s splitting hairs and ranking is largely dependent on which of my favorite movies I have most recently seen. I love every […]

The Dog Show Judge and the Ex-Nun

Peg and Rose Solve a Murder by Laurien Berenson

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Sister-in-laws Peg and Rose never gotten along, but in the interest of repairing their relationship they decide to join a bridge club as partners. When a member of the club is murdered, they decide to work together to find the killer. This was a breezy cozy mystery, with a case that managed to be interesting without being too much of a head scratcher. I really enjoyed the relationship between Peg and Rose, who are attempting to become friends after a long and contentious history, and […]

This is a review about a book you might be interested in.

ABC Deconstructing Gender by Ashley Molesso

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It is a Tuesday in May 2023, at my bookstore. And that means that new releases are going to happen. And two of those were GLBTQ titles. One was Child’s Introduction to Pride by Sarah Prager, which looks awesome, but too long to read on a quick break, and the other was ABC Deconstructing Gender. Honestly, I thought this book would be pushy, in your face and about how “non-conforming” people are so much better than “conforming” people. Thankfully Ashley Molesso  made a book that […]

“…with understanding, all things were possible.”

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

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Riddle me this: what do you create when you combine a violin prodigy, “the Queen of Hell”, and an alien doughnut maker? If you are Ryka Aoki, you create a wild, delicious, devastating, hilarious brew. Does it hold together in a tight narrative? Light from Uncommon Stars does not. Does it thrill your senses and grow your heart? It absolutely does. We are first introduced to Katrina Nguyen, a teenage trans girl, as she is running away from a brutal home, carrying her beloved violin. […]

April 2023 Leftovers

Lady Boss by Jackie Collins

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Flux by Jinwoo Choo

The Cutie by Donald Westlake

The Boy with the Faster Brain by Peter Shankman

The Widening Gyre by Robert B. Parker

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Happy spring! Lady Boss** So after two books and almost 2k pages of enough internalized misogyny to make Phyllis Schlafly blush, with stories chock full of men and women who will literally hump anyone and anything, Jackie Collins suddenly decides to make Lucky purchase a movie studio…in order to get rid of casting couches and male dominance in favor of female-driven movies that are less horny. What? Whatever. I’ll still keep reading this garbage. The Hunting Party*** I was prepared to write about this being […]

If you’re stabby and you know it, stab someone

If UR Stabby by Kaz Windness

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My rating of three is a guessed at average of all my likes and dislikes about the book, If UR Stabby. Kaz Windness created a concept of a depressed unicorn that is mostly amusing. Stabby is the opposite of other unicorns with their jellybeans and kittens and rainbows and six-packs. Stabby is anxiety and gas and stabby. Really, really stabby. Plus, they have a theme song (sung to the tune “If You’re Happy and You Know It”). But then Windness lost me. Um…. Blood and […]



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