Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“The message is connection”

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

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I have heard the theory that the octopus is actually an alien species – something about their DNA, and their uniqueness in both the deep sea and really anywhere else on Earth. I have fallen asleep to the documentary My Octopus Teacher a few times (one of these days I’ll make it all the way through!). I generally believe that there’s likely to be another species out there, somewhere (whether galaxies away or hidden in the depths of our oceans) that has a similar intelligence to […]

Here Kitty Kitty Tiger

Lost Cat! by Jacqueline K. Rayner

Mister Kitty is Lost! by Greg Pizzoli

Sometimes, a Tiger by Z. B. Asterplume

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Do you like cats? As the saying goes, you should never trust someone who does not like cats. Or is that dogs? No, I’m sure it is cats…. Regardless which (or both) it is, if you like cats, and if you like reading, and if you like picture books these three below titles are books you should investigate reading. Each one is a bit different, but they could work for most people and most ages. First, we have Lost Cat! Jacqueline K. Rayner made a […]

Bruce Norris (1)

Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris

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“September 1959. Three o’clock, Saturday afternoon.” In Kevin Kruse’s history of integration in Atlanta in the latte half of the 20th century, he discusses how neighborhood began to first integrate (and then quickly segregate) because of boundary-creep, leading to voting blocks gaining power, and then leading to different kinds of white flight into other neighborhoods and suburbs. Once the the boundary was both successfully broken, and then held, it usually followed a generally familiar pattern. And of course, we’re all familiar with the ways in […]

Norman Mailer (1)

Barbary Shore by Norman Mailer

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“Probably I was in the war. There is the mark of a wound behind my ear, an oblong of unfertile flesh where no hair grows. It is covered over now, and may be disguised by even the clumsiest barber, but no barber can hide the scar on my back. For that a tailor is more in order. When I stare into the mirror I am returned a face doubtless more handsome than the original, but the straight nose, the modelled chin, and the smooth cheeks […]

Willow Case

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

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The Hollow Places is an atmospheric and spooky novel, but not outright terrifying. It tapped into my weird fear of roots/plants gone bad (see The Ruins) effectively and swept me away nicely for a short and easy read. But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? Let’s go back to the beginning. Kara, or ‘Carrot’ as she’s affectionately known, is in a bit of a mess. She’s just divorced her partner and is looking for a fresh start. When her uncle, the owner of The Museum […]

Hello Mudder

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

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Horse unfolds in three parallel narratives spanning three centuries. In the 19th century, an enslaved man learns the art of training a horse from his free father and goes on to a long association with the greatest racehorse of his era, the legendary Lexington. In the 20th Century, an influential art dealer known for her work with abstract painters takes an unlikely interest in a painting of Lexington done by a minor artist. And in 2019, an art historian and a scientist find themselves drawn […]



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