Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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The Summer of Sam, Ed, and Reggie

Ladies and Gentleman, the Bronx is Burning by Jonathan Mahler

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Jonathan Mahler’s Ladies and Gentleman, the Bronx is Burning is an unusual work of non-fiction, blending sports, news, culture, and politics into a fairly comprehensive narrative of life in New York City in the year 1977. It was a dark time in the city. Years of excessive spending on social programs had the city teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and despite promises made by newly-elected President Jimmy Carter, help was not on the way. It was an election year in the city, with Mayor Abe […]

So Good

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

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This is a searing look at Depression/Dust Bowl/Migrant farmer camps in California, as previously depicted in Steinbeck’s famous Grapes of Wrath, but from the point of view of a woman.  Almost as if the famous portrait by Dorothea Lange come to life. Elsa Wolcott, raised in a prosperous Texas family in 1921, is a so-called old maid and is rejected by her family for her ungainly height and plain looks.  One night, though, she takes a chance on Rafe Martinelli, the handsome young son of […]

“The night without stars”, he said finally. “I beg your pardon?” “Your face without freckles,” he explained.

Game of Rogues by Julie Anne Long

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4.5 stars Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. This book is out on June 3rd, 2026. Genevieve “Ginny” Woodville travels alone and unchaperoned to London to confront the man known as “The Reaper”, Gabriel Marchand, owner of one of the most exclusive gentlemen’s clubs/gaming hells in the city. Her newly come of age younger brother, who also recently became the Earl of Highgrove after the death of a cousin, got drunk one evening and gambled away not […]

Beary cute story

A Bear Belongs: A Wildlife Rescue Story by Catherine Barr and Harriet Hobday

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It’s a little embarrassing to say that it took me from February 2026 to April 2026 to read A Bear Belongs: A Wildlife Rescue Story by Catherine Barr. Not because it is some 5,000 page book or anything. But because I forgot the name of it. It was not until a few days before writing the review I remembered Bear was in the title. So, I did a search in my emails for reader copies and found probably 20 different titles that had bear attached […]

“Now, in a growing number of cities across the country, when a victim testified, she no longer did so alone.”

The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story by Pagan Kennedy

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Following news at the beginning of May that the End the Backlog campaign had finally achieved rape kit reform legislation in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Now, in the year of aggravation that is 2026. But, with a goal of being thankful for the wins and not angered by their delay I decided it was time to move The Secret History of the Rape Kit up to the top of my reading list.   Pagan Kennedy’s book traces the story of the creation of the modern rape kit and the woman, Marty Goddard, […]

They had it coming

When the Wolves Are Silent by C.S. Harris

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I have really enjoyed the last few novels in this series after having a few that didn’t quite work as well for me: it’s nice that we haven’t had too many French espionage connections lately and are just doing murder mysteries. Also, I appreciate that Sebastian St. Cyr hasn’t been too beaten up lately after seeming to get stabbed or shot (at) quite a bit. Sebastian St. Cyr and his sister have a complicated relationship; her husband was a scoundrel and her son definitely isn’t […]



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