Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Remember that a fine education can be found in places other than the usual.”

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

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I’m nearly a decade late to The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. It has been on my to read list since 2016 and got pushed to the top tier of the pile last year for the Read Harder challenge (as it does take place in a big way in a bookstore). Then I never got to it but seeing that there was a movie adaptation out I decided to get my proverbial act together and dig into the story.   The book tells […]

A Series Ender that Gave Me Better than I Expected

Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade

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I am unsure how to review this book. I loved it. I knew I was going to love it. I am enthralled with the choices Olivia Dade makes with her main characters throughout this three book series (this being the finale following Spoiler Alert and All the Feels). I want everyone to read it and have the same experience that I did. I’m aware that most likely not everyone will as I think there’s a certain kind of lived experience needed to fully grapple with […]

“I don’t think I’ll have anywhere left to hide my excuses and these bright, urgent feelings once his gentle light illuminates each of my dark corners.”

Scandalized by Ivy Owens

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Last month I read Dome’Loki’s review of Scandalized and immediately requested it from my library, which meant I joined a several week long queue. As promised in the review, this story pulls you in immediately. When it finally got to me it took me less than 36 hours to read it (I almost finished it in less than 12, but at 75% I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and I was required to go to work on Monday – nonsense I tell […]

A Swoony Series Ender

Her Unexpected Roommate by Jackie Lau

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I have arrived at the final Cider Bar Sisters book by Jackie Lau. This is Rose’s story, and we’ve been introduced to Rose and her depression in bits and pieces over the previous books, but I think it’s important to note that Her Unexpected Roommate opens with an author’s note where Jackie Lau lays out what her reasons are for writing a lead like Rose and exactly the sorts of struggles the reader is going to experience via her characters (specifically treatment-resistant depression, and trauma […]

“Love couldn’t solve everything, but without love, there was nothing to solve.” (Bingo #3!)

40-Love by Olivia Dade

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I think I laugh the most whenever I read an Olivia Dade romance, her humor hits all the right notes for me. Even when I’m not expecting a laugh, Dade delivers them through her characters who are achingly self-aware, or sometimes not. Following a meet-cute involving a runaway bikini top and the need to keep from flashing nearby children, we get the story of Tess and Lucas. Lucas, 26, a former top-level tennis pro now giving lessons at a Florida resort, fled there after the […]

“Brown-eyed sublime being. She of soft, deep cardigan pockets. Bubble-bath taker. Pool jumper. Cheese provider. Sunset glower. Heaven sent.”

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

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I can see how Second First Impressions, Sally Thorne’s third book, isn’t going to be a five-star book for many readers – heck it wasn’t for me until quite near the end. But this book hit me in the feelings and had just the right kind of relatively low stakes, emotions are the plot set up for me. I was delighted; I understand if you were not. In this outing Thorne is playing with opposites, both in her protagonists and in the thematic work she […]



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