Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Penny's Pages by Jenna Elyse Johnson and Janna Mattia

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The picture book Penny’s Pages by Jenna Elyse Johnson and illustrated by Janna Mattia (read via an online reader and due mid-March 2027) might not be my all time favorite read of the year, but it is up in the top 25 because it was read at the right time and has a story that is likeable.  Penny is a dog (based on a real bookstore pet) and the store is named after her. Of course, you’d name your store after the boss right? (The […]

When a bookstore owner falls for a book cover model

The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur

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If you’re looking for a light-hearted sapphic rom-com, The Fiancée Farce does the job. Bookstore owner Tansy is shy and sick of her family asking about her love life.  She tells a small lie to get them off her back when dragged into wedding prep for her stepsister. She bases her fake girlfriend on a sexy and captivating romance cover model. As fate would have it, said cover model Gemma van Dalen walks into Tansy’s life at a party with all her friends and family […]

Dear Bookstore I love you

Dear Bookstore by Emily Arrow

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While the ending was a smidgen pushy in Dear Bookstore, the overall feeling is well done. The illustrations by Geneviève Godbout set the tone that Emily Arrow has presented, well and are a great push for getting readers into brick and motor independent stores. Due mid March 2025, I read Arrow’s book via an online reader copy. The poetic nature of things starts off like any other book you have read about a bookstore. And if you are not paying attention, you will miss the […]

Not just for the best holiday ever, Halloween

Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books by Barry Timms

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There is a book for everyone and Henry (a kid who is not really into books) wonders if he will be able to find the perfect book for him in Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books. Of course, he will (we know that most books for kids have a happy ending) and it is the getting there that is the actual journey.  Henry, while helping the customers at Griselda’s bookstore, realizes how there really is a book for everyone. There are magic books, sports books, even joke […]

By the author who has a ginger girlfriend, an even more ginger dog and an undisclosed number of cats and a lot to say in this delightful book

The Lonely Book by Meg Grehan

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I know it is odd to start a review with a negative, but I want to get it out of the way. I did not like The Lonely Book as much as Meg Grehan’s other titles. This one felt younger than the ones I have read and I was expecting something more mature. With that said, I still enjoyed this addition to their collection of prose poetry novels. Most of Grehan’s books deal with LGBTQ+ issues as well as mental health. This time we are […]

Another Cozy Fantasy

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

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I’ve been very much in the mood lately (absolutely always) for stories that feel like a mental warm hug. This being the prequel to Baldree’s lovely Legends & Lattes, we encounter our old friend Viv at the beginning of her mercenary journey. It is not going very well. Viv is very badly injured while being reckless in pursuit of a famous necromancer. The mercenary company she belongs to drop her off in a sleepy seaside town to rest and recuperate before hopefully coming back for […]



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