Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Red for Murder

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

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When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan, is a work of speculative fiction, that I imagine feels far less speculative today than when it was published in 2011. The author doesn’t specify the year of our Lord in which this novel takes place, but it’s definitely in the future. Los Angeles has been nuked to filth. There are water wars in Northern Africa. There are “National Identity Cards” which allow the government to monitor and track citizenry. And there was a “superclap” pandemic which did nothing […]

The Hand that Mows the Lawn

The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives by Elizabeth Arnott

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Three women who met because they were all at one point married to a serial killer band together to try and stop a potential new killer when women start disappearing around where they live. This book picks up with an unusual premise – what is it like to have been the closest person to a serial killer, and not have it believed that you knew nothing of their crimes? The author does an excellent job of grounding us in the place and time of the […]

Hippos of the Deep South

American Hippo by Sarah Gailey

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In a world where the American Hippo bill passed (look it up, it was real!) and the vast Mississippi became the home of deadly feral hippo, Winslow Houndstooth and a crew of rogues, murderers, and con artists have been contracted to take it back. This book consists of the novellas River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow and two additional short stories, which all take place in this alternate United States and follow Winslow and his motley crew of hippo riders. Firstly, I love hippos, I love the idea of […]

This in’t about adoption

Mother Nature by Jamie Lee Curtis, Russell Goldman and Karl Stevens

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SOME SPOILERS and possible triggers (but not as many as are in the book). Sometimes I wonder if people like something because they are “supposed to.” We are “supposed to” like a story about environmentalism. We are “supposed to” like something because the character(s) are of a minority (in Mother Nature by Jamie Lee Curtis, Russell Goldman, and illustrator Karl Stevens they are Native, two characters are queer, and at least two other people are of color). But that does not mean the book will […]

If you read this book – definitely opt for the audiobook version!

Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson

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I have a microphone on my desk at home that I use for meetings when I’m working from home. When I first got it my old boss used to tease me that I looked like a radio host, and then I’d do my cheesy radio voice. This book has nothing to do with that, but I’m guessing there’s a cool microphone involved in the audiobook and the podcast it’s about. This is one of those books that you should ABSOLUTELY listen to the audiobook version […]

The Bat by Jo Nesbø

The Bat by Jo Nesbø

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Disclaimer: I think this will be the third time I have attempted participating in the Cannonball Read. My failures in the past are so frustrating to me because I easily read at least 50 books each year. It’s the reviews that are my stumbling block. I know it’s because I am intimidated, both by the intelligence of the Pajiba community and by my minimal skills with technology. This year, I’m trying to let that anxiety go. If my reviews sound like they were written by […]



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