Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of three women in three time periods

Weyward by Emilia Hart

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My book club knocked it out of the park this month with Weyward.  Coincidentally,  Barnes and Noble chose it as this month’s speculative fiction pick.  Clearly we have excellent taste.  Emilia Hart has crafted a moving narrative across time by telling us the story of Altha Weyward in 1619, Violet Aryes in 1942, and Kate Aryes in 2019.  Altha, Violet, and Kate are Weyward women.  Born with the gift of being in tune with and connected to nature. For Altha, raised by her mother, another Weyward […]

Like Sylvia Plath and the fig tree, basically.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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My initial thoughts upon finishing this were mostly that it was a perfectly fine book but that it wouldn’t stick with me, and that has indeed turned out to be the case. It’s been a month since I’ve finished it, and it’s already almost fallen out of my head completely. But it was a short, entertaining read, so if that’s something you’re looking for, and you can stand some blatant emotional manipulation, this might be the book for you! What the blurb doesn’t tell you […]

The Comeback Kid

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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At 37, Carrie Soto is well past the age of retirement for a professional female tennis player, and as the record holder of most Slam titles won, she can rest easy as the best player the world has ever seen – until a younger player matches her. At this point, I probably have to admit that Jenkins Reid’s historical novels have a distinct cheesiness about them, and that I enjoy it very much. Having first met Carrie in Malibu Rising in an unpleasant cameo, I knew she […]

An entertaining read for Women’s History month

The Alewives: A Plague-Era Tale of Murder, Friendship and Fine Ale by Elizabeth R. Andersen

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Another shout out to Narfna for putting this on my radar. I am your literary stalker! This was a very entertaining murder mystery set in an era that has always fascinated me and featuring a set of unusual sleuths. I’d never read any of Elizabeth Andersen’s books before, but I gather that historical fiction is her thing and setting a murder in the immediate aftermath of the Black Death had me from the get go. Even better, the sleuths in this novel, which I hope […]

Happy International Women’s Day to Esther Green

The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott

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First of all, Thank you, Emmalita, for The Keeper’s Six!  I’ve been rather bad about writing reviews but I want to share how awesome Esther Green is on International Women’s Day.  Esther is a badass, an adventurer, intelligent, determined, Jewish, a mother, a widower, a magical caster called a Lantern, is over 60 years old and still going on fantastical missions!  That’s the type of 60 year old that I hope to be. Esther Green is woken in the middle of night with an urgent call […]

Golden Girls with Guns

Killers of a Certain Age: A Novel by Deanna Raybourn

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Back in 2010 a Bruce Willis movie called Red (Retired, Extremely Dangerous) came out. I don’t especially love action movies but this one was great — a comedy action movie with a load of outstanding actors in it, including John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, and Helen Mirren. They all play retired secret agents whom Willis convinces to come out of retirement when he finds himself targeted by mysterious forces. Helen Mirren was my favorite as a bad ass weapons expert who has been running a genteel […]



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