Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Celebration of Books and Readers

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

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I am a sucker for  Louise Erdrich, and this book did not disappoint. This is a book lover’s story: the romance of words, sentences, the independent bookstore, discussions about books, book recommendations, all wrapped up in a darn good story. Tookie, the narrator begins: “While in prison, I received a dictionary. . . I had received an impossible sentence of sixty years from the lips of a judge who believed in the afterlife. So the word with its yawning c, belligerent little e‘s, with its […]

“We never thought of ourselves as witches….For this was a word invented by men, a word that brings power to those who speak it, not those it describes.”

Weyward: A Novel by Emilia Hart

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Weyward is a novel about three women in three different time periods but from the same family line — the Weyward women. It is a story of women who don’t fit, who are “wayward,” and as such are feared and abused. Yet this is also about women who find their strength in that which sets them apart and who learn to love and empower themselves as a result. There are some supernatural elements to this story, and while I think that adding the supernatural to […]

The perfect mix of war and noir

Five Decembers by James Kestrel

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Five Decembers by James Kestrel won the 2022 Edgar Award for best novel. It is a solid murder mystery that involves a classic noir detective story paired with international intrigue and  the Pacific Theater in WWII. Main character Joe McGrady is army brat who went to college and later served in the army before settling in Hawaii and becoming a detective in the Honolulu Police Department. His boss, Capt. Beamer, is a chain-smoking benzedrine-inhaling hard nose who hates Joe and makes it clear that he […]

A little romance

The Thorn and The Blossom: A Two-Sided Love Story by Theodora Goss

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The Thorn and The Blossom is a novella by Theodora Goss which uses the tale of Gawain the Green Knight from Arthurian legend as a point of departure. Goss takes the legend, updates it to the modern age and provides her readers with a charming love story told from two perspectives. The Thorn and The Blossom is the story of Evelyn Morgan and Brendan Thorne, and it is the story of Gawan, Queen Elowen, the sorceress Morva and the thousand year curse. The reader can […]

Of course cats are sentient and working with villains

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

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CBR15 Bingo: Adulthood – Charlie struggles with many of the downsides to adulthood, loans, parental loss, divorce, and barely scrapping by.  Bingo #3! History (replaced with Nostalgia) to Europe. John Scalzi is almost an auto buy for  our household.  However, the most recently trilogy had us feeling a little cold.  Then last year’s The Kaiju Preservation Society was a spectacular showcase of what makes Scalzi such a fun writer.  Based on The Kaiju Preservation Society I was already looking forward to my preorder of Scalzi’s newest […]

A fairytale in all but name

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

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CBR15 Bingo: Using my Getaway key to replace History with Nostalgia and make bingo #2! Diagonal, History to Sex.  I used Nettle and Bone for nostalgia because fairytales always make me feel nostalgic for my childhood reading.  Note: It has been awhile since I listened to this book and I have forgotten names.  Also, I don’t know how names are spelled so please forgive any transgressions. It feels like a few weeks ago (but the reality is it was probably several months ago because time is […]



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