Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Back to basics in a good way

Plant Based Cookbook by Trish Sebben-Krupka

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I somehow only just realized that the bargains shelves at Barnes and Noble actually have an online equivalent; I was trying to reach a threshold of some sort (maybe sped X to get Y off?) and found the $5 Plant Based Cookbook. It’s kind of basic, but I still think it might have been a good impulse grab, so to speak. I think what this one’s going to be best for is a set of recipes including things I remember liking before but not quite […]

I should have just posted “I like this book. Read it.” And put all the images instead of more text.

All Are Welcome: A Cat's Café Collection by Gwen Tarpley

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I had not heard of the Cat’s Cafe online/webtoons. Or if I had, they had not registered in my brain. Therefore, When I found All Are Welcome: A Cat’s Café Collection by Gwen Tarpley as an online copy (due at the end of July 2025) I was going into a new found territory. While it is said to be for middle readers, a lot of things are mature and good for adults as well. What I mean is that Cat’s Cafe is easy. We have […]

In Search of the Green Fairy

The Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Dangerous Spirit by Evan Rail

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Among all liquors, absinthe, a high-proof anised-flavored spirit known for its green hue, has a special mystique for its alleged mind-altering properities, its association with the art and literature of the 19th century, and a nearly century-long ban in many countries in Europe and America. However, one unscrupulous enthusiast took advantage of its cult following to swindle collectors out of thousands of dollars. Last spring, in a small bar in Seattle, I was regaled by the story of how absinthe came to be banned. A […]

A hopeful future with robots and food

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

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If you need a story of chosen family and hope and good food, Automatic Noodle absolutely fits the bill. This is a delightful novella of a near-future where California has split from the United States after war, and part of California progressiveness was to give civil rights to human equivalent embodied intelligence (HEEI) robots. But those rights are limited – they’re not able to use a bank, own property, and there’s lots of prejudice against robots (very allegorical to American attitudes towards immigrants and marginalized […]

“Actually,” Stacy says, “Stanley Tucci is everyone’s type.” I nod in solidarity. “Amen.”

What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci

Taste: My Life in Food by Stanley Tucci

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The title quote is from Julie Murphy’s , If the Shoe Fits, which I think marks the first time I’m using a pull quote for a review that is not from either of the actual books I am reviewing, but I can’t really help it when someone else has communicated the truth so clearly.  In What I Ate in One Year, speaking about his friend & fellow actor Andrew Scott, Stanley Tucci muses “Can someone be too good at something? I mean, so good, that everyone else […]

Understandable how you could mistake this knife fetishist for a murderer, but he didn’t do it.

Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin

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Thanks to NetGalley, RBmedia, and Recorded Books for the ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. Yes, this book was written by a TV chef. Apparently he was on Masterchef—I’ve never seen it. But unless he used a very secret ghostwriter, he did a good job! I truly have no idea why the ratings for this book are so low coming out of the UK*, or why the cozy mystery people have not come flocking (though this isn’t a cozy, it does have […]



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