Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“To me, the allure of history lay in the minutiae of life long ago, the untold secrets of ordinary people.”

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

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A friend loaned me this book and I dove in and read it in two days, tackling the first 13 chapters in one go: highly readable, and a breeze to get through. That said, I know that reading this book will be relegated to the pantheon of things I forgot I have read two months from now. I was quite surprised to learn it was a Goodreads nominee for Best Debut Novel and Best Historical Fiction because I wouldn’t have given it such high praise. […]

“That’s the problem with living in New York. You’ve got no New York to run away to.”

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

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In five-ish words: sophisticated, entertaining, New York, haunted I know a lot of people who say that Towles’ “Gentleman in Moscow” is their favorite book. I haven’t read it yet and have it on my TBR, somewhere middling in the middle. But then a co-host on my podcast recommended “Rules of Civility” for her “must read book” so this one rocketed straight to the top. I felt compelled to pick it up and I’m so glad I did! His writing is so clever and he […]

July-August 2024 Leftovers

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney

Confucius for Christians: What and Ancient Chinese Worldview Can Teach Us about Life in Christ by Greg A. Ten Elshof

Lucky At Cards by Lawrence Block

A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block

Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK by Gerald Posner

Doing the Devil's Work by Bill Loehfelm

The Kneeling Man: My Father's Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Leta McCullough Seletzky

The Third Bullet by Stephen Hunter

Burning Angel by James Lee Burke

The Queen City Detective Agency by Snowden Wright

Poetic Justice by Andrea J. Johnson

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Because I’ve been posting most of my reviews due to Bingo, I haven’t kept up with the leftover ones until now. Hope everyone had  a good summer. It’s my least favorite time of year but this one wasn’t so bad. Heartsick***: I took this book too seriously when I tried to read it the first time. I relaxed and enjoyed the ride the second. Goofy fun, nothing more. Brief Answers to the Big Questions****: I do enjoy listening to Hawking’s desire to push the boundaries […]

“There is something inexplicably masculine about expecting to be believed.”

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes (London Highwaymen #2) by Cat Sebastian

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This book is the second and final in the Highwaymen series and the fact that there isn’t a London Highwaymen #3 (and 4 and 5 and 6 and…) is a crushing blow. I loooove this world and these characters and would easily read a dozen more that showed additional POVs of the action we followed in the first installment, or expansions of other minor characters. Sebastian’s writing is sharp and fun, filling me with smirks, and the story is utterly charming, not to mention a […]

Cats don’t really feature prominently in this narrative (Bingo)

Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart

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Nowhere Book Bingo: From the decade I was born (1970s) Smart Bitches Book Bingo: Published in 2000 or earlier (first published 1976) CBR16 Bingo: Vintage (published 48 years ago) Briony Ashley is working in Portugal when she recieves word that her father has died, in what appears to be a hit-and-run accident. Her father didn’t die instantly, but had time to ramble some strange and slightly mysterious things, among them a warning that Briony needs to be careful. She goes home to what is now […]

Fun Middle Grade Medieval Action Adventure

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

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I’ve been eyeing this book since it came out when I was probably 12 years old but it had never really clicked for me although I have enjoyed all the Avi I’ve read. The time somehow was right this month and I churned through this in short order. I think it was partially because all I was able to read for about two and a half months was reading for grad school and my brain was desperate for something adventurous and straight forward. Crispin: The […]



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