Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Charming picture book about a night time library for animals

The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara

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My mom is continually sending our family books, despite my insistence our bookshelves are overflowing!  For Christmas she sent The Midnight Library and though it is aimed at children younger than my own, she knew what she was doing because the 13 and 9 year old were both charmed by the story. The Midnight Library is a love letter to librarians, libraries, and the purpose they serve in the community.  The titular library opens at midnight and closes at dawn.  It is run by a little […]

The Greatest Library that Never Was

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

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I was a huge fan of the Night Circus, so I was ecstatic when the lovely faintingviolet shared her copy of the Starless Sea with me. To give too much of the plot away takes all the joy out of reading this story, but the baseline is that there’s a magical library hidden underground accessible by doorways above. The nature through which patrons find these doors varies to fate, and in recent years, someone’s been closing all the doors. At least until a grad student named Zachery stumbles […]

When demi-gods have a plan, the world should tremble

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

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Carolyn has a plan to find out who killed Father, the god-like man who adopted her and eleven other children after a traumatic event occurred in their neighborhood. She must rely on her catalogue, languages, of Father’s expanse library and the skills of her siblings and their respective catalogues. She even must involve an American who is not a part of the Library, Father’s name for their home and expansive book-collection. What unravels is a mystery that involves everyone from local neighbors to the president. […]

Apologies to whoever sat next to me while I read this

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

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The Library at Mount Char is a strange book. Sometimes it’s really interesting and suspenseful; other times, it’s horrific (as in horror literature, not general quality). The thing is, at least for me, is that the two don’t quite mesh together. The general story follows Caroline and Steve, who apparently has some kind of criminal past but now lives a quiet life as a plumber. He meets Caroline who seems a little off but who offers him an unusual amount of money to help her […]

Taking a Trip Down Memory Lane

The Stopping Place by Marden Dahlstedt

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How many books have you hung on to since childhood? As the daughter of a librarian, my answer is, “not many.” I did hang on to my Scholastic Book Club copy of Marden Dahlstedt’s The Stopping Place, from fifth grade though. I recently came across my slim paperback story of a girl from Brooklyn forced to move to New Jersey’s Pine Barrens when her hippie family relocates. (The horror!) I saved a few books from my childhood, but most of my favorites came from the library. I still […]

Most human activities are predicated on the assumption that life goes on. If you take that premise away, what is there left?

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I couldn’t tell you the last time I read Murakami, but I now remember that the last time I read him, I swore I would read all of his work, and I’m making that oath again. He is magnificently imaginative, terrifying, mystical, and believable all at once. He throws you into the deep end and patiently waits for you to swim or drown; he doesn’t care which happens. He moves the finish line just as you’re about to reach it, over and over again. You […]



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