Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Roaming pack of dogs and her own worn out memories to keep her company

Land of Mirrors by María Medem,

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Every so often I find myself reading a book that I think I like but am not sure. Land of Mirrors by María Medem, Aleshia Jensen (translator) and Daniela Ortiz (translator) is one of those books. It is a graphic novel, but does not flow necessarily as a “pure” one. There is something “different” about it. It might be because it is translated or it might be because of the almost abstract minimal illustrations. However, whatever the reason this is the most organized piece of […]

A berry-colored world

My Own World by Mike Holmes

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Some Spoilers below:  I was not sure what I expected with My Own World, but this is an odd book. I am not sure if author Mike Holmes is basing it off of their own experiences, or if it is a universal story about the misfit and how he tries to overcome things.  If you are a 10-to-14-year-old, you might take it at face value: a boy finds/creates a magic world to hide in. It is a world where he is in charge (unlike his […]

The struggle between who you are and who you want to be

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

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The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett was another Mocha Girls Read pick. I definitely would not have read it without the book club impetus. To no surprise, as indicated by this annual onslaught of reviews, I procrastinated reading it. I ended up reading most of it in one day. It was well worth the time and exceeded my expectations. The novel centers on two Black twin sisters who run away from a small Black community.  The town prides itself on being a close-knit town for […]

Sundown, you better take care if I find you been creeping ’round my back stairs

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

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While I’ve been lurking and getting book ideas, I have had a terrible time focusing enough to write up any of the (few) books I’ve actually managed to finish – I blame the pandemic. The Sun Down Motel, by Simone St. James, sat on my shelf for at least a week before I peeked at it, but once I peeked, I was hooked! The plot follows two women, one a night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in 1982 and the other the current night […]

A young heart and an antique soul

Little Weirds by Jenny Slate

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I started Jenny Slate’s collection of essays on the morning of New Year’s Day on my way to meet my friend for one of those polarizing NYC boutique fitness classes. The nature of the book makes it easy to fly through vignettes and I was not having a great feeling about it as I got off the subway. I couldn’t believe I was going to start out the new year with a DNF. I was already trying to justify it in my head, “Perhaps 2020 […]

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine – Hard to pigeonhole, great to read.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

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Reese Witherspoon’s book club has been on my periphery, it’s been great seeing a beloved actress that I grew up on (I mean…Man in the Moon? Fear? Formative) become such a literary champion and icon.  That said, I enjoy being a contrarian so I’m more likely to eschew something everyone likes then subscribe to it, even though Reese is obviously a goddess, I was hesitant to go all in on her book club recommendations. But after this one, which was her first ever back in […]



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