Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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this book has been kicking around for 30ish years and I just picked it up NOW?!

Possession by A.S. Byatt

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…and it’s been sitting in my own collection for a good decade or so? How did I keep stepping around this one? This book was written for me- or at least the me of ten years ago. DEFINITLEY the me of twenty years ago. 14-year-old-me would have swooned myself into an early grave with this one! A youngish academic is sinking further and further into classic British gloom. He’s in a dead relationship, putting in time in a dead-end job, researching crumbs on a long-dead […]

quiet duty, questionable faith, and children taking on the burdens of their parents

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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I’d remembered of course that I should be grateful as always, but hadn’t been able to keep the disappointment from my mind. Kazuo Ishiguro, the master of suffering with dignity, is back with another literary gut-punch. There is no one else who handles quietly doomed duty quite like him. Klara is alive, but not entirely. She is an AF: a robotic companion for disconnected children. She lives in a shop window where she strives to please the Manager. She hopes to bask in the nourishing […]

when I hold you like I hold that bakelite in my hands

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

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Can you really like a book while still strongly disliking nearly everyone in it? I found Landline to be compelling and affecting, but I was driven to states of near agony by the overall behavior of the protagonist and almost everyone else in her orbit. The setup: Georgie McCool (a name that could be very silly, but as a person with a seemingly “fake name” I am on board) is a writer on a cheesy TV sitcom. She and her writing partner, Seth, have been working […]

what happens to the torch-bearers, the candle holders, the vigil keepers?

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

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There is so much that I want to tell you about this book, but I won’t. I took so many notes, and placed so many scraps of paper between pages, but I do not want to ruin a single realization for you. Rebecca Makkai has crafted an intricately woven tapestry that you have to witness in its full glory; I do not want to give you a magnifying glass before you have had a chance to first witness the enormity of the project. The Great Believers hits […]

A rush through the author’s experience

Home Body by Rupi Kaur

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Let me start by stating that my exposure to poetry is very limited. I have, to my knowledge, read only one or two full collections of poems, so take this entire review with a grain of salt. Home Body by Rupi Kaur is broken down into four parts: mind, heart, rest, and awake. In mind Kaur writes of her depression, anxiety, and her struggles with worth and acceptance. In heart, Kaur write of love: its loss, its elusion, and its impact. In rest, Kaur write of just that. […]

Take a look, it’s in a book (or five)

My America by Karen Katz

Sheep Dog and Sheep Sheep: Baaad Hair Day by Eric Barclay

One More Hug by Megan Alexander

Roly Poly by Mem Fox

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

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What do you do when you can’t write a review to fit your needed word count? You combine several together to let people know that there are some grand books out there, but trying to write over 200 words just is not going to happen with books only a 100 words themselves (if that). My America by Karen Katz: This is a nice book. It is cozy. It is sweet. It is comfortable. It talks about people from the POV of children. All (with one […]



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