Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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snapshot of a sculpture

Galatea by Madeline Miller

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We’ve heard his story countless times; it’s been a well-trod myth since Ancient Greece. We read Metamorphoses, we studied Pygmalion, we sung along to My Fair Lady, and we mourned the short life of (the terribly named but very good) Selfie. With Madeline Miller, Pygmalion strikes again. He strikes the marble into a statue, the statue becomes a woman, Galatea strikes out on her own, and Pygmalion strikes her down. Galatea is convalescing (read: held captive) in a hospital by the sea. She is cut off from her daughter, […]

“Being poor, living in poverty, seemed a lot like probation – the crime being a lack of means to survive.”

Maid by Stephanie Land

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This was good, but I’m not going to shout to the rooftops over it. I can’t say I was really disappointed by expectations on this one, because I didn’t have any. It was only until about halfway through that I found myself wishing the book was something else, and that’s not the author’s fault. The cover and blurb are sort of misleading. This isn’t a book about what it’s like to be a maid, with hard-hitting social criticism or research. It’s a straight-up memoir about […]

‘Geoffrey’s mum told us “If you take a hen’s egg from under her and she just looks at you and doesn’t do anything, put that egg back.” Peace and quiet is a sign that something’s wrong. Peace and quiet is like a broken response, a sign of people in pieces.’

The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi

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Helen Oyeyemi is a story teller. Her work is steeped in religion, folklore, and mythology. Her characters breathe prayer and power. She will grab your attention quick, and send your spiraling through your own identity. Her stories whip in and out of the fantastic; one moment a character is studying for an exam, and the next they are overcome by the power of an ancient healer. She is one of my favorite authors. She’s absolute magic. I picked up What is Not Yours is Not Yours when […]

More than womb and board

You and I, as Mothers: A Raw and Honest Guide to Motherhood by Laura Prepon

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I am not a fan of Laura Prepon. I have occasionally enjoyed That 70’s Show but not enough to watch all of them, or even to go onto Orange is the New Black (like my cousin did after learning other actresses she liked were on it. And in the meantime, became a follower of Prepon’s cookbook). But when I saw we could request a reader copy of You and I, as Mothers: A Raw and Honest Guide to Motherhood I thought I would get it […]

Throw the whole damn man away

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

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I have to admit some bias with this book, because a good friend of mine who is wayyyy too amazing to date the Jaydens, Braydens, and Okaydens that she usually goes for just got her heart broken by the most average basic cis dude doctor.  But even so, throw the whole damn man away Paige. Our heroine is not perfect, mind. She leaves her husband and three month old to go find herself by searching for her wayward mother for a few months. Because she’s […]

Do You Have the Need? The Need to Read?

The Need by Helen Phillips

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Helen Phillips knows how to grab your attention. My pulse was already quickening on the very first page. I had to read as much of it as quickly as I could; the chapters are snappy and taught. I had to stop myself from skimming to the bottom of every page. I was desperate for relief; chapters whip back and forth between the present and several hours ago and I just had to know what nasty break was waiting for me in the present. My distress […]



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