Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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[got me] to a nunnery!

Matrix by Lauren Groff

Heloise & Abelard: A New Biography by James Burge

The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici by Elizabeth Lev

Letters of a Portuguese Nun: Uncovering the Mystery Behind a 17th Century Forbidden Love by Myriam Cyr

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I thought I was going to need some time to recover from the exquisite The Everlasting, but really it flung me head-first into a literal rabbit-hole. A warren. An abbey. A nunnery, if you will. Also- The Atlantic just posted a list of books that were done dirty by pandemic releases, and OF COURE The Everlasting resides within those vaulted halls. I was immediately drawn to Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici after she was mentioned several times in The Everlasting. A distant relative of her spots her likeness in the […]

“You cannot be betrayed by someone you do not trust.”

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

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This cover is gorgeous!  It may have sucked me into checking this out, but I stayed for the story.  This is one of those books that jumps from present time back to a point in history.  I’ve read several of these; it’s a popular theme that usually involves distant relatives.  However, in this case, it’s a young woman, Caroline Parcewell, in present day who finds out her husband has cheated on her, and she takes off to London on what was supposed to be the […]

Medieval Mean Girls

Matrix by Lauren Groff

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I both do and do not understand how Matrix could possibly have made it onto “Best Books” lists for 2021. I hated the narrative style of first person present combined with free indirect discourse with a touch of narrative omniscience. I do not enjoy first person present narration in the first place and the ambiguity and unbalance between knowing what Marie thinks and feels, but also displaying knowledge of things Marie does not know (or at least not yet) just did not work for me. […]

I Read the Da Vinci Code and You Maybe Should Too?

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

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Before I begin, know that there is a special place in my heart for not-good movies.  I don’t know if it comes from watching Sunday afternoon disaster films like the Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno with my sister when we were little, but I’d almost prefer to watch a movie I can laugh at than one I laugh with.  It’s just a good time. Perhaps this helps you understand where I’m coming from when I say that I absolutely LOVE the Da Vinci Code […]

“Becoming the Beloved means letting the truth of our Belovedness become enfleshed in everything we think, say, or do.”

Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World by Henri J.M. Nouwen

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Nouwen is one of my favourite Christian writers – simultaneously mystical, transcendent, encouraging, and practical. This isn’t at the top of my list of his books. However, it may be just the right book for someone struggling with finding worth, identity, or hope in dark times. The genesis of this one is interesting – Nouwen was an already well-known writer and figure and was chosen to be profiled by a local paper. The local reporter obviously had very little interest in either Nouwen or the […]

A Starting Point for Christian Mysticism

The Way of the Mystics: Ancient Wisdom for Experiencing God Today by John Michael Talbot, Steve Rabey

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Earlier this year I wrote a review of Yumi Sakugawa’s Your Illustrated Guide To Becoming One With The Universe, which is a charming and profound comic that helps the reader meditate on and contemplate life. I also reviewed Martin Laird’s Into the Silent Land and compared that book to The Matrix for thoughtful Christians. Keeping in the same neighborhood of meditative searchers, I’m reviewing The Way of the Mystics. I picked this one up at Half-Price Books a decade ago, but it never felt like the right time to […]



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