Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

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After coming across Big Little Lies back in 2015, I’ve read most if not all of Liane Moriarty’s books. When I saw that Moriarty had written a new novel, Nine Perfect Strangers (2018), I immediately got myself on the wait list. Like her other books, I found this one very readable and interesting. I was happy to see Moriarty switch up her format a little bit and not lead with a mysterious “big event” and then show what lead up to it. Moriarty did a good job in creating […]

Mean football wives

Intercepted by Alexa Martin

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I was heading out on another backpacking trip and needed some tent reading that I would find both entertaining and not scary/disturbing. Romances usually do the trick, and I found one from NPR’s Best Books of 2018 List. NPR recommended Intercepted (2018) by Alexa Martin as a fun, sporty romance involving football. Marlee Harper is the long-time girlfriend of star receiver, Chris Alexander of the Denver Mustangs. She’s been with him for about ten years, since high school. But when she catches him cheating on her–again–she dumps him […]

Missing some tension and excitement

It Happened One Wedding by Julie James

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I needed a break from serious reading, so I picked up It Happened One Wedding (2014) by Julie James. I’d enjoyed some other books by James, and this one was available now at the library. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my favorite of her books. There was nothing especially wrong with it. The characters were likable, and the story line was fine. There just wasn’t much excitement, and my whole experience was rather bland. Sidney Sinclair recently moved back to Chicago after a painful breakup with her fiancé. She is a […]

It feels like an old-fashioned mystery

Still Life by Louise Penny

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I’d seen recommendations for new books by Louise Penny popping up all over the place. I was interested in reading them, but I thought it best that I begin at the beginning. So, I picked up Still Life (2005), the first book in Penny’s prolific Inspector Gamache series. And I found Still Life to be a very pleasant murder mystery. I’d like to read the entire series, but there are so many books, it will take me awhile to get to all of them. An elderly woman is shot […]

Lyra is finally back

The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

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Many, many years ago, my cousin recommended that I read The Golden Compass (1996) by Philip Pullman. As I began reading, I was skeptical. Every human has a little animal (called a daemon) that follows them around? I thought it was weird and wasn’t sure I would get into it. But as I continued reading, I became attached to the characters and immersed in the story. Now that it’s been well over a decade since I read The Golden Compass, I can remember very few details of the actual story, […]

Time to watch the movie

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

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The Glass Castle (2005) by Jeannette Walls has been on my radar for about ten years, but I never quite got around to reading it. My book club chose it as their next read, which was finally the motivation I needed. The Glass Castle is Jeannette Walls’ memoir of her childhood with her very difficult parents: Rex and Rose Mary Walls. Her father was a smart, gifted, difficult, truculent, alcoholic. Her mother was artistic, addicted to excitement, and probably had some mental health issues. Jeannette grew up […]



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