Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

We’re in for nasty weather

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta

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I wrecked my splenius capitis (it’s a big muscle at the back of your neck). How, you asked? Why, by being stressy over the holidays! Ain’t life fun? Anyway, that’s why I picked a book with a break-neck pace. I think.  Jace, fourteen, finds himself at the top of a rocky outcrop over an abandoned quarry after a dare. As he warms himself up for a practice jump (so his nerves won’t fail him the next day when it’s showtime and there’ll be girls), he […]

Short book, a lot in it, trigger potential. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?

Lost Boy by Jay Martin

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Do not judge a book by its cover has usually been a good rule to follow for me. A lot of the time, a cover does not cover enough of the story for you to really understand the “down and dirty” or the “nitty gritty meaning of things” and reading past the cover of your book (and maybe especially with comics and graphic novels), is smart. However, with Lost Boy by Jay Martin (and an introduction by Shawn Mendes highly recommending Martin’s work) you could […]

a wilderness suspense novel with an aching heart

Small Game by Blair Braverman

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I’ve usually got so much to read that I don’t really bother with NetGalley in an effort to get my hands on ARCs. Better that they go to people who do have time to read them, and may also actually review them. But I’ve been following Blair Braverman, writer and dogsledder, on Twitter for years now and have read both her memoir, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube, and her Tough Love column for Outside magazine; obviously I have also loved her many Twitter threads about her […]

Not your regular girl scouts (Triple bingo!)

Lumberjanes, vol 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis

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CBR13 Bingo: The Wilds Official book description: FRIENDSHIP TO THE MAX! At Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s camp for hard-core lady-types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together… And they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! The mystery keeps getting bigger, and it all begins here. I’m not outdoorsy in […]

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart!

I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall

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I’m really sorry for naming this review after the most cliche song I could have quoted — OR AM I? Sixteen-year-old Jess has been through it this year.  She survived a terrible car crash that killed her mother on impact. She’s left scarred and her leg is irrevocably damaged, despite the diligence she has devoted to her physical therapy. And now, the court has ordered her custody to the father she has barely known, transported there by an old family friend named Gil. Gil does […]

Go North, Young Hippie

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I read Tortilla Curtain previously and thought it was a solid novel, so was excited to pick up another book by Boyle, and one that was recommended from my favorite podcast, Literary Disco. If I had to describe Boyle’s writing in one word it would be “unrelenting.”  His style can feel like a bit of a slog, but he is a compelling storyteller who shines a light on sub-groups that I don’t often read about, so for me it has felt like I learned a lot […]



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