Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Archives for December 2021

Philosophy, nature, and ecology

Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald

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Just over a year ago, I stumbled into birdwatching, and it has stuck with me. I feel like I’ve discovered  a whole new world that was right under my nose my entire life; I just wasn’t looking. So, when I saw a bird on the cover of Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald on NPR’s Best Books of 2020, I was eager to read it. Vesper Flights is a collection of essays by Macdonald. They all explore the connection between humans and the natural world. There are a number of references […]

Magical love in a small town

Witch Please (Fix It Witches #1) by Ann Aguirre

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I can’t say no to a witch-y romance. I liked Ann Aguirre’s Grimspace, so it was a no-brainer to pre-order Witch Please. I had planned to read it in time for The Ripped Bodice book club. Alas, life got in the way. I did finish it up during the Thanksgiving break. This small-town romance brings together baker Titus and secret witch Danica. Danica lives with her cousin Clem. Together they own a local repair shop where they can practice their special magic to fix broken things. […]

“It turns out life isn’t a puzzle that can be solved one time and it’s done. You wake up every day, and you solve it again.” – Chidi Anagonye

Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez

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The only other review I’ve written this year was way back in January, when things maybe didn’t feel altogether shiny and new and possible, but they at least felt shinier than they do right now. At the time, I was recovering from surgery, radiation, and chemo from a touch of cancer, and looking forward to getting to whatever the new normal was going to be. The best laid plans, eh? Unfortunately, the cancer came back just a few months later. Not only did it come […]

“Every woman who enters the sea carries a coffin on her back.”

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

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I had never heard of it, but when my book club chose The Island of Sea Women (2019) by Lisa See, I was excited to read it. The ones who had already read it mentioned that there was some very graphic violence, which is helpful to know if you prefer not to read that sort of thing. I’m glad my book club chose this historical novel. It was well-written and gave me a glimpse into a time and culture that I knew nothing about. Interestingly, I have […]

“She was right, it would just be another box. It was going to be just another box for him, too, but he’d figured it out. You didn’t get out of one box without getting into another, and you didn’t get out of one box without getting into another, and you didn’t get out without it costing you. “

The Runner (Tillerman Cycle #4) by Cynthia Voigt

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The fourth in the series, this book follows Dicey’s uncle and Samuel’s namesake Bullet (with the moniker he had given himself) in his final year of high school. At this point in family history, the eldest brother has already gotten out of the house, and Liza (Dicey and sibling’s mother) has also left, leaving Bullet behind to fend for himself. He cares little for school, little for anyone really, aside from Patrice who he works for crabbing and oystering. With the onset of the Vietnam […]

Hunting vampires is always a dangerous business

Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #1) by Laurell K. Hamilton

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I’ve had Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton on my shelf for several years. This is the first book in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. As a lover of vampires and urban fantasy, I have been curious since it’s been around a long time. I finally decided to pick it up for Dewey’s readathon. One of the bingo challenges was to read the oldest book on your to-be-read shelf. The story introduces us to Anita Blake who is a private investigator. She is licensed to […]



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