Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Archives for December 2021

Young at Heart with Judy Blume

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

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Reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume was a walk down memory. I read this for our Cannon Book Club Young at Heart meeting in April since it was the shortest! Alas, it took me a ridiculously long time to listen to the audiobook. I made the mistake of listening in bed when tired from work. I went right to sleep! Tales kicked off this popular book series about Peter and his little brother Fudge. Peter wants to hang out with his friends and have […]

I’d Rather Juggle Chainsaws

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

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The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix is an unsatisfying book with a surprisingly decent ending. I picked it up as Good Reads listed it as readers’ favorite horror novel of 2021. I don’t read a ton of horror, though I am a Stephen King devotee. But this book did not work for me. The Final Girl is a trope that refers to a final girl survivor who squares off with the killer at the end of a horror film. Think Jamie Lee Curtis […]

Finally an HEA (sort of) for Rachel Morgan

The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison

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I’ve hit my half-Cannonball with one of my favorite books of the year. I had hoped for a proper 52 books cannonball, but alas, life happened. I’ve been reviewing The Hollows series by Kim Harrison nearly every Cannonball Read challenge. I was SO close to catching up with the original ending of the series. That is until Harrison restarted it last year with American Demon. I love how has the whole Inderland community in her stories: witches, demons, vampires, werewolves, fairies, elves, pixies, you name it. […]

A beautiful mix of The Great British Baking Show and romance

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

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Since I’ve discovered Lucy Parker, I’ve read all of her books. However, I’m not good at keeping track of her publishing dates. Thus, I am several months late in reading and reviewing Battle Royal (2021). I had a good time reading this book. Instead of the many productive tasks I had planned, including working hard to start catching up on reviews, I laid on my couch all day and read, adding yet another book review to my to-do list. I obviously enjoyed reading Battle Royal, probably even more […]

“You know that there are no black people in Africa.”

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

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I was happy when my book club chose to read Caste (2020) by Isabel Wilkerson. I’d already read The Warmth of Other Suns by Wilkerson and had Caste on my reading list. Although the underlying theme is still race in America, I found Caste to be very different from Warmth of Other Suns. Caste explains how slavery created a caste system in America that still survives today. Wilkerson does this by exploring the eight pillars of caste and comparing the caste systems in America, India, and Nazi Germany. Although I found Warmth a little more interesting because Wilkerson […]

Don’t mess with Louise Lloyd

Dead Dead Girls (Harlem Renaissance Mystery #1) by Nekesa Afia

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Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia has a beautifully illustrated cover that caught my eye. I (wrongly) assumed this was a cozy mystery set in the Harlem Renaissance. But it’s a historical mystery about a serial killer murdering Black girls who work or visit speakeasies. The book follows Harlem resident Louise Lloyd who is unintentionally famous for surviving a kidnapping as a teenager. Known as Harlem’s Hero, she rescued her fellow captives. In the present time of the book, she wants to move past all […]



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