Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Bea Pants

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(Learn more about this Cannonballer: Bea Pants's Quick Questions interview.)

Bea Pants's Reviews:

If “I already took my bra off” is a good excuse…

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan

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  I picked up this book because I found myself in a similar situation as the author; my main source of deep (meaning non-superficial) social interaction had moved out of town and I needed some new close friends to fill the emotional gap in my life. Unfortunately I’m not a freelance writer who could turn the situation into a book deal so I had to settle for reading the fruits of Jessica Pan’s labor and occasionally cringing at her adventures. The Amarillo, Texas native was […]

“We feel the pull in the land of a thousand guilts”

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

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The Little Friend is not a mystery, despite what the description might lead you to believe. If it falls into any category it would be a coming-of-age story. Harriet Cleve Dufresne, a precocious twelve year old girl takes it upon herself to solve the murder of her older brother Robin, whom she has never met but whose death casts a pall over both her family and the small town she lives in. What begins as an adventure out of one of the many books Harriet […]

“All the innocent crime seemed alright at the time”

The Trial of Lizzy Borden by Cara Robertson

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  I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The Trial of Lizzie Borden is thoroughly researched and Cara Robertson’s writing is clear and moves the narrative along quickly. But it turns out that without the wild speculation that goes along with the Borden case, I really don’t find the story of Lizzie Borden all that interesting. She seems like an upper class white lady who wanted more money than her father would allow her and resented her stepmother’s very presence and […]

“For the love of one’s country is a terrible thing”

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

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This the best historical non-fiction I’ve read in awhile. It might be the best book I’ll read this year. Patrick Radden Keefe takes a subject as serpentine and fraught with strong emotions as The Troubles in Ireland and presents it in a clear concise that is powerful but never melodramatic. He uses the kidnapping and murder of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of ten who was pulled from her apartment by masked men in 1972 and never seen again until her body was discovered in […]

“But you, you’re special I might let you”

Inspection by Josh Malerman

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  The concept of this book is an interesting one; take 26 girls and 26 boys and raise them completely isolated not just from the outside world but from the opposite sex. They have no knowledge that such a thing exists. The premise of the two rich weirdos enact the plan is that without the “distraction” of sexuality they will become prodigies and high achievers. The fact that sexuality is fluid apparently never occurs to these two. When the book begins the children are twelve […]

“Tough luck for elected officials. The beast you see got 50 eyes”

Infomocracy by Malka Older

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  This book was suggested to me because I was looking for something in the vein of William Gibson and it definitely fit the bill. Malka Older’s debut novel is a smart, fast-paced science fiction novel with tons of political intrigue and lots of action. Also there’s two more in the series that I can’t wait to get my hands on and read. The story takes place in the not to distant future. Nation states no longer exist and have been replaced by microdemocracies which […]



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