Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Pooja

CBR14 Participant
CBR14 Bingo Badges
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR17 Levels

Ardent reader of pretty much anything, including the backs of shampoo bottles. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Pooja's Quick Questions interview.)

Pooja's Reviews:

What Ever Happened to Baby Darren?

Public Secrets by Nora Roberts

by 2 Comments

After being rescued from her abusive mother, Emma goes on to live a charmed life with her father and his wife – at least until a tragedy befalls the whole family. This is an older Nora, and one I picked up because the premise reminded me of those family saga/career girl dramas from the 80s that I love, and indeed I wasn’t disappointed in that regard. In many ways this is a coming-of-age story for Emma, and there was plenty of drama and excess to […]

‘Those who see the dead soon join them.’

Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald

by Leave a Comment

CBR 14 Bingo: Time Raine races against time to save Ovitus and to provide proof at the trial. Raine and the cult she has been traveling with for years are besieged in an ancient monastery when she rescues a mysterious wounded girl. But this act of kindness only serves to pull her into a dark conspiracy. I picked up this book because I am always on the lookout for fantasy authors I’ve not read before, and because I’ve always enjoyed stories with death magic. But […]

Peculiar Tastes: Volume One

The Death God's Sacrifice by Jenny Nordbak

The Demon's Bargain by Katee Robert

by Leave a Comment

CBR 14 Bingo: HolidayThese books are centered around Samhain and the Shadow Market that takes place around that time, the latter being a sort of holiday in and of itself for the characters of this universe. Once upon a time (about two months ago, if you want me to be precise), I backed a Kickstarter by Bonkers Romance which promised me a series of fantasy romance. Well, those books have arrived, and here are the first two! The Death God’s Sacrifice by Jenny Nordbak –  […]

‘Fear is the mind-killer.’

Dune by Frank Herbert

by Leave a Comment

When the Atreides family is betrayed, the heir Paul and his mother Jessica are sent on the run – and into the path that leads to his ultimate destiny. About three quarters through this book, I texted my friend M, who loves this book, the following: Arrakis is the Middle East. Melange is oil. Is Paul a white savior? That’s a very flippant way of looking at a book that carries a lot more within itself than that. Dune is about environmentalism, about religion, about […]

A Fairytale Romance

The Scarlet Circus by Jane Yolen

by Leave a Comment

In this collection of eleven short stories, the reader encounters love in its myriad forms – romance, but familial love and friendship and love of duty too – all splashed with plenty of fantasy. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I did not recognize Jane Yolen right away – she has written over four hundred books, and it turns out that though I have not read any of them, I knew plenty of them. Anyway I have rectified that sad oversight with The […]

Queen of the Nile

Cleopatra: Her History, Her Myth by Francine Prose

by Leave a Comment

Francine Prose tells the story of Cleopatra (VII Philopater, if you want to be specific), her entanglement with the Roman Empire, and how she has become distorted in cultural depictions after her death. In a way, I am reading this book in preparation – I’ve got the reading of a retelling of Cleopatra’s life set in space (!) coming up, and I figured that I’d appreciate it more if I gave myself a better grounding of the historical subject matter first. Also, I’ve always found […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo