Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Pooja

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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:

Chocolate, Cross-dressing, Murder, and More!

The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes

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Puri and her husband Cristóbal are on their way to Ecuador, where Puri is to claim a chocolate plantation that has been left to her, when her husband is murdered by the assassin sent for her. Determined to avenge him, Puri assumes Cristóbal’s identity and goes to the plantation, where a trio of secret siblings is but the first of the surprises… I was immediately intrigued by this book, because I’d never read anything with such a plot. Yet despite the intricacy of the premise, […]

Even the Dog Can’t Save It

Bear Witness by Lark O Jensen

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Stacie is a tour guide, introducing people to Alaskan wildlife from a boat. When a man vanishes from the tour, she thinks he’s stowed away to cause trouble. But when his body is discovered out amid the ice floes, she realizes that there is something far worse at play. I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounds so cool and so eerie, the idea of a body bobbing out in the frigid Alaskan waters. Unfortunately the story goes downhill from there. My main […]

Claustrophobia

Choosing Light: When an Earthquake Buried Me and My Family for 5 Days, I Learned to Fully Live by Viral Dalal

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On vacation with his family in the coastal town of Bhuj, Viral Dalal is buried under the rubble of an eight-storey building as an earthquake hits the town. And there he must wait, for five long days, never knowing if his family is safe or he himself will survive. An important thing to know going into this review is that I am severely claustrophobic. I cannot imagine staying calm in the space that Dalal was trapped in for more than five minutes, let alone five […]

Home Is a Lonely, Wind-Lashed Isle

The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford

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‘I had no idea where we were headed, no idea what lay before us. All I knew was I was ready to travel the length and breadth of France if the world would give me one more chance to spend one more hour with you – to say I’m sorry.’ In 1927, Cambridge student Fred ends up on the remote Scottish island of St Kilda to study the local rock formations and falls in love with Chrissie, a local woman. Thirteen years later, he is […]

The Public World and the Private Domain

The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed

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Annette Gordon-Reed uncovers the family history of the Hemingses of Monticello, who are known as the slaves of Thomas Jefferson – though their story encompasses more than that. I knew a bit about Sally Hemings and her relationship with Jefferson, but the author goes beyond this notable person to expand her focus to her entire family. In many ways the Hemingses are remarkable for their blood relationship with Jefferson’s wife Martha and how that affected their treatment, but in others they were just like the thousands […]

“Books have a soul”

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

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“A book that sits on a shelf is nothing but a bundle of paper. Unless it is opened, a book possessing great power or an epic story is a mere scrap of paper. But a book that has been cherished and loved, filled with human thoughts, has been endowed with a soul.” Rintaro Natsuki, a reclusive high school student, inherits a bookstore when his grandfather passes away. Then a talking cat appears and demands his help in rescuing books from their misguided owners. This was […]



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