Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Tracy

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40-something psychologist living with a husband, toddler, and 2 cats.

Tracy's Reviews:

Frequent Tension Made It Hard to Put Down

Kindred by Octavia Butler

by 5 Comments

This was such an intense book. I have never been this on edge for this many pages at a time when reading, which speaks to Butler’s ability to build tension and dread in this novel about slavery. We follow the first person perspective of 26-year-old Dana who one day is suddenly yanked from 1976 to the early 1800s, where she helps a drowning boy. Soon after she time travels back to her home and her husband Kevin to find that only seconds had passed. This […]

Beautiful, Emotional, and Sadly Still Relevant

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

by 1 Comment

This book is beautiful and sad and infuriating, especially in that it is still so relevant 50 years after it was written. It was a hard book to read at times but so well-done and worth it. I was hooked on the story of 19-year-old Tish, who is pregnant and engaged to Fonny—who is in jail awaiting trial for a violent crime he didn’t commit. As one might expect from Baldwin, there is a lot of focus on racism, sexism, and racial injustice, especially within […]

A Cozy Middle Grade Book

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

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I was looking for a cozy book after finishing the first two books in the Farseer trilogy, and this is just what I needed. Translated from Japanese, it follows 13-year-old witch Kiki. The tradition in her world is for witches to travel to a new town that does not already have a witch at some point after turning 13 and establish a life there, and they can’t go home for a year. Kiki’s magical ability is that she can fly on a broom. She lands […]

I’m Still Not Clear on How Different Wit and Skill Are

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

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This was heavy. I had heard Robin Hobb wrote depressing books, but I expected it to be depressing due to trauma and loss, and while the books aren’t short on those things, equally depressing is the powerlessness of Fitz. I sometimes found myself chafing at the restrictions placed upon him as someone who has both too much and too little power. As the son of a prince, he is viewed as important and maybe even a threat, but as the bastard son of a prince, […]

A Lonely Coming-of-Age Story

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

by 6 Comments

I’m so glad I’m finally starting my Robin Hobb journey. There’s a book club on Fable that’s going to read one of her Realm of the Elderlings book each month until we get through the whole series, and I’m excited about it. I had heard that Hobb writes slow-paced, character-driven books, and I was a little worried about being bored, but this book helped me realize that I have been conflating “slow” and “boring,” and they’re not the same. This novel is not boring at […]

The Scholomance Trilogy (and a Short Story)

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

The Answer Is No by Fredrik Backman

by 2 Comments

What would you do if you were basically in a dark version of Hogwarts, where the semi-sentient school barely cares if you live, and you can’t leave for 4 years? If you’re El, short for Galadriel, you spend the first 2. 5 years of that letting your prickly, angry, bitter exterior prevent anyone from getting close to you. This is where A Deadly Education starts off, about halfway through El’s junior year at the Scholomance. We find out over the course of the novel why […]



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