Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Be warned, then: the collected volumes of this series will contain frozen mountains, foetid swamps, hostile foreigners, hostile fellow countrymen, the occasional hostile family member, bad decisions, misadventures in orienteering, diseases of an unromantic sort, and a plenitude of mud.”

A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1) by Marie Brennan

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I finally started this series! I put book one on my TBR back when it was first published and then never got around to it, not even after I met the author at a book festival and got a signed copy of book three (I did not yet own books one or two, but it was the only one available for signing). Maybe I would have gotten to it sooner if I would have realized one of my favorite audiobook narrators, Kate Reading, does the […]

A father has to take matters into his own hands after a shocking tragedy

What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline

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This book was a recommendation from my sister. I listened to the audiobook, which was great. It starts out with a bang and only has a few small slow spots in the middle before the intense ending. I don’t think this is a spoiler, because it happens in the very beginning – the Bennett family is the victim of an attempted carjacking. The worst happens and their daughter is shot by the bad guys. It’s heartbreaking, obviously because it’s a young girl who tragically dies, […]

Love in the stars

Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik

Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik

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I’ve heard only great things about Jessie Mihalik’s books from Cannonball Read. I already had Polaris Rising on my shelf, but I read Hunt the Stars first. Since it was selected by The Ripped Bodice’s fantasy romance book club, it got moved into the rotation. The first Starlight’s Shadow book introduces us to Tavi and her space crew. They are space war veterans who use their skills now as bounty hunters. The war may be over with the Valoffs. However, most humans don’t trust this […]

Communication is key

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

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I needed another audiobook to listen to during my commute. I found The Last Thing He Told Me (2021) by Laura Dave because it was immediately available at my library. I picked it because it looked interesting, had good reviews, and was even chosen for Reese Witherspoon’s book club. I thought it was all right; the story sucked me in, and it was easy to follow. The characters were well done, but I was sometimes frustrated by their decisions in furtherance of the plot. In the end, […]

The time-travel queer romance that stole my heart.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

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Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a love letter to New York, queer history, and believing in the impossible.  August moves to Brooklyn, New York, to disappear in the crowds and finish her degree. She switched majors and moved around, but feels like New York is meant for her. The book begins with August interviewing for an apartment. Her potential roommates are an intriguing couple, Myla and Niko. Niko is a psychic. Myla is a mixed-media artist. The third roommate Wes comes later, but we meet […]

The Heart Principle grabbed mine and didn’t let go

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

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Helen Hoang’s The Heart Principle was everything I wanted and more. Our heroine Anna Sun is going through it. She is a violinist stuck in a loop after a performance video goes viral on YouTube. With every practice session, she wants to replicate that moment with precision. She ends up burned out and unable to finish the song. She is attempting therapy to find a breakthrough. Later that day, her boyfriend asks to “see other people” as an excuse to know that he’s ready to […]



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