Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A true test of compatibility

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst

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I’ve found a number of interesting books when I need a new audio book by just seeing what is “available now” at my library, sorted by popularity. Is that how I found A Marriage at Sea (2025) by Sophie Elmhirst? Honestly, now I can’t remember. I may have seen it on a list somewhere. Also, now that I’ve read it, I’m seeing this book everywhere, including NPR and NYT’s 2025 lists. Spoilers follow. A Marriage at Sea is the true story of a couple, Maralyn and Maurice, who […]

Late to the party, but still treats

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

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I came late to the Carrie Fisher as an author party.  I knew she had written certain ones, forgotten she’d written other ones, but never read anything. Plus, I only had a small inkling of wanting to read anything (mostly right after she passed). But then I found The Princess Diarist. Thinking it was the last memoir she wrote, I figured it was as good as any other to start with. Afterall, why not do the most recent one? It would have the most updated […]

Silent music for peace

Music and Silence: The Passion and Protest of Pablo Casals by Christy Mihaly

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Music and Silence: The Passion and Protest of Pablo Casals is just a WOW book. It is beautifully written, beautifully illustrated and beautifully presented.  Christy Mihaly and illustrator Mariona Cabassa made this (due mid/later April 2026) book about a person and story I do not think I had ever heard of before. It is more emotional than an action story, but there are events that have the action, too. We see how the power of music can try and topple governments. We see how one […]

Music puzzle

Piece by Piece: How Stephen Sondheim Made Musical Puzzles Come Alive by Erin Frankel

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Picture books. Love them or hate them they are a genre that has expanded my knowledge over the years. I have learned about volcanoes, bats, famous artistic nuns, poems and more. And Piece by Piece: How Stephen Sondheim Made Musical Puzzles Come Alive by Erin Frankel and illustrator Stacy Innerst added to it with a poetic look at Stephen Sondheim and his works. While not a “pure biography” of the composer, the highlights of his work and life are addressed. Things are whimsical and a […]

The unofficial Best and Worst List 2025 (so far!)

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I know I put in the official Best and Worst List but honestly out of almost 600 reviews (and several I haven’t posted yet) I’m going to have more than three best and one worst. Therefore, I am going to honor y’all with my list of only the ones I have posted a review for here that could have been used. The bold are the ones I used in the official count, italics almost used and the rest were on the list. WORST DAYGLOAYHOLE #1 […]

The boy who needed to be God

Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming

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Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming can sometimes be a bit slow in the pacing, sometimes a smidgen romantically written, sometimes sad, sometimes scary, sometimes heart pounding, but always interesting. For me, the “small details” (such as it wasn’t Kool-Aid, the ingreediants used for the mixture were less than $9 then, Jones’ “rainbow family,”) were in some ways more interesting than the overall picture and that was fascinating.  The “human” side of things (even with Jones […]



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