Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Featured Review Archive

These reviews, which were promoted in CBR social media, on our homepage, and in Pajiba Love, appear below by review publication date, not by date featured.

 

Two if by Sea: Two Reviews, One Recommendation

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of the HMS Bounty by Sir John Barrow

by 2 Comments

Ahoy, mateys! I bring you two tales of adventure from the sea. I’ve had In the Heart of the Sea on my list for quite awhile due to its Moby Dick connection, and I decided to follow that up with another classic true tale: The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of the HMS Bounty. Was I pushing my luck by reading two non-fiction seafaring adventures in a row? Perhaps. In the Heart of the Sea By the time Moby Dick was published […]

He Is Your Father

Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right by Walter Mosley

by Leave a Comment

Walter Mosley has two idiosyncratic mystery series set in New York City: Leonid McGill and King Oliver. I’ve written before about my fondness for the McGill series. They’re not significantly different from the King Oliver books but I like how Leonid is a former crime fixer who is trying to do right in a neo-surrealist Manhattan. Oliver’s story is interesting but I don’t find the character as compelling. That changed a bit with this one. Amidst several plots, King has to try and find his […]

Knowledge is Power, and Less Time Standing in Line

The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando 2025 by Seth Kubersky, Alicia Stella

by 1 Comment

Half the fun of traveling is planning for said traveling. I enjoy learning about where I’m going, suggestions for the best places to eat, visit, and stay, all of the options like jigsaw pieces I get to put together to create the perfect trip. Even with places I’ve been to many times, like Universal Orlando, I like getting the travel guides so I can note the latest changes to crowd patterns, new foods, and ways to get the most out of my days in the […]

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 […]

Like being on a pleasant scenic drive and then plummeting off a cliff to a fiery death

Playground by Richard Powers

by 5 Comments

When people say that the ending of a movie, book, show ruined the whole thing, I rarely agree with them. There are some rare exceptions, looking at you Game of Thrones, but for the most part if I enjoy 90% – 95% of a story then ending being a bit underwhelming does not taint the rest of it for me. It’s about the journey, not the destination is what I say. And I really enjoyed the journey of Playground, but I think the destination is […]

“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”

Vanishing Treasures by Katherine Rundell

by Leave a Comment

I found Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures (2024) by Katherine Rundell because it was available as an audiobook from my library. Environmentalism and animals are two themes that are right up my alley, so it was no surprise that I downloaded it as soon as it was available. Vanishing Treasures is a short collection of essays on endangered animals (or animals that have a subspecies that is endangered). The animals vary widely from the very common raccoon and bear to the rarely seen or studied […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo