Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“There is nothing under the moon, however fine, that is not subject to corruption.”

Dark Fire: A Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery by C.J. Sansom

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I am a huge fan of mystery novels, especially historical ones sent in Tudor England, so the Shardlake series was a a huge yes for me. Sansom delivers an incredibly well-written and well-researched England set during the reign of Henry VIII. This one, the second in the series, finds hunchback (yes, it’s important to the character) lawyer Matthew Shardlake trying to track down a barrel of Greek Fire promised to Henry by Shardlake’s patron Thomas Cromwell; a barrel that has apparently resulted in the deaths […]

Hardboiled.

Infamous by Ace Atkins

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The true although fictionalized account of the story of Machine Gun Kelly (the OG one) and his wife/stage manager, Kathryn Kelly, which reads like the best of hard-bitten film noir.  Want snappy dialogue?  Ya got it. “An exciting life for a farmer,” Mrs. Quigley said, raising her eyebrows.” “You can bet on it, sister,” Kathryn said, turning for the door.  “See you in the funny papers.” The FBI was a new thing, and this was a test.  Gus T. Jones had been assigned to crack […]

Comments on humanity, world peace, and soup

Mafalda: Book One by Quino

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Mafalda: Book One by Quino (author/illustrator) and translated by Frank Wynne is an adult Argentina comic. The ideas remind me of a modern Danae from Non Sequitur, Nancy and Sluggo from the Nancy by Olivia James, and Phoebe and her Unicorn (without the unicorn) by Dana Simpson. Unfortunately, some of the themes are dated (Vietnam; getting your first television) but others are universal (kids ragging on their parents). The overall issues still resonate. The country might be Argentina but politics are politics (Mafalda our naive, […]

Three and a half Golden Pippins!

At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier

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Girl with a Pearl Earring is one of my favourite historical novels, it’s extremely well researched and although it’s completely fictional, it could very plausibly have happened as told. Remarkable Creatures falls into the same category, I loved it as well, so I was ready to read/listen to another novel by Tracy Chevalier and see what world she would bring to life this time. In At the Edge of the Orchard, the historical background is the colonization of the American West, the Gold Rush, and […]

1998, Colombo. The Sri Lankan Civil War is raging and there is Kavi

I Am Kavi by Thushanthi Ponweera

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There are a few spoilers below about the book I Am Kavi by Thushanthi Ponweera.   Overall it is an interesting book. It had a few bumps for my personal tastes, but for the aged 10 and up crowd (and me back then) it is a will love title. The themes are mostly familiar, but the setting is fresh. You should read the afterwards and author notes for the extra background, information and author commentary. The format while prose poetry flows as full prose, the […]

Lost a job, found love in her parents basement

I Hated You in High School by Kathleen Gros

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I Hated You in High School by Kathleen Gros is A LGBTQ “friend’s kid sister to friends to enemies to friends to lovers” story that shows even in adulthood you can be unsure of yourself and can still be coming of age and terms with who you are. Overall it is a fun graphic novel that is not too sappy or pushy, but does have a few moments of very Pro-Pride that could be a little sugary. Things are pretty obvious where they are going […]



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