Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I’m not any better at meditating now

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

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One of my favorite movies of the past few years is The Holdovers. In it, a curmugeonly history professor played by Paul Giamatti, is stuck at the boarding school he works at over the holiday break with one of his students and the cook. On Christmas day he gives both of them a gift, a copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. In his words “For my money, it’s like the Bible, the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita all rolled up into one.” High praise, and […]

It lost originality points, but makes up for it with important representation points

Pride by Eric Huang and Amy Phelps

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I have several places where I can review a book. One of them has a list of points the book could hit. One of those is Originality. And here is where Pride by Eric Huang and illustrated by Amy Phelps loses points. No, this book is not original. We have other books out there on the subject of pride, on the subject of celebrations, and expression of family. Therefore, why purchase/read this book? Well, if nothing else, the illustrations are really fun. But the way […]

One of those books I hated everything about it, but DANG! is it a fun trip!

The Girl Who Flew Away by Lee Dean

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The Girl Who Flew Away by Lee Dean was sent to me as an online reader copy. And I am glad of that as this is the kind of book I hate everything about… yet it is one of the most amazing books I have read.  We are getting a slice of life from some really not nice people (including our girl who flew/the point of view the story is told from) who are just trying to get out alive. The feeling of the time […]

Well that was a thing

Clear: a novel by Carys Davies

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I have to love when a book goes exactly where you thought it was going from the synopsis, and then goes somewhere you never even considered. Clear is very much that book. It’s set during the Scottish Clearances of the 19th century, when farmers were shuffled off the land they rented so that the landowners could make more money out of crops or livestock. John, a minister who has quit his church to help find a new one and thus has monetary issues, has been […]

“You bring the morning with you. You’re the light, sweetheart.”

Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti

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Nowhere Book Bingo 25: Recommended by a friend (see, Des, I finally read it!) Buzzwords 2025 Cover Challenge: Foliage Peter Kent has lived most of his life in America, and certainly never expected to inherit a dukedom. Now he’s the Duke of Stanhope and desperately trying to be granted custody of his younger half-siblings, both of whom treat him with disdain and claim they are perfectly happy living with their decrepit guardian. It doesn’t help his case that Peter’s inexperience with English high society keeps […]

I wish I could be friends with Julia Child

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

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We chose Mastering the Art of French Murder (2023) by Colleen Cambridge for our next book club book. A young American woman who lives in Paris after World War II solves a murder with the help of her friend, Julia Child. I had never heard of this mystery novel before and wasn’t too sure what to expect from it. I enjoy the occasional mysteries, and I like The Great British Baking Show, but I’m not much into cooking. I wasn’t sure how I felt about reading about cooking–and/or […]



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