Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

It’s like I’m in free fall. I’m relieved, I’m happy, I’m distressed, all at once. It averages out to “okay,” though.

Three Reasons to Run by Jackie Lau

by Leave a Comment

I love a Jackie Lau novel that gets into the conflict between family expectations and living an authentic life. Lau has given Yvonne and Leo rich interior lives that they slowly reveal to one another. Yvonne is finding out who she is when she isn’t being the good girl. Leo doesn’t share much of himself, but he will for Yvonne. At the end of Four Weddings to Fall in Love, Kim sees Max’s mom, Lynne, help Yvonne flee her wedding. Lynne’s kindness and practical support […]

A very serviceable cast iron cookbook

The Encyclopedia of Cast Iron by Cider Mill Press

by Leave a Comment

Cider Mill Press’s The Encyclopedia of Cast Iron is a good, serviceable cookbook. As advertised there are more than 350 recipes in the book. What works: the recipes come from a wide variety of cuisines and look like they are solid recipes. I tried a few recipes. I appreciated that the recipes were presented cleanly on the page. For me, a cook with years of experience, the straightforward directions were great. For an inexperienced cook, this could be frustrating because the book assumes you know the […]

My Perfect Afternoon Snacking Cake is Perfect

100 Afternoon Sweets by Sarah Kieffer

by 5 Comments

It took me a little while to embrace this cookbook. After trying several of the recipes, I now completely endorse it. Part of my struggle is that, to me, cookies are the perfect afternoon sweet, and Sarah Kieffer opted not to include cookies in this book (if you don’t already have her 100 Cookies cookbook you really should). The very first recipe I tried in 100 Afternoon Sweets was disappointing. It was the Jam-Filled Donut Cake. The first bite was good, but it got old fast. […]

Lying’s a family trait. It just means you belong.

The Earl Who Isn't by Courtney Milan

by 2 Comments

This is my 1000th post from CBR6-CBR16. Amazing. Not my 1000th review, because I’ve posted a lot of challenge and diversion posts over the years too. I loved The Earl Who Isn’t. I had to lie down and process my emotions more than once while reading. I’m not going to get into the specifics, because that would spoil the emotional journey for those who haven’t read it yet. Courtney Milan is such a lovely author. I know when I open one of her books that […]

May the gods favor you this night, dead thing!

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

by 3 Comments

If you haven’t read P. Djèlí Clark yet, you are denying yourself some of the finest fantasy writing currently available. As he proved in one of my all time favorite novellas, A Dead Djinn in Cairo, he can build a whole world with just a few details. In The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, he has left au earth and has built a whole new world in the port city of Tal Abisi. I don’t feel like I should tell you much about the plot. The […]

If you’re reading this letter, then I am quite dead, my dear. Dead, but not resting.

Jewel Me Twice by Charish Reid

by 1 Comment

Jewel Me Twice is like the old Reese’s Peanut Butter cup tag line. “Two great tastes that taste great together.” It combines two of my favorite things, a heist romance written by one of my auto-buy authors, Charish Reid. I liked Charish Reid from the first page of The Write Escape, and have enjoyed all of her books. I love the characters she writes and the relationships she builds with them. As a side note, I got into a conversation about Charish Reid’s heroines, and […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo