Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Once upon a school year a girl named Izzy had feelings and more

Izzy Kline Has Butterflies by Beth Ain

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cbr13bingo FREE In late June 2021 I started Izzy Kline Has Butterflies while sitting at a table, outside the local café which was closed, and I was eating a greasy piece of pizza from the shop up the road. But I figured the owners would not mind. I know them well enough, and it was not like I was being disrespectful while enjoying this treat. Besides, it was too nice to sit inside.  Therefore, it was only appropriate that I finish Beth Ain’s book sitting […]

“Brown-eyed sublime being. She of soft, deep cardigan pockets. Bubble-bath taker. Pool jumper. Cheese provider. Sunset glower. Heaven sent.”

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

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I can see how Second First Impressions, Sally Thorne’s third book, isn’t going to be a five-star book for many readers – heck it wasn’t for me until quite near the end. But this book hit me in the feelings and had just the right kind of relatively low stakes, emotions are the plot set up for me. I was delighted; I understand if you were not. In this outing Thorne is playing with opposites, both in her protagonists and in the thematic work she […]

“I’m not joking, but we still laugh because laughter is the best way to cover pain.”

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

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If you’ve read a Jenny Lawson book before, you’ll know what to expect here. Side-splitting anecdotes, social anxiety, lots of animal stories, bizarre arguments with her husband Victor, talking openly about mental health issues like depression, etc. (She has treatment resistant depression and doesn’t shy away from talking about her lowest moments, including feeling suicidal.) And yet this book feels light and very human. Some notable departures in this one, she spends quite a bit of time reflecting on the differences between her and Victor’s […]

“The world feels safer somehow if we share our pain. It becomes more manageable. And by sharing our pain, we inspire others to share theirs. We are so much less alone if learn to wear our imperfections proudly, like tarnished jewelry that still shines just as brightly.”

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

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Reading about loss, grief, and love in Harrow: The Ninth  while grieving the loss of my dog was perhaps not the best choice.  After reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for Cannonball Book Club, it seemed best to keep the comedy going and The Bloggess’s Broken (in the best possible way) was sitting on the shelf waiting.  I  thought I knew what I would be getting in a Jenny Lawson book.  Raw openness about her mental and physical health, along with side splittingly funny stories.  […]

Sadly, yet another Alyssa Cole hero kind of unworthy of his heroine

How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole

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3.5 stars Official book description: When Shanti Mohapi weds the king of Njaza, her dream of becoming a queen finally comes true. But it’s nothing like she imagined. Shanti and her husband may share an immediate and powerful attraction, but her subjects see her as an outsider, and everything she was taught about being the perfect wife goes disastrously wrong.   A king must rule with an iron fist, and newly crowned King Sanyu was born perfectly fitted for the gauntlet, even if he wishes […]

a very special episode in a very farcical town

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

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*”Yakkety Sax” blares through your speakers* A robbery- wait, but not quite. A bank robber, but not who you expect. An accidental hostage situation. Aggressively unhelpful witnesses. A nervous eater who devours a whole lime, pith and all. Bumbling cops. Feisty old ladies. Sounds fun, yes? It is fun! There is a solid farce at the core of this story. Misunderstandings, misdirection, and missed connections fly in and out of quickly slamming doors. A manically wound player piano would not be out of place in […]



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