Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Baking with Pride means lots of food coloring

Baking with Pride by Janusz Domagala

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Baking with Pride involves a lot of baking with color; seriously, stock up on gel food coloring if you plan on baking much out of this book. Janusz Domagala was one of the fan-favorites on a recent season of Great British Bake Off, and his book is out just in time for Pride month; not a coincidence, as Janusz sort of quietly advocated for LGBTQ causes his whole season (watch his shirts). Every other recipe or two page has factoids about LGBTQ history, or some […]

If Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were American and hated each other

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

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So, it turns out, that Goodreads Giveaways are real! I won a copy of The Golden Spoon and about a week and a half after the email, the book did indeed appear. I have to admit, I’d only been submitting to those only half believing it was a real thing. The Golden Spoon was billed as Great British Bake off meets Clue, so I was figuring it’s a murder mystery on a baking competition, which is accurate. Ever wonder who would win in a fight […]

A CIA book that’s more user friendly than I thought

Pies and Tarts by Kristina Petersen Migoya

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I like cookbooks, both for reading and for use. I’m always on the lookout for something new, interesting, or that might fill in a gap. I was mostly curious about what the CIA thought about Pies and Tarts which are some of my favorite things. Possible challenge here is that I usually don’t go for super chef-y cookbooks both because of the degree of difficulty and time required to gather ingredients, prepare sub recipes, and assemble; and the format that often shows up in the […]

A Sweet Spin on Shakespeare

Midsummer's Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca

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I am a regular listener of the podcast The Worst Bestsellers. While the hosts often read and make gentle fun of some very popular books, they also recommend books to read instead of the bestseller. This book was recommended and I really enjoyed it. Midsummer’s Mayhem is a cute confection of a book for readers ages 8-12 and loosely follows the plot of a Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mimi Jackson is 11, living with her two older sisters and one older brother. One day, a new […]

But the Parsnip Cake Can Go Straight to Hell

Snacking Bakes by Yossy Arefi

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If you are kind enough to ask me about myself, I will tell you I’m a baker. If you are unwise enough to have follow up questions, I will feel compelled to provide immediate clarification. Baking yeasted bread is not especially enjoyable for me because, to quote Lizzie Acker on The Great British Bake Off, “You never know what it’s thinking.”  While I made my family’s bread for years, and recently started again to redirect my baking impulses into something less calorically suspect, I don’t […]

An Approachable GBBO book just in time for the holidays

Cheeky Treats: Brilliant Bakes and Cakes by Liam Charles

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Every year I do a bit of shelf clearing, gathering things I’ve bought and probably read, that I am not likely to read again. I sell them, and use the funds for holiday travel to visit family, while trying to not buy too many replacements too quickly. I only got two books from the shop I sold an entire bin to, so that’s a win. Especially if one of them is a baking book by a Great British Bake Off participant who has become a […]



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