Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Triple Cannonballing with fugitive Blanche, here to solve your murder mysteries and nose around until all your secrets are exposed.

Blanche on the Lam (Blanche White, #1) by Barbara Neely

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This was published in 1992 so it should have SO MANY more ratings on Goodreads than it does. It was very good! Mystery/crime junkies, consider this your notice. A fun series is waiting for you. There are only four books in it, and this is the first. And if you have KU or Audible, it’s free! I highly enjoyed the audiobook experience, if you are an audiobook person. The book opens with Blanche—who I now love with all my heart—sitting in court waiting to hear […]

Whyyyy haven’t more people read this???

The Good House by Tananarive Due

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This is my exact perfect kind of horror: Meaty, character-driven, fantastical yet chilling or creepy stories but without the bleak or nihilistic rush some people seem to get when all the characters end up dead—or worse—at the end of a book. No coincidence, methinks, that Tananarive Due namedrops two excellent Stephen King books in here*, because her writing style reminds me a lot of his. Both authors really know how to immerse you in a long story, and give you the payoff at the end […]

My fave does it again!

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

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“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” – Malcolm X Tiffany D. Jackson is one of my favorite YA authors. She consistently writes riveting mystery novels featuring black teen girls.  The mystery usually revolves around a particular social issue facing black women, and I’m continually impressed with how her writing immensely satisfies both the mystery component and the social one. I will […]

Cozy mysteries that will make you hungry

Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien

A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette

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Sometimes you need a cozy mystery (or two) to relax your mind. If you’re looking for low-stakes mysteries featuring female amateur sleuths, give the Noodle Shop or Ice Cream Parlor books a whirl. Coincidently, these are both set in Ohio. A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette is a newer series with only two books released. In book one, we meet Bronwyn, Win for short, as she re-opens the family’s ice cream shop in the middle of winter. Not the best time, but her home-made […]

Hold on to your butts (and your obelisks)

The Obelisk Gate (Broken Earth #2) by N.K. Jemisin

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Imagine me, standing up, doing a slow clap standing ovation. That is how I feel about this trilogy. It’s been a while since a series has gripped me so thoroughly, and this coming from someone who doesn’t ready a lot in the genre of epic fantasy science fiction. And I guess this book is all of these? But it also transcends definition in a lot of ways because it is SO MANY THINGS. And how does she do all of these things well? I DON’T […]

Run, don’t walk, to read this trilogy!

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, 1) by N.K. Jemisin

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And a happy new Cannonball year unto you! It’s my first review of the new year, and as last year my full cannonball slipped through my fingertips I’m hopeful that this is the year…of redemption. But like, also, this is the year of realizing that it’s just a number and as long as I’m reading I’m a winner. Onto my first review! I had already heard of N.K. Jemisin from LeVar Burton Reads, the podcast wherein the ever delightful LeVar Burton reads short stories. He […]



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