Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Sorry-Grateful

How Sondheim Can Change Your Life by Richard Schoch

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CBR 17 BINGO: White (See cover) When Stephen Sondheim died in November 2021, I lost one of my heroes. A theater nerd in college with a proclivity for lyrics over music, I was won over completely by Sondheim’s poetry. Fans can endlessly debate which of his rhymes is most magnificent–the rhyming of “personable” with “coercin’ a bull” in Company is often cited, though I’m inclined to go with the brilliant throw-away line from Into the Woods regarding Jack’s cow, “There’s no time to sit and […]

Nonsensical, but not in the fun way

Uriah’s Orbit (Aligning Stars Book 2) by S.A. Sommers

The D in 403B (The 400 Block) by Jess Bryant

Topping the Alpha (Trident Security Book 5) by Samantha Cole

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Austin is a former teenage heartthrob and one-fifth of a world-famous boy band. Now that he and his bandmates have reached their late twenties, they are tired of putting out the same old pop music that made them famous a decade earlier. During a break from recording and touring, Austin lands his dream job: taking over mid-run as the lead in the musical Aida. No one believes that this boy band member can sing, but he proves them wrong with his impressive range and mastery […]

The lights of Broadway

A is for Audra: Broadway’s Leading Ladies from A to Z by John Robert Allman

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While browsing Facebook awhile back I found a recording of one of my fellow Cannonballers reading A is for Audra: Broadway’s Leading Ladies from A to Z.  I am sorry to say, I forgot to write down your name! Therefore, please consider this my official Thank you! That was fun and appreciated. I do not know about other people, but there is something about being read to that is comforting. Even when you are an adult. Of course, it might be less appropriate to have […]

Bye Bye Birdie

Broadway Bird by Alex Timbers

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I will admit it. When I first saw Broadway Bird by Alex Timbers, I thought it was going to be, well, dumb. It had the look of trying to be clever and falling flat. Break a leg was not going to be a “good luck” wish, but a prophecy. Boy was I wrong! It was amusing, clever and while familiar (with its “keep trying, you will be a big star one day” theme), a little fresh. We have Louisa a sweet bird who knows she […]

The Books of Greenwich Village

Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mob Boss Chin Gigante by Larry McShane

69 Barrow Street/Strange Embrace by Lawrence Block

The Pope of Greenwich Village by Vincent Patrick

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Unintentionally so, I read three consecutive books set in Greenwich Village (well, I guess technically three out of four as one of the books is a two-for-one and the second story isn’t set in the Village). I decided to cobble together one review of the stories since they shared this similarity… Chin *** When I’d first heard of Chin Gigante, I was more fascinated with the idea that the mob had a thriving operation in Greenwich Village, an area I’ve always associated with Bohemians and the […]

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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I have a confession to make: I made it to thirty-nine years old, never having read The Little Prince. I knew of it, of course, that it was a mind-bending children’s classic and emotional philosophical journey, and I purchased a copy with the intent to read it…12 years ago. This slim novella traveled from Tennessee to Louisiana to Illinois and I never cracked it open. It was a matter of missed opportunities: I felt like I should read it, but that I should have already […]



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