Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Bodies and Christ

American Rapture by C.J. Leede

This is My Body by Lindsay King-Miller

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Being back in grad school, I just do not have the time to read like I used to. However, last week on a retreat, I knocked out two religious horror books I had been meaning to read for a while and since they were both thematically similar, I figured I’d dump the reviews here. American Rapture This is juuuuust clearing the 4-star threshold, mostly because I liked C.J. Leede’s writing, even if her plotting and pacing could frustrate. I also get easily annoyed with survival […]

I lean towards Little Ghost

Little Ghost House Hunts by Lucy Branam

All Hallows' Eve by Anthony DeStefano

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If you are new here, or to my reviews, let me tell you: I like Halloween. However, I do not like the spooky or horror or gross, but the fun, candy getting, costume wearing part. I also like reading Halloween books, especially for kids. The novel The Halloween Tree has some great moments for the 10 to adult reader, but there is nothing like a picture book. And recently, I found two picture books (read on line, currently available) that are very different from each […]

“God knows we are not perfect and simply invites us to try again.”

The Catholic Hipster Handbook: Rediscovering Cool Saints, Forgotten Prayers, and Other Weird but Sacred Stuff by Tommy Tighe

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Goodreads’ recommendations usually leave me scratching my head. It seems to make irrelevant connections, like Oh, you’ve liked a book with a red cover before – try this! But, I was intrigued by the Goodreads algorithm putting The Catholic Hipster Handbook in front of me. I’m not Catholic, but I did go to Catholic school for a bit. I don’t label myself as a hipster, but that’s only because I’m too busy with my vinyl collection and third-wave coffee and pipes to worry about labels. […]

Banned Book? Well, Banned Author, Anyway

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I’m kicking off banned book week with a book that has gotten a lot of attention, both positive and negative, in Catholic circles. Is it a banned book? If it isn’t yet it probably will be. The author has been banned from several Catholic speaking engagements because of it. But he has also received support from prominent bishops and wouldn’t have been able to publish without support from his order, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). This book, considered incendiary by alt-right Catholics, is not really […]

A prayer of thanks for sweet, fast reads.

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A Book of Uncommon Prayer is a fast and sweet read. Each section follows the format of “A prayer for…” “A prayer of gratitude for…” “A prayer of bemused appreciation for…” all for very mundane, everyday stuff. Cashiers (may their customers be pleasant and their feet not hurt), newts, summer beaches. It’s charming to the point of twee, but there are worse things to be in the world and at 192 pages (many of them half pages), it doesn’t outstay its welcome. I would absolutely […]

When a book is (way) more than just a book.

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This review requires a lot of backstory that isn’t directly related to the actual quality of the book, so bear with me. Some facts pertinent to what I’m leading up to: My husband and I are Catholic adult converts. Our daughter took years and fertility treatments to conceive, and trying for kid #2 has not proven one bit easier. When I finally did get pregnant, I had a difficult pregnancy and good reason to think she might not make it. For the first time I […]



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