Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Hazel Will Not Be Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl on Your Path to Self Discovery, Thank You

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

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Bingo Square: Summer Read I needed to a new romance author to try, and I remembered the reviews for this one piquing my interest, even though I didn’t end up picking it up for quite a while, and even had to ask for assistance in finding the right title.  I’m not sure if this novel is an example of how all of Lauren’s novels are or if this is her (them – Christian Lauren is actually a writing duo) at the top of her game, […]

Austen meets Downton

Longbourn by Jo Baker

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CBR11 Bingo – Remix   When tackling the Remix bingo square, it was OBVIOUSLY going to be some sort of Pride & Prejudice variation, with the actual challenge being which one to pick. Then I read LanierHgts’ review of Longbourn, and it immediately got bumped to the top of my list. Unlike other remixes that tend to modernize the story, or speculate what happened next, this book takes place during the events of the original Pride & Prejudice, but is told from the point of […]

I think next time I’ll just watch Clueless.

The Espressologist by Kristina Springer

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CBR11 bingo – remix I found this book in Bunnybean’s room – I had remembered that in 8th grade she had to do an assignment where she read a classic novel and then compared it to a modern retelling for a project. She chose Emma, and then found this book to pair with it. Folks, I didn’t really like this book. But I’m not going to be too harsh on it. I’m clearly not the intended audience. And Bunnybean really enjoyed it, and saw it […]

Ain’t no sunshine (The Collection)

Strange Weather by Joe Hill

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Try and contain your shock, but a book by Joe Hill is dark. I’m used to the horror author writing books that have a macabre bent, but this was less “skeleton and ghost dark” and more “I’m gonna curl up on the couch and remind myself that this is fiction dark.” The collection is four novellas connected loosely by abnormal weather – lightning storms in “Snapshot,” a firestorm in “Loaded,” an unusual cloud in “Aloft” and fulgurite rain in “Rain.” But the darkest part of […]

The Most Dangerous Worldview Is the Worldview of Those Who Have Not Viewed the World.

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf

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Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was one of the last polymaths, a brilliant scientist and an awe-inspiring explorer, who travelled extensively in the Americas while collecting scientific data in every way then known to man. The books he published afterwards about his journey and his research became hugely popular and made him the greatest scientist of his time. Although his liberal worldview was not popular with many people on whom he relied to financially or politically support him and his endeavours, he was a lifelong abolitionist […]

Twice (or More) in a Lifetime

Recursion by Blake Crouch

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CBR11Bingo: Science! You ever read a book that feels just a little too much like a treatment for a film script? In Blake Crouch’s Recursion, the focus is almost entirely on its high-concept, easy to pitch plot. The characters are briefly sketched to the point where it’s easy to imagine almost any two actors playing the main roles in an adaptation. The writing is competent but unchallenging, making for a quick read without much in the way of metaphor. Maybe that’s too critical. After all, […]



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