Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Two books I never read in high school

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Night by Elie Wiesel

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 November has been a sucky month in a sucky year, and on a recent trip back east for a family situation, I found that the collection of science fiction stories I brought with me for distraction just wasn’t cutting it. Unable to focus, I did the only sane thing and decided to binge-watch seasons 2 and 3 of The Office. After Michael Scott restored the humors in my brain, I raided my sister’s bookcase, where I found a number of books that have been languishing […]

It turns out that sometimes having a background in English literature pays off

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry

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Official book description: For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can’t quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob – a young lawyer with an utterly normal life – hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other.   But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying […]

The characters have as much personality and development as chess pieces

The Queen’s Gambit: A Novel by Walter Tevis

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Author Walter Tevis had a knack for writing stories that seem to adapt well to the screen. The Queen’s Gambit, written in 1983, is a current hit series on Netflix, but Tevis, who died in 1984, also penned The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Hustler, and The Color of Money. I have not seen The Queen’s Gambit (or any of the other films) but I can say that the novel reads very much like a screenplay. He gives the reader action and tension on […]

Once upon a time there was a house…

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

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The Dutch House is a novel that has a fairy tale vibe to it. The house is, of course, central to the story and it’s kind of like a castle — it has a history of its own and a presence in the community. The Dutch House is a sign of wealth and a connection to the main characters’ past. Author Ann Patchett also gives the reader an evil stepmother, a missing queen, and a father/king who seems caught up in his material wealth while […]

Who wouldn’t want to be romanced in a magical tea shop in Paris?

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim

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One day, while scrolling through Instagram, a book post from Mysterious Galaxy caught my eye.  The title instantly grabbed me, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop.  Yes, please!  This was my second comfort read to help me through the US election and it definitely helped. Vanessa Yu is a fourth generation Chinese American young woman from an extraordinary family.  About once per generation a Yu is born with the gift of prophecy.  At the tender age of three Vanessa had her first prediction and life was forever […]

Brutal beauty

Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett

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“Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water – black and cold and roaring.  Rolling out the invisible paths.” This was the second book I saved to read on the trip back home to my home state.  Like The Survivors, Past the Shallows is also set on the Tasmanian coast, and also about the echoes of a tragedy.  But we’re not in a pleasant tourist-oriented town among flawed but loving family and friends.   We’re with Harry and Miles, out past the […]



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