Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“A dreamer, I walked enchanted, and nothing held me back.”

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

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Rebecca has been on my literary radar for 20 years and on my to read list for 6. It has felt like a big, important work that I needed to read, if only to more easily understand some of the references that are out and about: Mrs. Danvers, the opening line of “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again”, and so on. Rebecca joined the list of books I categorized as White Whales (Daughter of Fortune, The House of the Spirits, The Lottery, […]

“You keep going, you’ll eventually realize that the one true answer to all your questions is: Of course it doesn’t make sense—what business do you have expecting things to make sense?” (Bingo #3)

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

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Back when I reviewed Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half in 2014 I asserted then that she was one of the most honest writers and humorists that you were likely to come across on your bookstore shelves. Her follow up, Solutions and Other Problems supports my earlier claim and is so much better, more thoughtful than its predecessor. Each chapter contains the kind of introspection that will make you think “yup, I know that feeling”. This one isn’t as funny as Hyperbole but that matches […]

Bingo! (CBR12Bingo 2: Book club)

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

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I was wondering how I was going to make a book club pick twice, as I’m not much of a joiner and my coworker book club basically meets every six months once we ask for extensions … and more extensions … and plan to get together and cancel those plans…. so no way we were going to have the next pick ready in time. And I am going to do my level best not to use the reader’s choice square, because this is a challenge […]

“To save the world with music and love, obviously”: cbr12bingo – “Music”, 3rd Bingo!

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

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The Sound of Stars was initially chosen as a candidate for the “Debut” bingo square (it was released February 2020) but another book was chosen.  Fortunately, it also fits the “Music” square to complete my 3rd bingo! This is a book I wish I had read in my teen years for a variety of reasons.  Accurate representation of anxiety disorder would have been helpful when trying to figure out my own mental health.   For it’s depiction of sexual identity, gender identity, and first time sexual […]

Chance of Failure

The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

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When a young girl is found murdered near a small village in Switzerland, a travelling salesman is quickly accused of the crime, and the case is closed. Only one detective is convinced that the real perpetrator is still at large, and that he will strike again. The book is based on Dürrenmatt’s own screenplay for the 1958 film It Happened in Broad Daylight, which had a pedagogic purpose in raising awareness of the threat of crimes against children. Dürrenmatt was not entirely satisfied with the […]

I Got My Wish

Voices by Arnaldur Indriðason

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BINGO: Red (and my first actual BINGO – all the colors!) Best for: People who like mysteries set around Christmastime. In a nutshell: Detective Erlendur is called to investigate a murder that took place at a hotel a week before Christmas. Worth quoting: N/A Why I chose it: I’m enjoying having something somewhat easy to read in between more substantial books. That sounds like an insult, but I don’t mean it that way at all. Review: I said in my last review that I was […]



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