Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Why, oh, why did you have to give birth to a son who hasn’t given us a moment’s peace since the day he was born?” 

The Great Brain by John D Fitzgerald

More Adventures of the Great Brain by John D Fitzgerald

Me and My Little Brain by John D Fitzgerald

The Great Brain at the Academy by John D Fitzgerald

The Great Brain Reforms by John D Fitzgerald

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I know I have written about this magical place before, but I need to reiterate that for a kid who loved to read, there was no greater place on earth than The New England Mobile Book Fair. It was a huge wholesale book warehouse in my hometown, and my mom’s favorite place to go. While she browsed the aisles looking for paperbacks by Ngaio Marsh, Barbara Pym, Dorothy Sayers, and MC Beaton, I would sit on the concrete floor, way in the back corner of […]

“Old people, young people. Everybody needed a cup of tea sometimes. Just an hour or two to sit and do something nice, and then they could get back to whatever it was.”

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

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I had just finished A Closed and Common Orbit and was eager to read another book by Becky Chambers.  Fortunately, my family gave me A Psalm for the Wild-Built for my birthday, so another one was on hand to be immediately dived into.  In A Closed and Common Orbit, Chambers dwells on purpose.  In a APftWB, she dives deeper into understanding what it means to have a purpose, why even have a purpose at all, and to not have a purpose, as well.  I had been delightfully […]

What the Smuck?

Lisey's Story by Stephen King

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

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While I have been COVID telecommuting, I have tried to get out in the early afternoon for a nice 45 minute walk. I’ve been listening to a bit of Stephen King while I walk — I’ve already read all of his books, so listening (even to the scary stuff) is somewhat easy and comforting. If I lose my train of thought, no big deal. The story just goes on. This year, I listened to two books I had previously read, Lisey’s Story and ‘Salem’s Lot. […]

An intimate story of friendship and its many forms, wrapped in a sci fi setting!

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

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If I’m nothing more than a tool, then I must have a purpose.  Tools have purposes, right?  But I’m more than that.  Pepper and Blue… have been telling me that again and again and again.  I know I’m more than a tool.” I was surprised to learn that the second book in Becky Chamber’s “Wayfarer Series” does not feature the same cast and pivots in a completely different direction.  I had become invested in everyone in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet so […]

“It’s not because–they don’t want me. They want someone who’s going to cast death spells on their enemies. And if I gave them that, I wouldn’t be me anymore, so I might as well not go live with a bag of dicks.”

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

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Picking up immediately after the end of A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate is a gripping read that starts with El holding the cryptic note from her Mum and ends on a terrific cliffhanger.  At one of Novik’s events for the book release she did apologize for both books one and two ending on a cliffhanger.  When she set out to write A Deadly Education she envisioned it ending where The Last Graduate does.  Novik is a writes as she goes author, not a big outliner/planner.  While […]

Sometimes a short story is just enough, but sometimes it leaves you wanting. CBR13 Reviews 7-9

The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman

If the Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell

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I have been a very bad reviewer in 2021. I have been an amazing reader, with a list longer than any year I can remember. But sitting down to review has not been easy for me. I thought maybe I would try writing “bundles” of reviews, putting similar items together and knocking a few paragraphs out. Lets see how that goes. In order of least liked, to most: The Prince and the Troll. Blurb: It’s fate when a man accidentally drops his phone off the […]



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