Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I never thought it would happen to me.

To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn

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If book five in the Bridgerton series were a cake, it would be one tier of Mary Poppins, and one tier of Sound of Music with a thin layer of gothic Brontë jam holding the layers together. I may start to use these cake analogies for all of my reviews. I apologize in advance. Mama Violet had been trying to marry off second eldest daughter Eloise for quite some time. However, having refused multiple proposals, Eloise preferred to settle into a comfortable spinsterhood with her best friend Penelope. A safe […]

A good read for Mardi Gras

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djéli Clark

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P. Djéli Clark won a 2019 Alex Award for The Black God’s Drums, which was also a finalist for the Nebula, Hugo, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. The Alex Award is given to 10 books annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association to books written for adults that appeal to readers aged 12-18. This is a short but riveting, action-packed novel set in New Orleans, 1884. As with his previous two works set in 1912 Cairo (A Dead Djinn in Cairo, The Haunting of […]

For zoology and art geeks! The original Pantone collection, as used by Darwin.

Werner's Nomenclature of Colours Adapted to Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Anatomy, and the Arts by Patrick Syme

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Shout out to Ms. Was for suggesting this book to me last March! I put it on my Christmas list and Santa delivered. The full title of this petite tome is almost as long as the book itself: Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, with Additions, Arranged So As to Render It Highly Useful to the Arts and Sciences, Particularly Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Mineralology, and Morbid Anatomy, Annexed to Which Are Examples Selected from Well-Known Objects in the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms. This delightful little book […]

Christopher Moore is always a good option for alleviating pandemic stress

Shakespeare for Squirrels by Christopher Moore

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Many people have asked recently for reading recommendations for when you are just too stressed or tired to focus well. I’m not a social scientist, but I suspect the pandemic has something to do with the intense fatigue everyone is feeling, even when it comes to indulging in the joy of reading. Fortunately, Christopher Moore continues to write during these gloomy times. While every novel of his isn’t necessarily a winner, you can absolutely count on Moore to provide a pleasant diversion, even if the […]

Reading these books is really starting to stress me out.

A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin

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The John Rebus series has been one of my constant reading companions for the past 14 years. Ever since I watched Anthony Bourdain visit a local Edinburgh chip shop with Ian Rankin (maybe on No Reservations?), I’ve diligently read every word I could find about former detective John Rebus and his little coterie of friends solving (and sometimes causing) crimes in Edinburgh. This latest book is the 24th full-length Rebus story. John Rebus is no longer the rogue detective he was at the start of […]

We’ve met, but I wouldn’t say we’re friends

Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan

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J. Courtney Sullivan’s Friends and Strangers follows Elisabeth, a new mom and recent transplant from Brooklyn, NY, to Unspecified College Town, Northeast US, and her nanny Sam, an artist and student at the local women’s college. The novel chronicles a year in the lives of the main characters and a few supporting players as they create drama, cause trauma, and settle into their respective fates. A preponderance of that settling revolves around romantic relationships. Sam aspires to hurry up and settle down, while Elisabeth is […]



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