Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“He hated this place. He loved it.”

Babel by R F Kuang

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Bingo: History;  Passport: China Babel is historical fiction stirred with magic, the story of imperialism set in a world just a sidestep from our own told through the eyes of an outsider awakening to harsh realities. We meet Robin as a small boy who has survived a cholera outbreak that has killed his mother and ravaged his birthplace of Canton and is taken to England by his mentor.  His Chinese name is unimportant to Professor Lovell, so we never learn it.   Robin’s skill with language […]

Life and Death in the Asylum

Broadmoor Inmates by Nicola Sly

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CBR 15 Bingo – Violence: On their path to the asylum, nearly all of the people profiled in this book committed violence to others, and many to themselves as well. Broadmoor is a well-known psychiatric hospital that originally opened in 1863, but until the 1950s or so, the “criminally insane” people sent there were mostly there for confinement rather than effective treatment. I’ve always enjoyed true crime, but having also recently become intrigued by attitudes toward mental illness throughout history, I was excited to have this […]

Where the Animals Have Better Manners

Riders by Jilly Cooper

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CBR15 Bingo – Sex: What would a bonkbuster be without sex? And here it drives much of the action and drama of the book as well. Jake Lovell and Rupert Campbell-Black were born to very different circumstances which have made them very different men, but they both have the same goal – to rise to the top of the spectacular, high-octane world of… show jumping. As I was embarking on an international trip with limited internet access, I thought it would be prudent to stock up […]

And One for the Air

One For Our Baby by John Sandrolini

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: take flight. The main character in this book is a pilot and there are many scenes of him flying people in the air.  This is not a serious book so if you’re willing to go along with the flow (or the flight, haha), you might enjoy it like I did. If not, give it a hard pass. The first 50% or so of this read like a script from a lost 50s crime film starring Frank Sinatra. John Sandrolini has […]

Lights Go Down

Hairspray and Switchblades by V. Castro

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: Bodies, bodies. The book features a commentary about bodies, especially with regards to shapeshifting.  Shapeshifting is a popular trope in horror. It has its origins in Greco-Roman mythology (thanks Wikipedia!) but there are versions of it in a lot of other cultures. In contemporary horror, I’ve seen in featured several times in Latinx novels. It’s centered in this one. Shapeshifting is also sometimes used to tell a broader story about transformation. Maya, the central character here, is a stripper, as well […]

“For most autistics existing in a world not built for them, anxiety is the baseline and constant background hum that their daily life has to play over.”

Strong Female Character by Fern Brady

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Before this book I knew Fern Brady not at all. She’s made a name for herself between the UK comedy and television scenes, and while I enjoy a British panel show I’ve managed to miss Brady entirely. I decided to request this book from NetGalley based purely on the fact that this is a memoir of a woman who was diagnosed with autism as an adult and that’s a story I am very interested in. Like Brady, I too do a reasonably convincing impression of […]



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