Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Sweeter and lighter than I was expecting

If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura

by 2 Comments

CBR 17 BINGO: “I” (for “If”) Translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland A young Japanese postman learns he has a terminal illness and has very little time left to live (months? weeks?). Estranged from his father, the postman lives alone with his cat Cabbage and can’t even come up with a decent bucket list to tackle in his remaining time on Earth. He’s feeling sort of pathetic when the devil appears to him with a bad news/good news scenario: If what the devil says […]

This novel could have been an embroidered pillow (and also a rant about unnecessary italics)

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

by 4 Comments

CBR 17 BINGO: Rec’d as I’ve seen this book recommended by a number of Goodreads reviews. I should have known on page 2 of this novel that I wasn’t going to enjoy it, because in that brief span of time the author had already italicized three words for emphasis. You may think that’s petty of me, but hold that thought–I’ll get back to it. The premise of The Measure is this: One spring day, everyone over the age of 22 wakes up to find a […]

Fuck your Southern “honor”

The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson

by 3 Comments

CBR 17 BINGO: Culture, because the culture of the pre-American Civil War South is prominent in this book Erik Larson is one of my favorite non-fiction writers, and if American history is your jam, this is a must-read. Folks like myself who are less war-curious might still find it interesting; however, I felt it sometimes got bogged down in the logistics of pre-war strategy. I found the sections dedicated to the personalities involved and the beliefs of the times more interesting, and also more rage-inducing. […]

Red on the cover and bloody on the inside

The Night of Baba Yaga: A Novel by Akira Otani

by 1 Comment

Cbr17bingo Red Akira Otani’s The Night of Baba Yaga won the 2025 Dagger award for best translated crime novel and it is a doozy! I read it in an afternoon and loved it, but be warned: it is incredibly violent and includes passages describing sexual assault. Shindo is a physically imposing young woman who is extraordinarily talented at fighting. Against her will, she finds herself in the employ of the local Yakuza boss, acting as bodyguard to his daughter. What follows is a tale of […]

A lovely ending to a very original fantasy trilogy

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam by Megan Bannen

by Leave a Comment

Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit Books for this ARC. My opinions, are as always, my own. This is the third book in the series, and as such, not the best place to start reading. This review may contain some spoilers for the previous two books in the series, and the place to begin is with The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. Tanrian Marshall Rosie Fox can’t die. Or at least she doesn’t stay dead, because she’s a demigod, daughter of the Trickster. She is 157 […]

Strong Succession vibes in Maclean’s new contemporary

These Summer Storms by Sarah Maclean

by 3 Comments

4.5 stars CBR17 Book Bingo: Family Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Alice Storm hasn’t had any contact with her family for five years, since she went public with some unsavoury company secrets and her father disowned her. Now her larger-than-life father, Franklin Storm, is dead, and she has to return to the family’s private island off Rhode Island to pay her respects. She isn’t planning on staying past the funeral, but it seems even in death, […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo