Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Probably a great satire, what do I know. CBRBINGO – Purple

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis

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I’m sad I didn’t like this one very much. It was much less fun and funny than I was hoping it would be, with that premise. (That premise: a young couple’s five year old daughter is bitten by a werewolf and then becomes a werewolf herself, upon which they discover there is a secret magical world among the mundane one. Then there is a PTA, but at a mAgiC sChOoL.) Where I wish this had been more lighthearted and focused on the school and magic […]

Surviving is an act of resistance!

Beasts of Carnaval by Rosália Rodrigo

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This book fulfills the “border” square on CBR17 bingo; Sofia exists on the border of conquered and conqueror, and explores the complexities of her mixed heritage. As soon as I saw the cover for Beasts of Carnaval, I knew I wanted to read it, and the synopsis just cemented it for me. I love stories that are about resistance and revolution and proving that the colonizers and oppressors won’t be the last ones standing. And this delivers so beautifully! Sofia’s twin brother, Sol, vanished to […]

“My passengers. I decide, then and there, to love them. I’ve never loved before. Love is not a standard component of my programming. ” CBRBINGO – ‘O’

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove

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Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media & Dreamscape Lore, Bindery Books, and Ezeekat Press for the ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. I had a great time with this weird little genre-bender. I love books where the author was like, should I do mystery? Romance? Paranormal? Horror? Sci-fi? Why not all?? Indeed. Why not all. Our two main characters are ship’s AI’s, the navigator, and the ship’s doctor. Demeter is the ship’s name, and when the book starts she’s just a normal ship, […]

Love at First Sight by Laura Jane Williams

Love at First Sight by Laura Jane Williams

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Please note that I read this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my review or rating. I really wanted to like this book, but honestly it was driving me up the wall. The FMC, Jessie, drove me up the wall the entire book. She didn’t see the forest for the trees and I was tired of her swooning over a guy who was not worth it. I really wish that we had invested more in her relationship with her best friend, provided more backstory […]

Locked Down

The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan

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Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: black cover Greenwich Village is perhaps the most beautiful neighborhood in the world’s greatest city. I love walking through it: the winding streets, the townhomes, the cafes and bars, the rich history. It feels like the best the city has to offer. I remember passing by the spot where the Women’s House of Detention was and thinking how beautiful the new building looked. I was curious to see where Mae West had been locked up and assumed when I […]

Going to San Francisco

The White Van by Patrick Hoffman

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Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: red cover And so I now come full circle to Patrick Hoffman’s catalog. Hoffman is a quality over quantity writer. Every 3-4 years, we are gifted with a new book of his that functions as a soup-to-nuts examination of how criminal justice works in America. A massive drug shipment in Every Man a Menace. Corporate espionage in Clean Hands. The war against white supremacists in Friends Helping Friends, which came out this year and is one of the best things I’ve read in 2025. […]



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