dementia – Cannonball Read 17

A romance about audiobook narrators, by a queen of audiobook narration

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

May 10, 2025 by Malin Leave a Comment

Sewanee (pronounced Swanie, several characters call her Swan) Chester was a child actress on a popular sitcom, but a serious injury while filming her big break as an adult led to her losing an eye and becoming permanently scarred, so now she makes her living as an audiobook narrator. While it may not be as glamorous as acting, she’s very good at it and has won several awards. Early in her career, she also narrated romance novels, but now her cynicism makes it too hard […]

“A dilemma, my father used to say, is nothing but two bad options.”

One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley

February 21, 2024 by cheerbrarian Leave a Comment

I started this book with minimal expectations, having never heard of the book or the author, and I can now say this book wasn’t for me. Overall it was paced too slow and the book was too long for me to find it enjoyable or gripping, but it wasn’t so bad that I stopped outright (plus, it was for a book club and I tend to see book club picks through to the end). The subject matter of this book is heavy and for me […]

Family Dynamics

Our Wish for You: A Story About Open Adoption by Dano Moreno

Other Words for Nonno by Dave Cameron

January 4, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

September 2023 had two interesting books come out. Of course, it had more than that, so I should say that 2023 had a lot of books come out and September 2023 had two of those that I read in 2024. They were found as I was cleaning up my online reader copies, which is going to take me well into 2024 to even dent, while I find new 2024s and will need to balance the two. However, I am glad I took the time to […]

How can a novel about dementia be beautiful?

The Swimmers: A Novel by Julie Otsuka

September 13, 2023 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

Cbr15bingo Adulthood I have reviewed Julie Otsuka’s previous two novels and loved them both. Otsuka is an amazingly talented writer. Her novels are not long; her sentences tend to be short but deliver beautiful imagery and subtle emotion. They are, as I have mentioned previously, like a pointillist painting in verbal form. Both When the Emperor Was Divine and The Buddha in the Attic, critically acclaimed winners of numerous awards, deal with Otsuka’s family history: immigration from Japan to California and the experience of US […]

An elephant never forgets. Until she does

Never Forget Eleanor by Jason June

February 8, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

CBR15Passport new to me author (though I had heard the name Jason June, I realized, I have never actually read them!) Jason June you are a mean, person! How could you pull on my heartstrings with your lovely story of a grandmother elephant and her grandson elephant going through a difficult situation? Why did you make me cry? Of course, you Loren Long, I blame, too! Those sweet, illustrations of adorable elephant ears and big eyes looking up at his grandmother while they do […]

Bitter, Sweet, Love, Family

Hundred Years of Happiness by Thanhha Lai

April 4, 2022 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I had many emotions and thoughts while reading Hundred Years of Happiness. I was wondering the nationality of the family (you learn Vietnamese) as I was curious where the food came from and where the traditional represented (colors are important to cultures and I was wondering why white was not used). Then, I would become emotional as I realized this is not really a happy story, but a bittersweet one about the love of a grandchild and grandparents. And where one grandparent, the grandmother, is […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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