Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“A sound can move anything if it’s strong enough.”

Song For a Whale by Lynne Kelly

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Iris has always had a slight connection to whales, because she was named in honor of one. The day she was born, a whale beached itself in their hometown, and her family named her the same name scientists gave the whale, as its life left the world when hers began. But Iris’s connection to these creatures truly clicks when her teacher shares a video about a very unique whale, called Blue-55 by scientists, sometimes called the loneliest whale. Blue-55 is a hybrid breed, and sings […]

Much better than the cover made me expect

Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross

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From Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas’s life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she’s living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet…and one starring the Royals’ super-hot rookie pitcher. But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad […]

It’s like you’re a mirror/my mirror staring back at me/oooooh!

Otherbound by Duyvis, Corrine

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(Blame “It’s Gonna Be May” on my Timberlake quote) Nolan Santiago suffers from frequent blackouts. His family has been desperate to find the medication that will ease his daily and frequent epileptic fits. But the reason nothing is working is because Nolan isn’t having fits. When Nolan closes his eyes – even when he merely blinks – he is in another world, and in another life. Amara has been a servant on the run for most of her life. She was pulled from the palace […]

“…a duty, out of sheer cussedness, not to disappear completely, simply to ease the conscience of the rest.”

Girl in the Dark by Anna Lyndsey

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I thought this was going to be a depressing read that I trudged through because it was short and I sometimes feel obligated to bear witness to others’ pain. That was not at all the case. This book is gorgeous. It’s poetic and absolutely beautiful. There’s a recurring metaphor for suicidal thoughts that it just incredible. It’s funny and sad and really, really, really beautiful. It wasn’t that I didn’t think someone with a debilitating illness (in Lyndsey’s case, she has an extreme sensitivity to […]

Don’t hide your light under a bushel, darling.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

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(Title quote is from Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage) Aven Green has a pretty great life as a middle schooler in Kansas.  She plays on the soccer team, has a wonderful group of friends, is a creative writer, and plays the guitar. She also has no arms. She was born without them, though if anyone asks about it (and boy do they), she always has a wild tale to tell them about where they went and how. But her life is about to be upended: her […]

Frustrating and lovely and decidedly different.

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As a very new reader to romance, the books I’ve picked up have tended to be fairly new, as in published within the last 5-10 years, and decidedly feminist or progressive in their mentality. Even if they’re not openly advocating for women’s rights or chiding the customs that disadvantage(d) women, the stories I’ve loved have mostly had a bent of “they’re awesome but overlooked because of social/cultural reasons.” Enter Flowers from the Storm, which is more than twenty years old and not un-feminist or non-progressive, but it comes […]



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