Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Dresden’s very long list of things to do and the best quote, “Home is where you embrace the present and plan the future.  It’s where the books are.”

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

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For the first time I’m going to attempt to work on my review while still reading the book.  Let’s see what happens! 2/23 : I haven’t touched a Dresden novel since the release of the previous volume in 2014, so before cracking open Peace Talks had to look up recaps for Skin Game and Cold Days to refresh my memory.  As it’s been several years, I had forgotten how quickly the stakes are introduced and Harry is thrown into the fire but this book seems to have […]

Tales from the Eloise omnibus, part 2: Moscow is full of black caviar from the Caspian Sea and spies

Eloise in Moscow by Kay Thompson (author), Hilary Knight (illustrator)

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Following on the heels of Eloise at Christmastime is the re-read of Eloise in Moscow.  Eloise has come to Moscow in style, riding in the Rolls Royce her grandmother had sent because, “you only go to Moscow once”.  She is accompanied by Nanny, Weenie (the dog), but Skipperdee  (the turtle) develops a nervous cough and is sent by diplomatic pouch back to the Plaza hotel in NYC.  No reason is given for the visit beyond vague mention of Eloise being a diplomat child and once again her […]

The princess epidemiologist fairy tale that is rather topical right now

A Princess in Theory: Reluctant Royals by Alyssa Cole

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In November, my favorite independent bookstore was celebrating Small Business Saturday with promotional items depending on how much you spend.  I was a short hop away from the goal I wanted and decided to get A Princess in Theory because I had enjoyed A Prince on Paper, which I acquired during the Cannonball book sale last year, and was curious to read more by Cole.  What I didn’t realize when I read A Prince on Paper was that it was the third book in Cole’s “Reluctant Royals” series.  […]

Tales from the Eloise omnibus, part 1: The tiny terror with a heart of gold

Eloise at Christmastime by Kay Thompson (author), Hilary Knight (illustrator)

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I grew up loving Eloise, a precocious brat with a charmed life, living to the fullest of her (mostly) unsupervised life.  However, I was unaware that there were multiple Eloise books until I worked at Border Books (RIP) corporate headquarters and had the amazing job of overseeing the free book room.  I did other stuff too but that was the best part of my job.  One day The Ultimate Edition of Eloise came through the room and I was surprised to find out there are […]

“The whole place had the look of a picked-at-body. But damn! What a beautiful corpse.”

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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This book has received so much hype and lived up to every bit of praise it has received!  Thank you, Cannonballers for putting this on my radar and keeping it there.  I’m almost at a loss to review Gideon the Ninth since so many of y’all have done so already.  Here is a list of things that I enjoyed immensely, in no particular order: 1 – Muir’s word choices.  It’s delightful to be confronted with an unfamiliar word and Muir did it more in this […]

If you are getting another cat, read this book. Heck, if you have a cat, get this book.

Total Cat Mojo by Jackson Galaxy, Mikel Delgado

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In November, a friend of mine, who works with a feral cat rescue in LA (Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats), fostered a litter of kittens that included this charmer and we fell in love (lookit dat face 😍 ) I was initially staunchly against getting a third animal, we already have a 7 year old corgi (Wall-E) and a 2 1/2 year old cat (Sosuke), and the rule in our house has long been only two pets.  However, the pandemic had me reassessing […]



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