Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“who hurt you once before, so far beyond repair”

The Nature of the Beast (Inspector Gamache #11) by Louise Penny

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This is my first Inspector Gamache book without narrator Ralph Cosham. It took me a bit to get used to hearing Gamache’s voice in my own head without the aid of Cosham, but after ten books Cosham is Gamache’s voice for me and once I got started it all worked itself out. The tenth book, The Long Way Home, was a departure for both Penny and her characters and in some important ways this book is a return to form. We have at the core […]

I only write long Rowling reviews

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling pseudonym), Robert Glenister (narrator)

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*Note: This review was completed in early 2019 as the author’s views towards our trans siblings began to be more widely known. At the time I chose to read this book and review it. My reading experience was what it was and these reviews will remain up, but it should be noted that I find her TERF values abhorrent, which have only become more clear over time, and her doubling down in Summer 2020 has made the decision to walk away from her as a […]

Nobody fights you like your own sister; nobody else knows the most vulnerable parts of you and will aim for them without mercy.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

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Reviews for this one kept popping up following its November 2018 publication. I’m a bit squeamish and while I like mystery books I don’t read horror. Pluiedenovembre assured me that this one wasn’t scary or gory so I requested it from the library. Like ASKReviews mentioned in her review of this book a few days ago, it is also a very quick read. The chapters are short and crisp, with rapid fire information. Our point of view character is Korede, a nurse in one of […]

Small but Mighty

The LIttle Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by HIldegarde H. Swift, Lynd Ward (illustrator)

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Until a few years ago I didn’t know that this book from 1942 existed, and once I did, I still didn’t quite grasp where it was set, which little red lighthouse and great gray bridge it was talking about. How silly I felt when I was flipping through this one after a long day to discover that it is set along the Hudson River and the great gray bridge is the George Washington bridge which I drive over several times a year. In some ways […]

A glimpse into the mind of a 12th century religious thinker

Hildegard of Bingen: Mystical Writings by Hildegard of Bingen, Fiona Bowie (Editor), Oliver Davies (Editor)

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Every so often a book about faith sneaks into my reading. There was a time when I was much more involved in organized religion, but it has been a tough fit for me in the past decade or more. I have tended to hold my personal faith a little closer than that shared in a large gathering. The historian side of me is also always looking to learn more about the faith I was raised in and a couple of years ago when the ladies […]

“But this didn’t feel like magic. It felt a lot older than that. It felt like music.”

Soul Music by Sir Terry Pratchett

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I don’t know what to say about this one, really. Its plagued me for over a week – I liked the book, I liked what it had to say about grief and memory… but I can’t quite put it together into a comprehensive opinion about the book. Here’s some thoughts I do have, though. The book in typical Pratchett and DEATH fashion splits the narrative – we have a fab foursome causing wizards to shake, rattle and roll, and managing to bring some broken furniture […]



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