Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Ride ’em cowgirl… or whatever you say to someone who rides English style

Horse Trouble by Kristin Varner

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I do not care what “horse people” think of Horse Trouble by Kristin Varner as it is a delightful story about a young girl who is dealing with the stress of her life and the horses are really “second thoughts that are important to the overall story but shouldn’t be nitpicked about.” The amount of information and images of horses comes from someone with a “horse background” and therefore, I take their lead. What I absolutely adored about this book is the realistic mother and […]

Here Kitty Kitty

Brina the Cat Volume 2: City Cat by Giorgio Salati

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Brina the Cat Volume 2: City Cat has cute chapters of solo stories tied together for the crazy adventures of a cat named Brina. This Italian Secret Life of Pets by Giorgio Salati is slightly mature and immature at the same time. All ages can read, but some of the stories are a little “intense” (the mature) as Brina goes missing, or the rats have kidnapped her, and there is a possible ghost. But also, there is a child-like humor and innocence to it as […]

Get me to the church (or whatever location the fae get married) on time

When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire

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CBR13 Bingo: Flora (there are a number of trees in the background and Toby appears to be holding a rose in her left hand. She also has a belt of roses on her dress) Spoiler warning! This is book 15 (!) in the ongoing October Daye series. So very much not the place to start. There will be spoilers for previous books in the series in this review, although I shall try to avoid any big ones for the contents of this current book. Rosemary […]

Magical realism at its most wonderful

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

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BINGO – Flora (there’s a small flower at the center of the cover and Orquídea means ‘orchid’ in Spanish) The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina is told with two narratives: one of the past life of Orquídea Divina, matriarch of the Montoya family and the other of the Montoya family in present day. Orquídea is dying and she summons her family to her home to receive their inheritance. The family gathers and soon realize that no one is getting the family cuckoo clock or heirloom jewelry. No, Orquídea […]

Get the scooper, ’cause I got the scoop on a robo-dog and its girl

D-39: A Robodog’s Journey by Irene Latham

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I am not really a dog person, but something about the idea of D-39: A Robodog’s Journey was grabbing. Maybe the androgenous look of the character on the cover or the fact it was a robot dog and as far as I could remember I had never read a book with a robot dog. Maybe because it was free. But what kept me reading this novel by Irene Latham was two main things: first it was done in a poetic prose manner. But it was […]

Gao’s debut is messy, but yet, it is wonderfully so!

Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao

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Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American is a messy book. But it is all wrapped up in a neatly created graphic novel. The world of Laura Gao has been seen in other stories (this is a coming-of-age story with features we know: immigration, expectations of family, coming out), but hers is completely unique to her and therefore, to the reader. At first, the book seems like it might be about the pandemic, and what happens to her and her family as Chinese […]



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