Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Advanced Studies in Bird Criticism.

A Dumb Bird's Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever by Matt Kracht

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It’s hard to articulate. I love birds, they are my favorite… but I also hate birds. It’s complicated. I delight in their behavior, but so many of them are also arseholes. Take the ducks we used to keep—they fowled up the dam. The turkeys? Bloody stupid creatures. The geese? Vicious bastards*. My Auntie’s beloved silky bantam rooster, Kevin? Busted internal chronometer; would never shut up. I have been mocked by kookaburras, experienced a gleek of emu attacks, a car stripping by corellas and a blood […]

“Okay, wow. That is . . . not what I expected. But it makes sense. I can see it.”

Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (Murderbot Diaries #2.5) by Martha Wells

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My summer reading has been slow going, and my brain hasn’t wanted to focus on things that are new all that well. So, I’ve met my brain where it’s at – spending time scrolling through fanfiction, rewatching favorite series, and hunting up novella length books that sound good. When it was announced that Reactor was going to have another novelette in the Murderbot universe, this time focusing on Perihelion, better known to you and me as ART, I was excited. I have been putting off […]

Once Upon a Time. . .

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I don’t specifically remember the first time I read this book, but that could be because I’ve read it at least once a year since then–at this point, that’s ten or more rereads. This is my favorite book. It’s the story of Rebecca, a fifty-something widow, who at a family picnic one day sort of “wakes up” and realizes she has no idea how she turned into the person that she’s become. She runs a party planning business out of her home, attempts to corral […]

Castaway Story for the Cosmos Age, LOVE

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This is a story about an astronaut named Mark Watney who is accidentally left behind on Mars after his crew believes he is killed during the emergency evacuation of their base camp on Mars (I know I already said Mars, but omg Mars) in a freak windstorm. Our hero has to figure out how to survive with his available resources, ration his remaining supplies, and try to get back in contact with Earth, knowing that his food will run out before they can rescue him. The author, Andy Weir, […]

Like stepping into a fairy tale under a curtain of stars

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Thank goodness for the Cannonball Book Exchange! I received this wondrous book from the lovely Allibaba77 who not only sent me books, but chocolate as well. This book has been on my radar for years. I added it to my To-Read list way back in the spring of 2012. I kept looking for it at my library, but the waitlist was simply insane. At my library if there is a waitlist you can be assured the book is worth your time, and my oh my, […]

Work, Love, and Happiness

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God I love this book. In fact, I may love Longbourn more than Pride and Prejudice. I know, Blasphemy! But Baker uses Austen words (“The butler… Mrs. Hill and the two housemaids…”) as a launching pad for the contemplation of no less than the meaning of life. In addition it’s an amazing love story too! Swoon! Also, I learned the word chilblain. Jo Baker sets Longbourn in its historical home explaining the drudgery of everyday life for the servants. The amount of work required to […]



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