Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Bitter and sweet

Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars: A Graphic Memoir by Rick Louis

by Leave a Comment

CBR15Passport New Authors to me Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars: A Graphic Memoir is a bittersweet story of living with a child who has an incurable condition. It is spiritual, realistic, and surreal all at once. Sometimes the tone is a bit on the romantic side, but it is a forgivable offense as this is a love story to the child as much as a memoir of the fathers. I have never been a mother, though an aunt three times (plus various “adopted […]

“What happens to all that leftover love?”

After you'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell

by 4 Comments

After boarding a train from King’s Cross to Edinburgh on a whim to see her sisters, Alice Raikes makes an abrupt about turn and heads back home. Shortly after, she steps in front of a car. She’s taken to hospital, but she’s in a coma and it doesn’t look good. What did she see at that Scottish train station that made her leave so suddenly? Had she tried to commit suicide? Shifting points of view, from Alice’s present, to past, to her family’s thoughts and […]

This was just as delightful as Emmalita/Rochelle promised

Season of Love by Helena Greer

by Leave a Comment

Ten years ago, Miriam Blum cut all ties with her entire family, including her eccentric great-aunt. Now she turns antique junk into creative and incisive art and has a loyal following on Instagram. She has a beautiful and wealthy fiancée and while they’re never going to share a passionate romance, they love each others as friends and support one another. Miriam is working towards finally opening her own art studio in Charleston when she is informed that her great-aunt Cass died (no one had even […]

I would read ten more of these.

The Grief of Stones (The Cemeteries of Amalo, #2) by Katherine Addison

by 2 Comments

These books are sad, contemplative, and lovely. I had a bit of a hard time getting in to the first one because the tone and pacing are pretty unique, but once I sank into it I really enjoyed myself. Right away with The Grief of Stones I was able to get back into the right mindset and I enjoyed it even more. I know there will be at least one more book following Celahar, but I find myself hoping there will be more than that. We need, […]

The Heart Principle grabbed mine and didn’t let go

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

by 4 Comments

Helen Hoang’s The Heart Principle was everything I wanted and more. Our heroine Anna Sun is going through it. She is a violinist stuck in a loop after a performance video goes viral on YouTube. With every practice session, she wants to replicate that moment with precision. She ends up burned out and unable to finish the song. She is attempting therapy to find a breakthrough. Later that day, her boyfriend asks to “see other people” as an excuse to know that he’s ready to […]

“I was rudderless and raw, and the worst part was that no one wanted to talk about any of it.”

Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder

by 3 Comments

Dancing at the Pity Party is, as the subtitle states, “a dead mom graphic memoir.” As someone whose dad died when I was a kid, I related a lot to this book and think it’s one of the best depictions I’ve read of the messy, chaotic, complicated process of grief. Feder’s mother is diagnosed with cancer during her first year away at college, and she dies right when she comes home after finals. The narrative covers their relationship growing up, the illness and death of […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo