Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

When I think of this question, I always have my moms smarty pants answer in my head…

Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Mendez

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As much as I enjoy good poetic prose, there was something missing for me in Where Are You From?  I did not see the buildup to this question as the reviews and title suggested. Yet, it is over all a good story about a granddaughter and her grandfather. Their relationship played a larger part for me then the fact that because the girl is “different” people assume that she is “not from here” and therefore, of course they ask, “Where are you from, really?”  That […]

Dangerous days for them, but terrific fun for me

Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt by Terry Deary

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I’m a huge fan of Terry Deary. For those of you not in the know, he’s the creator of the superlative Horrible Histories – aimed at kids (but adults find a lot to love too) and concentrating on the gross, gory and gossipy bits – and now the Dangerous Days series for the slightly more grown up. Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt delivers exactly what it promises on the cover – pyramids, plagues, gods and grave-robbers – all told with its eye on keeping the […]

“Let us be what we are.”

The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation by Mark Kurlansky

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Several of my most recent reviews have been related to adoption and self. That’s on purpose. I’ve recently discovered both sides of my biological family through AncestryDNA, the research of an “adoption angel”, and some amateur online sleuthing. It’s hard to describe in text what it’s like to finally name your biological heritage as an adult. It feels like coming home, maybe. One of the most interesting parts for my and my kids is that I found out that a large chunk of my heritage […]

A timely reminder that Nazis are evil and fighting them is heroic

D-Day Girls by Sarah Rose

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D-Day Girls: The Spies who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis and Helped Win World War II is a work of non-fiction about the women who worked in secret, behind the lines in France in the years of WWII leading up to D-Day. These women were recruited, vetted and trained in England to be dropped behind enemy lines. There, they helped co-ordinate the  resistance and lay the groundwork for the allied invasion. As their work was part of secret intelligence (the Special Operations Executive or SOE), […]

In which I rant about the heroine

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

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I was about the day I finished The Girl in the Tower-years old when I realized two things: one, this series is YA darkish fantasy romance; and two, I don’t especially care for YA darkish fantasy romance. The problem is that there are a few characters I do want to see what happens to and the setting is interesting, with its mix of Russian folklore and history. I also do like the conflict from the first novel, not so much present here, between the old […]

Death Always in the Castle

Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park, 2nd Edition by Lee H. Whittlesey

We have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

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Two books, very unalike, and yet sharing one general darkness. Death, spoken and unspoken, biogenic and anthropogenic. Non-fiction, and fiction. Come sit and have tea with me, won’t you? The sugar’s right there.



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