Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A new favorite book that could not fit better into this BINGO square if it tried. CBRBINGO – Bananas

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

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This is a ridiculous book that I loved very much. Also, because I have low spoons at the moment and also because I couldn’t do better, here is the blurb: Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she’s fallen in love. Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain […]

“Who cared about sex, really? When what you needed was someone to talk to in the dark.” CBR BINGO – Smash (Cannonball!)

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

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“There is a desperation to a novel that is unsettling. The world so painstakingly re-created in miniature; this tiny diorama made of words. Why go to all this trouble, to create me, to seduce you, to enumerate so many different breakfast cereals? To make the cunning tiny apartment, the itsy-bitsy Jinx? It’s like going to meet your new boyfriend’s family for the first time and discovering they are all paid actors. It’s almost easier to believe I’m real than to understand what’s actually going on. […]

“Women were built to endure the rules men make.”

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

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I would think it a real challenge to make a story about women suffering under abusive husbands and the difficulties of living in the caste system in India incredibly funny, but this book managed to do that. The humor is dark, but the characters (mostly women) are authentic, interesting and very relatable as they try to navigate the world of men while finding ways to advocate for themselves in a world that doesn’t want them to do much at all. Geeta’s awful husband disappeared 5 […]

Blinded by the Glitter

A Most Efficient Murder by Anthony Slayton

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When the body of a strange young woman is found in the Earl of Unsworth’s garden during a party, his capable secretary Mr. Quayle is tasked with keeping the family from scandal during the investigation – a task only made harder by the secrets everyone is keeping. This is a cozy sort of mystery in 1920s England, with the vibe you’d get if you blend the adventurous plots of Sherlock Holmes and the humorous domestic drama of PG Wodehouse. I liked how the author built […]

From Creepy Indoor Waterparks to Paranormal Activity-Plagued Cracker Barrels

Nightmare of A Trip by Maureen Kilmer

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When the Somerset family heads out on a road trip from Wisconsin to Florida, mom Leigh expects plenty of bumps along the way – but even she doesn’t expect to be haunted by ghosts after a strange incident at an abandoned house. My family has always been big on road trips, and consequently I have spent days driving down endless roads in both the United States and India. You see plenty of road trips on television and in books, but rarely the family caravan type. […]

Pride and Prejudice Wearing a Witch Hat

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub

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While Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy were stumbling around in their awkward courtship, it seems there was another story playing out in the background – that of Lydia Bennet, witch, her familiar/sister Kitty, and the literal demon Mr. Wickham. Reader, I love Pride and Prejudice. It was one of the first classic books that I read in its original form, and I’ve reread it numerous times over the years since. But I’ve usually avoided Pride and Prejudice retellings, doubtful of how they might add their […]



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