Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“They have vegan cheese.” “No, they don’t. They have shredded orange and white sadness that mocks cheese and everything it stands for.”

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

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I was looking for something light after a few dense reads and this came recommended by a friend as a fun romp for the brain, or in the author’s own words, a “pop song” of a book. Scalzi had me at page 21, with this hilarious exchange. “They have vegan cheese.” “No, they don’t. They have shredded orange and white sadness that mocks cheese and everything it stands for.” And yes, I know that vegan cheese certainly exists, but as a person who unabashedly loves […]

Biggest K-Pop Stan in the Japanese Underground

The Yakuza's Bias, Volume 1 by Teki Yatsuda

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When the yakuza boss’s daughter drags top lieutenant Ken to a K-Pop concert, he finds himself utterly captivated by the group, especially the main rapper Jun. I only dabble in reading manga, but one genre I have found myself enjoying is light-hearted gag mangas – with one major caveat. The joke’s got to have legs enough for a series, or it will run thin quickly. Luckily, this is not the case with The Yakuza’s Bias. Ken might be a serious, tough-talking yakuza member, but he finds […]

If you like lots of snark without too much information weighing it down

Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill

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I have a very thoughtful husband who keeps his eyes and ears open for books he thinks I’ll enjoy. Often, these turn out to be winners, and I can see why he thought Unmentionable would be right up my alley. I love Victorian literature and history, having read and enjoyed Judith Flanders’s massive The Victorian City last year. I also like humor and have been known to engage in snarky commentary now and then. Unmentionable, then, seems like a safe bet for me. What I’m […]

“Really, if one could not capture a moment in four lines, what was one doing? “

Write for Me, Marquess by Kate Archer

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Juliet, the youngest of the Bennington sisters, has decided that the man she marries must be a poet. And there’s even one in London interested in her – even if his haikus underwhelm her. Certainly a sporting man like the Marquess of Hamill will not suit her, no matter how handsome she finds him. This is the fifth book in the series, but not the final – for the sole Bennington brother remains to be wed. But Juliet is the last daughter, and I was […]

Dead As a Doornail

Strange Ways to Die in History by Ben Gazur

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In this book, we are taken on a tour of various bizarre and ironic deaths that people have died over the past several millennia, some with plenty of backstory and some just as vignettes. I am a macabre person – I enjoy true crime, creepy mysteries, high strange events. But sometimes you want to return to the basics, and that for me is weird stories from history. A dash of humor on the side is always appreciated too. As such, this book sounded right up […]

Romance Old and New

The Devil Drives by Jane Arbor

Sweep Me Up, Baron by Kate Archer

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The Devil Drives – 3.5 stars As a new bride wed to the man of her dreams, Una should be bursting with happiness. But it turns out that her husband had ulterior motives in wedding her – chiefly, to revenge himself on her for the death of his young cousin. Leave aside the rather convoluted premise, as Zante’s reasons for blaming Una and plan for revenge against her alike are pretty silly, in the manner of olden time Harlequins. But the writing is lovely, bringing […]



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