Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I know it may be wrong but, I’m in love with [Sadie’s] mom

Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakely-Cartwright

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Fountains of Wayne, the poet laureates of New Jersey, wrote the eternal hymn “Stacy’s Mom” way back in the halcyon days of 2003: “Stacey’s mom has got it going on”. How could they have known that a cool twenty years later we would now be saying the same thing about Sadie’s mom?! Is this just a smutty book about an eternally messed up friendship and family? Yes and no. Alice and Sadie are best friends. Alice is a cypher and Sadie is an anal-retentive nightmare. […]

this is the sort of book that requires some quiet wallowing time post-finish

The Everlasting by Katy Simpson Smith

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I picked this one up because of the cover. I saw it featured at my local bookstore and put it in my basket without even reading the blurb on the back. Had I read the blurb, I would have KNOWN that it was meant for me none the less, but something about the neon pile of bodies reached into my brain and demanded to be brought home. Unfortunately, “brought home” was as far as the demand went. It sat in my literal TBR pile until […]

slick with sweat, thick with hate-and I love it

The Lover by Marguerite Duras

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Somehow, this incredible little novella flew completely under my radar until last year. Luckily, the folks over at Lit Hub are absolutely obsessed, and I was unable to remain in the dark for much longer. When it’s in a book I don’t think it’ll hurt any more …exist any more. One of the things writing does is wipe things out. Replace them. While not entirely an “autobiography”, Duras tells the tale of a very young girl who grew up in an unstable household in French-colonized […]

“There’s a particular feeling in your body when something goes right after a long time of things going wrong. It feels warm and sweet and loose.”

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

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Lily King is a magician. She takes an unassuming title like Writers and Lovers and crafts something beautiful, messy, and utterly captivating. Her last novel, 2014’s Euphoria, was my favorite read of the last decade- I have to admit that I was initially disappointed when Writers and Lovers was announced after the evocative fever of Euphoria.  A 30-something woman navigates creative struggle, debt, grief, and relationships? All I have to do is shout out of my front door and a line of people that fit the description […]

Throwing a kitten out a window was only a warning shot.

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Halfway through Moonglow, I caught myself with my hand over my mouth, trying to keep my breath inside my body because the prose was so exceptionally beautiful. I had my worries before reading this book. I have only recently discovered Chabon, and have only otherwise read The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, which was so stunning that it made me want to punch something. There is a lot of hype surrounding Moonglow, and even I only got it by accident from the library on a strict, one […]

Turow’s sequel to Presumed Innocent should be called Presumed Guilty

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In this sequel to Turow’s Presumed Innocent, Judge Rusty Savich is back with his brilliant but rage-filled bipolar wife Barbara, anguished over the state of his marriage, fearful of his imminent 60th birthday and once more vulnerable to the call of the wild—this time, with his lovely young assistant Anna. In the first book, Savich’s lust-filled affair preceded the woman’s horrible rape/murder and Savich barely escaped conviction for the crime. In Innocent, Savich’s new love affair flares, but his guilt overwhelms him and he eventually […]



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