Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Finally a way to get rid of the so-called Spice Coke

Saved By Cake: Over 80 Ways to Bake Yourself Happy by Marian Keyes

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I don’t think I’ve ever read a cookbook written by a novelist; I’ve read novels that have recipes in them, but that’s a different thing. I’ve only read 1 novel by Marian Keyes; I was visiting my mom who lived in Ireland at the time, I was bored, and I pulled a book off one of here shelves. It was Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes, and I remember it being basically a group of friends navigating modern life with a strong dose of romance. […]

Picture it: 2002; rural Rigsby, Wisconsin

Foothold: Rigsby WI by S.E. Case

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Foothold: Rigsby WI by S.E. Case is a typical coming of age story that has some mature themes and language, therefore it is not for the too young or sensitive reader. Overall, it feels like a realistic and interesting portrayal of five high school students (four in high school, one who is homeschooled by her aunt). It is a story that is familiar and has a typical feeling of the era it is set (early 2000s, high school). As this seems to be volume one […]

“You can’t legally brag about your son since you named him “Carl”.”

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue

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Jolene copes with her soul-sucking job by pretending to be invisible and ranting at her coworkers in emails in white text. But when she’s found out, she’s sentenced to anti-harassment training with the cute new HR rep and restrictions on her computer – except it turns out that she’s accidentally been given access to the emails of every single of her coworkers instead. Often funny and often sad and very much filled with petty office politics which verge just on unbelievable sometimes. Jolene is a […]

Rage against the dying of the light

Men Have Called Her Crazy (2024) by Anna Marie Tendler

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Bingo square rage. I think this completes my bingo row, along with fanfic, fiasco, earth day, golden Content note for the book: suicidal ideation, eating disorders, self harm, mental health “Now I’m furious, so angry my whole body feels hot, and I can tell I’m about to cry.” (p. 211) I’m (still) a fan of Tendler’s ex-husband–and I love that this isn’t about him. Well, it’s about him in the sense that he’s the ‘unfaithful husband’ of the narrative, presumably, the shadow that lurks behind […]

Corey’s faith

Visitations by Corey Egbert

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Visitations by Corey Egbert is more of a rating of 3.5 than a pure 4 as there were areas I would have liked to have seen “more” of the story (I like that we don’t have a lot of “before divorce” (just enough to let you know what has happened) but seeing more of the Visitations (what their mother calls the time Corey and his sister, Sarah, have with their father) would be interesting. Afterall, this is part of the title. And I would have […]

“In headlines and news copy, we call them “the mentally ill.” In truth, they are our mothers and fathers, our brothers and sisters. They are us.”

While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger

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This book was the selection for my local library book club and they came out swinging with a real heartbreaker for the first selection for our new year. It’s the first non-fiction that I can remember us readingnand rife for discussion. It is so raw and sad but well written that you’ll read past the point where your heart can take it. I was gripped by her storytelling but eventually had to take a break (see also my review of Kevin Kwan’s Lies and Weddings which […]



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