Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Of Birds and Trees

The Warbler by Sarah Beth Durst

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This one feels a bit more similar to Sarah Beth Durst’s novel, The Lost, than some of her other more recently published ones – even if The Lost is my most recently read of her. Something about the main character in this one felt very reminiscent of that earlier novel, and both novels were centered within a version of our world rather than within a fantasy world setting (like Race the Sand or The Spellshop). Regardless of the setting, mother-daughter relationships always play a prominent […]

To know the ocean, I have always felt, is to recognize the teeth it keeps half-hidden.

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

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Miri said this to me once: Every horror movie ends the way you know it will. ― Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea Having people be kind to you is so important, but it’s also incredibly irritating. It’s hard to find the balance of what you’re actually able to accept without wanting to hit someone. ― Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea When Miri’s wife Leah, a scientist and explorer, returns home safely after a submarine accident, Miri has to learn how to […]

“She seems to be doing fine somewhere. But no, she’s actually nowhere.”

I Wish I Could Say "Thank You" by Yukari Takinami

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I Wish I Could Say “Thank You” is an autobiographical manga about the author’s mother dying of pancreatic cancer and how she and her family deal with this transitional phase in their lives. I got this from MoCCA Fest and haven’t seen it for sale in any bookstores around me, which cements why I like going to comic-cons. You get to see stuff from smaller presses that you might overlook or might be unavailable depending on distribution, and that’s often the material that I find […]

Rather Appropriate for Today

Actress by Anne Enright

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The story of a fictional Irish actress, Katherine O’Dell, circa 1950s – 60s, as told by her daughter.  Think Maureen O’Hara, but she was – hush! don’t tell! – actually born in England.  There are many questions here.  Her daughter’s dad is who? And Norah, the narrator and daughter, has her hands full but it is a labor of love. So Norah grows up in the shadow of her mother, which doesn’t particularly bother her.  No fangirl, she.  She has her own path to follow, […]

“I was rudderless and raw, and the worst part was that no one wanted to talk about any of it.”

Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder

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Dancing at the Pity Party is, as the subtitle states, “a dead mom graphic memoir.” As someone whose dad died when I was a kid, I related a lot to this book and think it’s one of the best depictions I’ve read of the messy, chaotic, complicated process of grief. Feder’s mother is diagnosed with cancer during her first year away at college, and she dies right when she comes home after finals. The narrative covers their relationship growing up, the illness and death of […]

Just Every Trigger Warning Imaginable

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

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I am too old to have watched Jeanette McCurdy on Nickelodeon, but I was vaguely aware of her before she started promoting this book. I also follow a lot of eating disorder recovery stuff, so I’d seen her podcast being suggested before this came out and was thus aware that the book was going to deal with her eating disorder a lot. Up front I will say that if you have an eating disorder and/or are in recovery from one, this book is super, super […]



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