Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

‘I’ve got something more important to offer. Something I’m sure Mom cares about more than anything. “Mommy. I am . . . so skinny right now. I’m finally down to eighty-nine pounds.”’

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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CBR 14 Bingo: Monster The author’s mother is rather a monstrous one, which is only compounded by the codependent relationship between the two of them. Jennette McCurdy was a household name as a child actress, but it was because her mother wanted it, not here. In the aftermath of her mother’s death, she faces a slide into eating disorders before she understands the complex relationship between her and her mother that led her there. I think everyone has an occasionally fractious relationship with their mother, […]

The friendships were great, the romance was not.

For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa

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So… What I couldn’t get past is that Leo inspired viewers to give his co-host the nickname Nasty Nina and three years later he still doesn’t understand how that harmed her. For Butter or Worse is one of those rare books where I think the dual point of view made me dislike the character more. I dislike Leo when we first see him from Nina’s perspective, and then I grew to dislike him even more when we get his perspective. It bothered me a lot […]

He wouldn’t be shocked if there was a spreadsheet on her laptop about him listing the pros and cons.

Circling Back to You by Julie Tieu

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One of my greatest disappointments of adulthood was realizing that there is no point at which you have your life completely figured out for all time. In every decade we find ourselves considering our priorities and our choices.  After reading her debut, The Donut Trap, I think I can safely assert that Julie Tieu writes characters who are figuring out how they want to be in the world really well. In Circling Back To You, Cadence Lim and Matt Escanilla are at a point in […]

This building contains my joy and my heartbreak.

After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez

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After enjoying Angelina M. Lopez’s Lush Money, I started following her on social media. She’s talked for a while about wanting to set a romance with Mexican-American characters in southeast Kansas, where she is from, because so many people are surprised to learn there are Mexican American communities in small Mid-western towns. Her new series, which begins with After Hours of Milagro Street, does just that. Alexandra “Alex” Torres is coming home to Freedom, Kansas after years of being the Best Bitch in Bartending in Chicago. […]

The world is a constant compromise, a greeting of the other and of yourself.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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There is something about Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing that just speaks to me. I haven’t read enough of her books to make definitive statements about her writing, but in the works I have read, it feels like she writes with one middle finger raised. It speaks to me. I don’t delude myself, as a white American whose ancestors definitely fucked around in places they should not have been, I am part of the group she is raising that middle finger at, and I am fine with […]

The right to choose makes the choices we make meaningful

Fearless at Heart by Zoe York

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Initially I wasn’t going to request Fearless at Heart because I have too many arcs and I am struggling to get reviews written right now. But then I saw a tweet about the book that said “he eats!” (iykyk). I decided I could fit in one more arc. And let that be a lesson to me about how I get people to read the books I want them to read. Plentitude of oral sex aside, Fearless at Heart is a sweet second chance romance. Seth […]



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