Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Exhibit A of the Self-Fulfilling Title

The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner

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I could only praise this book is the way I would a bowl of Kraft dinner (or boxed mac and cheese for anyone that didn’t grow up with Canadians). If I really want cheesy noodles and Kraft is available, I’ll eat it. If the other options for a meal were meatloaf or fruitcake I would choose Kraft dinner, just like how I would definitely re-read The Okay Witch over other particular books. But here’s the deal: Do I actively crave or recommend Kraft dinner? NOPE. […]

Women Who Sing

Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis

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This is a beautiful book.  I picked it up because I read a few good reviews and because it hit a lot of categories in this year’s reading challenge.  I didn’t really have any idea what it was about. It’s about five women -“cantoras” or “women who sing” (implied: to other women…) in Uruguay in the 70s and 80s.  I did not know this, but in 1977, a military government Uruguay, a military government came to power and, unsurprisingly, crushed dissent, as you do when […]

Call and Answer

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

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What a lovely read. The language was lovely, almost lyrical. Very little actually happens but the author takes us on such a journey that we believe so much has happened. This is a relatively short review, simply to resist giving away the pieces of the book you should enjoy by reading it yourself. Elio is a young man falling for an older man who is visiting his house over the summer. The story slowly builds into an obsession. The tension is built through everything that […]

Close the Book

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So I’m back to my “British women in peril” theme, apparently, and this entry is . . . not good. It’s gripping; I definitely wanted to know what was going to happen. And (a) there’s a denouement, and (b) some really key information was missing that would make me feel the level of dread I was supposed to. The heroine of B.A. Paris’s Behind Closed Doors is given a backstory that is emotionally traumatic, but she doesn’t seem to recognize it as trauma, and seems […]

Delightful, feel-good space opera

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A closed and common orbit is the sequel to The Long way to a Small Angry Planet, so…   A Closed and Common Orbit follows Lovelace the AI after she’s been downloaded into a kit resembling a human body. Pepper takes care of her and brings her back to her home planet. Lovelace changes her name to Sidra, a human-name, and tries to adjust to life with different senses in a strange place. She is no longer a ship with a camera in every room, […]

Not the Thrill I Was Hoping For

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My latest read was actually an Audible listen. I’ve realized recently that I’m a sucker for an English thriller featuring a 20- to 30-something woman. Also, I often like books that tell a story in two time periods. So J.P. Delaney’s The Girl Before would seem to be a match for me. Two Londoners–Emma (then) and Jane (now)–each rent the same austere house. Each sees it as the solution to her problems. Each follows a path that leads to jeopardy. Also on that path is […]



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