Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A glistening doorknob without a door

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

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I picked up this book because I wanted something atmospheric. When daylight savings hits and I stop experiencing sunlight I get into these funks and all I want is deep base and prose the blurs the line between poetry and description, and narratives that aren’t but could be. I found this book on a list of books similar to Annihilation, so if you liked the atmosphere woven through that story, and want something with even less coherent narrative, this is it. You’ve found that weird […]

“The ache to return to a time long gone was almost worse than fear.” (CBR11 Bingo)

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

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I knew what to expect from a Becky Chambers book after reading two of her previous novels in the Wayfarers series (which apparently this novella is not part of… but I swear its in the same universe). To Be Taught, If Fortunate would have some vivid writing, exceptional world-building (seriously, what Chambers can do in a matter of sentences to build an entirely new environment is insane), and diverse characters. I knew nothing else when picking it up, and I’m glad. I didn’t need to. […]

Free Spirit Holly Golightly, Forever a Cipher

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s the book shares a lot of the same traits as Breakfast at Tiffany’s the film: charming in places, predictable in others, with some questionable and unnecessary ethnic and racist slurs. Truman Capote wrote it in 1958, but the story is set in 1943 as a young, unnamed writer (Capote’s stand-in) moves into a brownstone on the upper east side of Manhattan. He soon encounters his 19 year-old enigmatic neighbor, Holly Golightly. She proceeds to charm and repel him at intervals, while remaining […]

I am More a Sebastian than a Lucy

Tiny House, Big Love (Love Unscripted 2) by Olivia Dade

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I received this as an arc from the author in exchange for an honest review. Olivia Dade’s books are a lovely smooshy spot in a cold sharp world. In her current series of novellas, Love Unscripted, reality tv shows force non couples into situations where they reevaluate their relationship and finish falling in love. In Tiny House, Big Love Lucy and Sebastián have been friends since they were children, when Sebastián emigrated from Guatemala to Marysburg. Sebastián was bullied and learned not to reveal anything about […]

Summer is perfect for hot romance short stories

Burning Up by Nalini Singh, Angela Knight, Mejean Brooks, Virginia Kantra

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When reading a long series, it’s nice to take a break with a genre collection under an interesting theme. Burning Up brings together four authors who know how to bring the heat to a supernatural romance! As I heard only great things about Nalini Singh, I decided to bring this on my adult spring break trip to Hawaii. I procrastinated on my review and realized this is perfect for my Summer Reads bingo square. I highly recommend powering through a sexy anthology on the plane. […]

“Happiness is not just an act of optimism – it is an act of defiance.” (CBR11Bingo)

Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure (Worth Saga #2.75) by Courtney Milan

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Courtney Milan really is fantastic at writing novellas. Even the ones I don’t love are still fantastic reads. The Governess Affair is one of my favorite books, period, and A Kiss for Midwinter is one of the few books I’ve read more than once in the past several years. Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure ranks right up there with them. While the book is part of the Worth Saga books, it absolutely stands alone, which I can attest to because the only other book in the […]



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