Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Scheming to the Finish Line

Crush the King by Jennifer Estep

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Evie’s been queen of Bellona for a year. While she’s survived plenty of sinister plots and assassination attempts, she knows that her position will never be secure until she can defeat the threat of Morta once and for all – and the Regalia Games seem to be the perfect time for that. This is the final book in the Crown of Shards trilogy. While I loved the first book, I found the second rather disappointing, so I was hoping that the author would be able […]

Fantastic Fantasy!

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

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Saara El-Arifi immediately place herself on my auto-buy list with her debut, and this new world she’s created just confirms why I love her storytelling. The book starts with a myth telling of the three gods: Asase, the Wheat, god of the earth and creator of humans; Ewia, the two-headed Bat, god of the sun and creator of fae: and Bosome, the Water, god of the moon and creator of the elves. As far as anyone is aware, all that remains in the world are […]

More About People Than Ideas

Socialism 101 by Kathleen Sears

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Best for: People interested in learning about various thought leaders who might be related to socialism (but probably more likely communism?) throughout history, but not so much the practical applications behind their ideas. In a nutshell: This felt a bit like a History of Communism 101, as opposed to a primer on the different beliefs and implementations of socialist beliefs (which is what I was expecting). Worth quoting: N/A Why I chose it: I’m very clear that capitalism is not working. I’m also not comfortable […]

Racing Time

Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse by Kim Wickens

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A horse called Darley was born on a farm in Kentucky a decade before the Civil War; under the name Lexington, he broke the world record for speed and left an imprint on the world of American horse racing that persists to this very day. I was never a horse girl, but in elementary school I had a phase in which I read a great deal of Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley. As such, I’ve probably seen about four horses close up throughout my life, […]

People Who Made a Difference” Or “People Who Tried”

Joey: The Story of Joe Biden by Jill Biden and Kathleen Krull

Dr. Fauci: How a Boy from Brooklyn Because America's Doctor by Kate Messner

King Of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin by Stephen Costanza

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I do not care what you think about Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, or Scott Joplin (he fits my theme, if not a smidgen loosely, which is “People Who Made a Difference” Or “People Who Tried”), but these books are really cool. Okay, not “cool” as in The Fonz was cool or a snowman is cool, but in the way that a good book can be cool. Each of the below titles (though all are available, I read via online reader copies) talks about how […]

Just Walk Forward

Last Flight by Kristen Mai Giang

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From Publisher Description of Last Flight by Kristen Mai Giang: On April 24, 1975 the last flight out of Saigon, Vietnam carried over 400 people to the United States, six days before Saigon’s surrender to the North Vietnamese Army.  I was a few months old in April, therefore, I obviously have no memory of this happening. However, when I learned that the war was still basically going and I was alive for it, it was an eye opener. I had always heard about the Vietnam […]



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