Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Life was very different when you walked through it.”

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

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CBR17 Bingo: Green – Behold, the cover! Recently-retired Harold receives a note from his friend Queenie, who he has not seen in twenty years, to inform him that she is dying, and sets out to walk the length of England to go and see her, in the belief that as long as he walks she will not die. This is a pilgrimage across England, but internally it is also a pilgrimage of Harold’s self, in which he comes to terms with the many things that […]

To have strings, like everyone else.

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I thought that this book was going to be steeped in ’80’s music and culture which is totally in my wheelhouse. Some of the reviews that I had read indicated this. They were not accurate. I hate to use words like “okay” and “nice” but that sort of sums this one up. It really wasn’t what I was expecting, which is okay, but it circles around some pretty heavy themes in a way that is a bit too nice. CDs are trumping vinyl in the […]

Music is the Strongest Form of Magic

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 To add to your reading experience, there’s a Spotify playlist for this book. It’s really only a playlist of songs mentioned in the book, though. I was hoping for songs that inspired the author or songs the author associated with each character, etc. I suppose I shouldn’t be criticizing some free book reading enhancement, but it feels like a half-assed effort. The book is set in the late 80’s, as CDs are becoming the performed platform for music. Frank owns a music shop on the […]

Why else would you have feet?

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Harold Fry is living a life of emotional desolation in small seaside community with his wife Maureen. Harold receives news that a former coworker, Queenie, is dying of cancer and writes her a sympathy note. On his walk to the mailbox, he doesn’t stop. After a chat with a store clerk, he decides that he is going to save Queenie by walking to see her on the opposite end of Great Britain, roughly 800 miles away.  Harold is drowning in trauma. He was emotionally and […]

Audiobooks and Orphans

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Miss Queenie – 4/5 Stars This is a brilliant follow-up to The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry that came out a few years earlier. Like very few, but very potent sequels, this one eclipses the original. While the original book is heart-warming and touching, something akin to the Straight Story meeting BBC2, this book is downright beautiful and devastating. Harold Fry was about a man who receives a simple and cryptic postcard from a former colleague from the time he worked for a local brewery. His […]

A disappointing sequel to a book I adored

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This review contains spoilers for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye, which was a beautiful story and you should go read it — but don’t bother with this sequel. “People can love in different ways. You can love full-on, with a lot of noise, or you can do it quietly, over the washing-up. You can even love a person without them knowing.” The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy tells the story of Harold and Queenie from Queenie’s perspective, as she writes it all out while waiting […]



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