Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Poem and Prayer and some F@cks

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 22: Verse I think I’ve found my preferred Becky Chambers series; the two Monk & Robot books I’ve read so far are philosophical, gentle reads that are still interesting with character and a little plot. The second one though is suitable for a ‘poetic’ category given that it opens with a poem and has a rhythm to it both in terms of the prose and the general story. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy has a really good opening; first the prayer itself that introduces […]

[got me] to a nunnery!

Matrix by Lauren Groff

Heloise & Abelard: A New Biography by James Burge

The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici by Elizabeth Lev

Letters of a Portuguese Nun: Uncovering the Mystery Behind a 17th Century Forbidden Love by Myriam Cyr

by 2 Comments

I thought I was going to need some time to recover from the exquisite The Everlasting, but really it flung me head-first into a literal rabbit-hole. A warren. An abbey. A nunnery, if you will. Also- The Atlantic just posted a list of books that were done dirty by pandemic releases, and OF COURE The Everlasting resides within those vaulted halls. I was immediately drawn to Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici after she was mentioned several times in The Everlasting. A distant relative of her spots her likeness in the […]

this is the sort of book that requires some quiet wallowing time post-finish

The Everlasting by Katy Simpson Smith

by 2 Comments

I picked this one up because of the cover. I saw it featured at my local bookstore and put it in my basket without even reading the blurb on the back. Had I read the blurb, I would have KNOWN that it was meant for me none the less, but something about the neon pile of bodies reached into my brain and demanded to be brought home. Unfortunately, “brought home” was as far as the demand went. It sat in my literal TBR pile until […]

A Lazy Book Not Recommended As An Overview of Hasidism

The Pious Ones by Joseph Berger

by 4 Comments

After a long stretch of positive but distracting life events (a new job, a move), I find myself with enough mental room to rededicate myself to book reviews. Fortunately I have a backlog to review so I’ll jump on in with a book that deeply irritated me since I find a scathing review can be easier to write. The Pious Ones is an overview of the Hasidic community for the general reader. This is one of my main special interest areas, so I know a lot […]

“Children long to be eaten. Everyone knows that.”

XO Orpheus: 50 New Myths by Kate Bernheimer (editor)

by 2 Comments

Am I typing this up while wearing a tee featuring the cover of the d’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths? YOU KNOW IT! That strange tome of simplified myth and ultra-bright illustration cracked open a need in me when I was very young. I re-read that book countless times, and used it as the entry point into the larger world of mythology. Combined with a Catholic upbringing that was far more focused on the deaths of the saints than on anything else, you could saw I […]

Another book with an interesting concept that meandered aimlessly and ran full steam ahead into despair

Anthem by Noah Hawley

by Leave a Comment

The summary of this book may sound morbid, and it may be odd that it drew me in, but here we are.  I like a mystery. Here is what my library’s audiobook / ebook app had as a synopsis: Suddenly and without precedent or explanation, something awful has been happening to teenagers across the globe, forcing parents to face a lonely future without their children.  At the site of each loss, there lies a cryptic message, A11, which may be the clue to solving the […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo