Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“We look after each other.”

The Companion by E.E. Ottoman

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This book is the equivalent of drinking a hot cup of tea while sitting on a screened-in porch full of plants: it’s as cozy, gentle and relaxing as the cover suggests. Demoralized by the publishing industry in late 1940s New York City, Madeline accepts an invitation to be a companion for Victor in upstate New York. He’s a mystery writer who inherited a large house and enough money where he never has to leave it: he gets his groceries and newspaper delivered. But spending all […]

So much fun it helped with my reading slump!

Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

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Fellow Cannonballer, Teresaelectro, first brought Heroine Complex to my attention.  Then it was a featured book title for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month at Mysterious Galaxy.  I was about to go and to pick up May’s book order, when on a whim I called and asked if Heroine Complex was in stock.  It was and I purchased it over the phone, to bring home with the books that were waiting at the store. Due to events this year, I have found reading to be […]

Emotionally satisfying and hilarious rom-com

Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle

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After seeing some of my favorite Twitter romance readers rave about Sarah Hogle’s first book, I couldn’t resist picking this one up, even before I read (and loved!) her debut. And wow, while it’s completely different in tone from the first, this is an emotionally satisfying rom com chockfull of tropes – forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, slow burn, with a cinnamon roll hero. “Somewhere far above the clouds, glittering in stars and nebulae, a neon sign spins leisurely outside a cheerful little haven where everything always […]

A weird book I had a lot of things to say about.

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1) by Deborah Harkness

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Oh wow I have so many things to say. The vast majority of the time when I go to write a review I have to sit there and think of things to say, when my instinct is just like, I had feelings okay and now you want me to put them into words? But the words are just wanting to flow for this one. So first, because context is important, three things about this book and also me: 1. It was free. A friend was […]

By your powers combined, I am Captain Wallflower!

Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, #1) by Lisa Kleypas

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I’ve been trying out several “classic” romance authors this year in an effort to clean out my own shelves of books I bought years ago and never read (one trip to Bookmans in particular ended with heaps of old paperbacks with scantily clad models on the front). This is the lone Kleypas from my collection, and the first book of hers I’ve read. And I liked it! It was a perfectly fine book. I ended up with this book of hers because it was the […]

This is getting a lukewarm reaction from a lot of people, but I absolutely loved it.

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

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Thank you, Sally Thorne, I needed this exact book. Our cast of characters: Ruthie, a twenty-five going on 125-year old, who has only ever worked at this one retirement village and plans to work there forever, because she loves it, and it’s comfortable and safe there among the old people and the endangered tortoises that wander the property. Among the residents are the Parloni sisters, Aggie and Renata, who hire themselves boys to run ridiculous errands (the inspiration for the book*) and basically take care […]



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