Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A little more time with Lady Julie Beaufort-Stuart

The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein

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Code Name Verity was my favorite book of 2014. I reluctantly picked it up after some favorable Cannonball reviews and was immediately entranced. The story, the writing, and the characters kept me on the edge of my seat until I finished in a wave of tears. When I saw that Elizabeth Wein had written a book that involves Julie Beaufort-Stuart, a main character from Code Name Verity, I was once again a little reluctant to read it. I was afraid that it would not live up to Code […]

An unending tale of sorrow, blood, and love

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

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I’ve read a number of books by Isabel Allende, and I’m sure I’ll read more. However, I didn’t know about The House of the Spirits (1982) until I saw it on my 50 Books Every Woman Should Read Before She Turns 40 List. As Allende’s first novel, it seems quite personal in nature. Apparently, Allende began writing it as a letter to her 100-year-old grandfather when she heard he was dying. There are some parallels with her real life. The House of the Spirits is pretty dense and comes […]

Who would have thought that something that happened that long ago could have such power?

Lucky by Alice Sebold

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I already knew Alice Sebold from The Lovely Bones, but I had not heard of Lucky (1999) by the same author until I saw it on my 50 Books Every Woman Should Read Before She Turns 40 List. Written just before The Lovely Bones, it is the true story of Sebold’s violent rape, on the last day of her first year of college. This book was good. It was well written, tense, often difficult to read, and eye-opening. Sebold is very honest about the rape and how it affected her. […]

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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I vaguely remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) by Harper Lee in school, but I’m glad I decided to reread it when I saw it on my 50 Books Every Woman Should Read Before She Turns 40 List. I can’t remember how old I was when I first picked it up, but as I reread this book I realized that I’d forgotten many of the details of the story. In addition, my perspective has changed dramatically. When I first read the book, I wholly identified with Scout. There […]

We had no image of our own future

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The Feminine Mystique (1963) by Betty Friedan has been on my radar for years as a classic feminist tome that I should probably read. However, I was always intimidated by the length. I was also afraid that it would be dated and difficult to read. It wasn’t until I saw it on my 50 Books Every Woman Should Read Before She Turns 40 List that I had the motivation I needed to pick it up. It’s easy for me to take the opportunities I have today for granted. […]

There’s more disappointment when you have high expectations

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My book club is comprised of approximately six to ten women, almost all of them lawyers (or ex-lawyers) and one electrical engineer. There is almost always a wide range of opinions on the books we read, but the lone engineer is often on her own. She is also the primary motivator in forcing us to occasionally read science fiction. We read Ancillary Justice four years ago on her recommendation, and most recently we read Six Wakes (2017) by Mur Lafferty. Again, this is not a book I’d heard of […]



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