Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About stegolily

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Stego Lily is a mom, educator, and sci-fi/fantasy enthusiast. When she isn't reading, she enjoys playing the piano, gardening, and chasing after her two chaos gremlins.

stegolily's Reviews:

“It was like drinking the feeling of being peaceful.”

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

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Bingo: I am counting this book for the “Work” category, since the plot centers around the main character’s business venture and place of work. Viv, an orc adventurer, is ready to hang up her sword and settle into a more peaceful life. She wants to start a coffeeshop in the magical city of Thune, spreading the joy of caffeine and baked goods to all species, races, and character classes (those are the correct DnD terms, right?) Viv is stubborn and independent, but quickly learns that if […]

“Its so easy, isn’t it, to decide the people you’re fighting aren’t really human.”

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

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I am counting this book for the Citizen category in the CBR17 Bingo Reading Challenge. The central antagonist of this novel is an empire known as the Radch. The inhabitants of the Radch are known as Radchaii, which translates to either “civilized” or “citizen.” The Radch is benevolent and giving to its citizens, but brutal and violent to outsiders. One of the central themes of the books centers on how people justify atrocities by dehumanizing those they hurt, and how the concept of “citizens” or “civilized […]

A disappointing follow-up to a beloved fantasy novel

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T. J. Klune

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I really wanted to like this book. It’s a sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea, which I really enjoyed. It has great LGBTQIA+ representation, and an important message about resistance and hope. But as much as I wanted to love it, Somewhere Beyond the Sea ended up falling flat for me. Linus Baker and Arthur Parnassus are finally living their happily-ever-after. They live on the beautiful island of Marsyas, with the six magical children they hope to officially adopt. The town they live in […]

“I hate caring about stuff. But apparently once you start, you can’t just stop.”

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

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The third installment of The Murderbot Diaries season follows our favorite misanthropic cyborg as it gets pulled into another human conflict and wrestles with the annoying implications of having feelings and a moral compass. Murderbot has hitched a ride to the planet Milu in order to investigate an abandoned terraforming project run by GrayCris, the shady corporation that tried to kill Murderbots clients in the first book. Murderbot hopes to collect evidence of wrongdoing by GrayCris, both to help its friends back on Preservation Alliance, and […]

“But the soul finds its own home if it ever has a home at all.”

Home by Marilynne Robinson

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Glory Boughton has returned to the small town of Gilead to take care of her dying father, the Reverend John Boughton. As the youngest of 8 children, she has spent her whole life trying to escape her role as the “baby” of the family and build a life outside of her childhood home. But as a failed engagement coincides with her father’s illness, Glory finds herself back in Gilead, wondering if it can ever truly be a home. Glory’s brother, Jack, is also back in […]

But what kind of cheese?

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

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When The Moon Hits Your Eye is the latest in a string of very strange books by John Scalzi. The Kaiju Preservation Society introduced us to a former Postmates-ish driver taking a job at a wildlife preserve for horrifying monsters. Starter Villain pondered the moral implications of inheriting your uncle’s supervillain business. When the Moon Hits Your Eye introduces another premise so ridiculous that I can only assume Scalzi wrote the book on a dare: “What if the moon suddenly turned into cheese?” The story unfolds through a […]



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