Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Travis_J_Smith's Reviews:

Recaptures most, but not all, of the magic of The Martian

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

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I, like most, loved Andy Weir’s debut The Martian. Maybe it helps that I don’t have a firm grasp on the vast majority of the science in it, but it felt grounded in reality in a way that lots of science fiction isn’t. Naturally, then, I knew I had to read Project Hail Mary as soon as I learned of its existence. I couldn’t not return to that well with Weir; I watched the Matt Damon-led Martian film without hesitation for that very same reason. With […]

Her words are sharp enough to leave you with your own wounds

Home Body by Rupi Kaur

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The cover lacks the simple beauty of the other two collections Kaur has released to date, but perhaps that has something to do with the comparative ugliness of the subjects addressed. Home Body bursts out of the gate with Kaur putting into words, as best she can, how she was molested at the age of 4, and what effect that had on her going forward. It’s absolutely raw and, if you come away from it without feeling a similar effect yourself, you are a cold, […]

A.A. Milne’s Worthy Spiritual Successor

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

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Although the handwritten words verge on unreadable, I’ll allow it because it’s in keeping with the rough, hand-drawn aesthetic the book has going, as well as because the sentiments expressed by them are too darned adorable for me to care. As I was reading this, I read aloud roughly half the pages to my fiancee (who found them cloying and groanworthy, unfortunately) because I felt they just had to be spoken aloud. It’s like A.A. Milne’s stories of Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood, only […]

We get it, Rainbow Rowell, you love Starbucks

The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell

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The Prince and the Troll is more what I was looking for from Rainbow Rowell, more of what worked for the Simon Snow series when it did work, love by way of (mild) fantasy. You have a troll, who catches and returns a phone dropped from atop the bridge she lives under, and the titular “prince,” who begins treating her to (of fucking course) Starbucks every day on his way to work. Rowell doesn’t dive too deep (pun intended) into the lore of the troll […]

When the sun leaves, they bow their heads in mourning

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

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After two books dealing with some weightier themes, I needed a breather, and so I picked this book of poetry. It wasn’t getting any use from my fiancee, who’s the one who wanted it in the first place. I know positively nothing about poetry, but I guess Rupi Kaur is a big name in modern poetry. Reading this, I immediately understood why. The Sun and Her Flowers is raw, alternating between beautiful and heartbreaking. Not quite the light and airy breather I was after, yet […]

The pandemic perfectly realized as prose

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

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Somehow I’ve lasted this long (32 years) without having read a Jodi Picoult novel. I recognize the name, having heard it spoken so highly of throughout the years, but couldn’t place it to a single book. Looking at her bibliography, only My Sister’s Keeper pops for me as a recognizable name. But I saw this one at Target, was hooked by the opening lines describing Diana watching her father restore the zodiac ceiling in the main hall of Grand Central Terminal (“When I was six […]



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