Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Heroes Aren’t Born, They’re Made

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

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There’s nothing better than starting a book that you don’t know much about and don’t have any expectations for, only to discover that it’s really good and that there are two more out there and a final fourth in the works. Last week, I loaded a bunch of library books on my kindle to read on vacation and this one, Ember in the Ashes, caught my eye both because it was the first book in a fantasy series and it was by a woman of color, […]

William Stoner entered the University of Missouri as a freshman in 1910, at the age of nineteen.

Stoner by John Williams

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This is a reread from a few years ago, so part of my review will be reconsidering or readdressing my previous thoughts on this novel. This is the third novel by the writer John Williams, whose first two books Nothing but the Night and Butcher’s Crossing, I reviewed the other week. This book begins in 1910, as you can see from the opening line, as a farmer’s son enters into the University of Missouri to begin a course of study in the agriculture school, only to discover that he […]

“It was in my hair, Severian, ” Dorcas said.

Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe

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The third book of the series and this is probably the one that I most enjoyed so far because it was somewhat looser in its narration and storytelling and more confident in the story itself. Severian and Dorcas are now setting off on a kind of new adventure, having finally dispatched the previous quests, and we are seeing a kind of return or a turning back to the beginning as the story is looping back to where we began. I foolishly looked at the premise […]

The Long Slog Continues Through Book Four

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

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Queen of Shadows is the fourth entry into the seven-part Throne of Glass series, which is Sarah J. Maas’s first fantasy series. I devoured the author’s second fantasy series, A Court of Mist and Fury. So, of course, I would love Throne of Glass, right? Wrong. I have a serious love/hate relationship with all of these books. The first book (Throne of Glass) did not have enough world building, back story, and the characters were not built up enough for me to care about them. […]

Full Throttle – Another good short story collection from the Kings

Full Throttle by Joe Hill

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I have enormous respect for authors who step out of their comfort zone to try new things in their writing style. Joe Hill has always done that and this collection is no different. Most of the stories work but unfortunately some fell flat to me. When one takes chances, that is invariably a result, but as a reader I respect the effort and it makes me want to read more of that author going forward. There are two stories Joe wrote with his Dad, Stephen […]

A Beautiful Modern Fairy Tale from Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

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I decided to re-read this short novel when I saw a video of Neil dedicating the actual lane referenced in this story in his hometown in England & I am so glad I did because I loved it much more the second time through. Let me get some minor quibbles out of the way first: are there aspects of this book that are a bit repetitive from Neil’s earlier works? Yes. Fans of Sandman or Anansi Boys can pick out scenes, characters and themes that […]



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