Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Beneath the modern political rhetoric and academic theories of history, I had an ancient hope that was indistinguishable from Spiritualism. If my edit took, maybe the good I’d done would outweigh the evil.”

The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz

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I started this book first thing on New Year’s Day, made it about thirty pages in, and then didn’t pick it up again until Sunday morning on the 5th. I don’t know if it was feeling too heavy or what, but I needed to be in the right headspace for it. (It was probably the men’s right’s activists that did it, followed closely by a disturbing murder.) Then I basically binge-read the whole book yesterday morning. To sum the book up badly (and I will […]

The New Era of Speculative Fiction

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

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I’ve sworn off reading trilogies/series for the past few years since I tend to either get totally obsessed or very bored. But after reading Jemisin’s short fiction collection last year, I knew I needed to read her novels. The Fifth Season did not disappoint, and I can’t wait to read the rest of The Broken Earth trilogy. The Fifth Season revolves around a world built on active volcanoes, which means there are often ‘seasons’ of cataclysmic disasters. These ‘seasons’ are documented and passed down to the surviving […]

Hey I read two (easy) books….

Moana and Pua by Melissa Lagonegro

Clark the Shark: Tooth Trouble by Bruce Hale

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I have probably mentioned I like what we in the business call “Easy readers.” They are the beginning readers for ages 5 to 8; kindergarten to about second grade. Not only do you have a quick read (and therefore can say I Read A Book!) you can learn what the publishing world thinks kids like. For a while, Moana was big. Really big. The movie was everyplace as were toys, clothing and books. One of those books was Moana and Pua. This is Random House’s […]

The Fifth Season: The Earth Really is Trying to Shake Us Off

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

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Season after season the Earth is hit with cataclysmic events: volcanic eruptions, massive earthquakes, a mining accident. These events cause shifts in the continent(s) and climate events that alter the earth’s ecology again and again. These events and their aftermath are called Seasons. The Fifth Season is a generic term for an extended winter of more than six months caused by a large scale environmental alteration. There are no vehicles, no internet, no fossil fuels. This is the backdrop for the stories of three women: […]

Victor readjusted the shovels on his shoulder and stepped gingerly over an old, half-sunken grave.

Vicious by VE Schwab

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This is the first book of the Villains series by VE Schwab. I haven’t read the second one yet, and I have only read one of the Magic series, but I liked it. This book I also liked, but I am not entirely sold on it in ways that I thought the opening book of the Magic series was incredibly rich and detailed. So the premise here is basically a few medical students figure out that maybe superheroes/supervillains are real or could be real, and […]

A powerful sorceress, a tiny man, and some ponies

Nebula Awards Showcase 2012 by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel (editors)

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I’m lucky to live near so many Little Free Libraries. According to the official website, 10 such diminutive lending centers are located in my zip code, and I’m pretty sure there are a few others that aren’t noted. Whenever I walk my neighborhood, I stop at the libraries located along my route and check out whether anything new and interesting has appeared, and occasionally contribute something to the stash. I recently happened upon a couple of Nebula Awards Showcase collections and decided they’d be great […]



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