Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Jewish, Immigrant(s, they get the job done) (Bingo: Own Voices)

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

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The US has been ravaged by war and disease (and war over disease) and Noam Álvaro is sixteen and the child of Atlantean (Georgia, that is, not Atlantis) illegal immigrants to Carolina who is involved in the Atlantean Rights movement — until he, too, falls sick with the Fever. Unlike most of the population, however, Noam survives — and wakes up a technomancer, with the ability to talk to computer systems and all manner of technology. And then things get worse.

I came into the Grishaverse backwards

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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I came across the Grishaverse backwards.  Last year I read a write up for Leigh Bardugo’s The Language of Thorns and was intrigued by the concept of a book of fairytales that characters in her Grishaverse would have read or been told, when they were children.  The piece said knowledge of the other books was not necessary to enjoy Language of Thorns and I put it on my Cannonball gift exchange wish list.  I was delighted to discover it in my gift box (Thank you, […]

Not Quite “Wonder”ful

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

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Bingo Update: This is for Not My Wheelhouse. I love fantasy, but I tend to skip Urban Fantasy. I read this specifically to challenge that about myself. Bonus Note: I won a free copy of this from a contest on GoodReads, courtesy of Fierce Reads. A quick summary with no spoilers. A Blade So Black is a contemporary reimagining of the Alice in Wonderland story. Sort of. Set in present day Atlanta, our heroine is Alice, this time portrayed by a badass black teen with […]

DNF at 10 Percent

They Thirst by Robert McCammon

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I did not finish this at 10 percent. I got nothing to say besides the writing hurt my head. I either love Robert R. McCammon or I don’t. This is definitely one of the ones I don’t love. There is too much thrown out and none of it makes much sense. This is a shame though because the prologue was so freaking good. And then when it moves to LA I just started to feel overwhelmed. Since I only got up to 10 percent I […]

I Feel Guilt Over the Two Stars Rating

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

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I loved this book when it first came out and I have to say that my re-read of this was painful. Why did I like this so much? Did I not see that Matthew was uber possessive which is my least favorite hero trait? The constant endearments in French may me roll my eyes. Also the Mary Sueness of Diana was beyond ridiculous. She gets powers on top of powers and also decides that the only thing that matters is her love for Matthew. She […]

What exactly are you planning to do with that knife, young man?

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

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This is the second and a half time I’ve read this one. I tried to read it once as a kid, and it’s a little too much for me to work out what’s going on here, because you have to allow yourself to fall into mystery and the some of the basic quest tropes early on. The first time I read it in full was about 10 years ago, when I was more equipped. This relisten brings to mind a handful of new observations. This […]



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