Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I was worried about this “most ambitious novel yet”

The Tilt by Chris Hammer

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I really enjoy Chris Hammer novels, which surprised me.  I have that pesky Cultural Cringe factor around Aussie books in general, and I feel like Hammer specifically just throws every single thing he thinks of into each book.  At a certain point, all 273.802 plot threads being miraculously interconnected starts to beggar belief, you know? So this new one, being described as his “most ambitious yet” was a bit concerning – what was he going to do, have Scarsden find evidence that put Trump away […]

Penny Reid’s Three Kings Series – Books One & Two

Homecoming King by Penny Reid

Drama King by Penny Reid

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I’m just going to admit up front that I find Penny Reid’s books totally delightful.  I started out in the Knitting in the City series, and have read everything I could get my hands on since.  So perhaps I’m not entirely objective when reviewing this latest series, but again, they’ve really worked for me. There’s a big focus on Found Family (as opposed to blood family) in her novels, and the Three Kings series (book three still pending) focuses on three friends from a small […]

Not a wasted panel, and every bit as good as I’d hoped it would be

Saga (Vol. 1) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

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As someone on the outside of the comic book world looking in, Saga has always been one of those comics (like Watchmen or Akira) that seems universally loved by fans and respected by critics. So it seems like something I should probably at least give a shot to. And, if this one book is anything to go by, it’s absolutely deserving of that framing. Alana and Marko are from two different, warring, extraterrestrial species. Marko was a prisoner, and Alana was a guard tasked with keeping him […]

Review Dump 2: My Favorites of the Year. CBR14 Reviews 5-8.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

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In case I don’t get around to finishing all the reviews I was hoping to before the deadline…I wanted to make sure to share my thoughts on my four favorite books of the year: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow; This Time Tomorrow; The Candy House; and Sea of Tranquility. 2022 was an amazing year for books. I preordered Sea of Tranquility and received in on release day. I finished it on release day too. I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t love it quite […]

Stephen King’s Latest is Quite Enchanting, Actually

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

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I actually haven’t read any other reviews of this, so I don’t know if I am in a minority if I say I found this quite charming.  It meandered quite a bit, and was perhaps a little slow in places, but overall nailed the old-school fairy tale vibe it was going for, IMO.  Maybe I just loved it because of the dog? Charlie, son of an insurance salesman and a mother gone too soon, is a pretty good kid (this seems like damning with faint […]

Jane Harper Remains a Must-Buy

The Exiles by Jane Harper

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It’s been a while since I read The Dry, Jane Harper’s first Aaron Falk novel.  I feel like he is a kinder, gentler Falk in this novel – although my memory could be faulty, and his circumstances are certainly a lot less.. button-pushy this time round.   In the past, I have struggled with cultural cringe when reading Australian fiction.  Turns out, I just wasn’t reading GOOD Australian fiction – Jane Harper, Chris Hammer and a few others are certainly overcoming The Cringe with really compelling […]



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