Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“You’ll find that what you can bear increases a great deal when you are not offered any other choice.”

The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller

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Mistress Charm is a witch, maybe, and a madam certainly. She presides over Orchard House, a brothel/social club catering to Borengard’s most wealthy and powerful. The eponymous orchard is filled with bone trees, which fruit can be animated into living creatures. Mistress Charm is also mistress to the Emperor, who visits every Tuesday. When the Emperor is poisoned, he charges Charm with finding (and killing) those responsible for his death. This book is so densely plotted and detailed that it took me quite a while […]

MASTERPIECE.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

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I was originally tempted to just post this whole novel as one giant (and perfect) quotation. We knew it was coming but we behaved inconsistently. We stocked up on supplies-just in case-but sent our children to school, because how do you get any work done with the kids at home? (We were still thinking in terms of getting work done. The most shocking thing in retrospect was the degree to which all of us completely missed the point.) One day, when we look back at […]

Stepping out of my comfort zone

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

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My review for the Afrofuturism novel, Noor by Nnedi Okorafor AO is part human, part cybernetics. She is an example of how far we’ve allowed technology to become us and we it. We have allowed technology by this futuristic date, to control everything in our lives. Sure, we’ve harnessed clean wind and solar energy but at what price? “Big Corporation” owns everything. The media is controlled and with enough money, lies can be bought as truth. Therefore, in many ways, it is Now (with more […]

When defeating monsters and saving princesses is not enough

The Flower of the Witch by Enrico Orlandi

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Do you want a good story about “becoming a man” but one that might be bit more modern than you are used to? In which “becoming a man” might not mean what we think at first? Then you should try The Flower of the Witch by Enrico Orlandi (and translated by Jamie Richards). And while I try not to start on a less-than-positive note, I will say the language was a little stiff at first. But soon your reading ear should fall into the pattern […]

When book two makes you get the other series and book one….

The Only Living Girl V02: Beneath the Unseen City by David Gallaher

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I missed that the book I had in my hand was a book two when I picked up The Only Living Girl V02: Beneath the Unseen City by David Gallaher. However, it was not as difficult to follow as you might think. Of course, the “previously on “The Only Living Girl” recap did assist me in knowing where I was, but it would have been much better to have read first the “The Only Living Boy” series (which seems to introduce not only a few […]

I think we all could use some Making Happy in our lives

Making Happy by Sheetal Sheth

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Making Happy has been on the radar for a while now. After having seen it announced in newsletters and such, an email came to me from the publisher. The attachment was Making Happy by Sheetal Sheth. Books are my favorite kind of attachments and because of this one, I am excited to find a new book to recommend. With a modern tone, modern feelings, and modern coping mechanisms, this book about a mother who is ill. It is strong and thoughtful. The young girl of […]



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