Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Go talk your weird love to the wind

Thirty Talks Weird Love by Alessandra Narvaez Varela

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When I first started to read Thirty Talks Weird Love my first thought was, “Well this is crap.” But I realized I was tired and told myself to go to bed. That is the main thing you need to know about Alessandra Narvaez Varela’s book: be rested. This book is an emotional rollercoaster and if you are the tiniest bit uncomfortable or not in a good headspace, do not try this book. The journey of finding and being perfection, and how we see ourselves are […]

Rachel Grace Sanchez; A Completely Original Life Well Lived

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I am sad to report that our fellow Cannonball Reader, RachelGraceSanchez, died on December 1st, 2021 after a valiant fight against metastatic breast cancer. I wanted to share a little bit about who she was to me as a friend so that you can join me in remembering one of the greats. Rachel was a great writer and LOVED getting lost in the world of a book. Rachel loved to write reviews and book reccommendations which made the Cannonball such a great outlet for her. […]

Like Everyone Else, I Read Dune

Dune by Frank Herbert

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Dune is the type of book that I appreciate more than I enjoy. I am glad I read it, certainly, and in many ways it exceeded my expectations. It is wildly inventive, and I was immersed in the interplanetary worlds Herbert creates. For a reader in 2021, Dune covers somewhat familiar ground with its narrative of a “chosen one” who undergoes training in order to take up leadership in a fight larger than he (or she) imagined. With a book this influential, it was difficult for […]

“Don’t look at me like that’s my fault. I’m just telling you shit I know.”

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

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We have a Murderbot murder mystery novella. It is almost as if this book was written specifically for me. Although published after Network Effect, Fugitive Telemetry takes place before it, after Mensah brings Murderbot to Preservation Station. We join action in progress as a body has been discovered on the Station and Murderbot accompanies Dr. Mensah and Senior Officer Indah as an investigation is undertaken. Dr. Mensah does her Dr. Mensah thing and Murderbot is contracted to aid in the investigation (neither Murderbot not Senior […]

Books for Spooky Season

The Last Book on the Left by Marcus Parks, et al

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

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As a fan of Last Podcast on the Left, I both looked forward to reading the book by “The Boys” (Marcus Parks, Ben Kissel, and Henry Zebrowski) and also wondered how they would pull it off. The podcast is irreverent and explicit, with Parks (usually) providing the research and central narrative of a particular topic, while Ben and Henry offer asides and impressions. The good (?) news is that The Last Book on the Left essentially replicates that structure. Each chapter provides information on a serial killer (ten […]

Two Hits and a Miss

Designs on a Duke by Ellie St. Clair

A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean

Fatal Affair by Marie Force

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You have to hand it to Sarah MacLean. While she takes romance seriously, her books are fun. The banter is good, the scenarios are imaginative, and the characters are self-aware. I had this realization early in A Rogue By Any Other Name, when, as part of his attempt to kidnap and marry our heroine, the titular rogue spanks her, a move that is equal parts sexy and comical. MacLean is especially good at writing conventional aristocratic women who find themselves plunged into a London underworld, which is the case […]



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