Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Reclaiming a city from past memories

The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn

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Bingo Square: Repair (the best man tasks Layla with fixing things when the bride gets cold feet) Quote: Being an even moderately aware adult in the twenty-first century had taught Layla that pretty much every billionaire belonged in prison, or at the very least kept in some kind of island confinement with other billionaires, where they could circle-jerk each other all day with their evil, society-destroying ideas. This romance novel was such a joy. I mean, I shouldn’t have been surprised – Kate Clayborn consistently […]

“There’s no point in denying it. Anger is my faithful companion.”

After We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

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CBR18 Bingo: Justice – Beatriz spends the whole novel searching for justice for the death of her brother and her family’s exile from Cuba after the rise of Fidel Castro. Though Beatriz and her family have found safety in Palm Beach after fleeing from Cuba, she has not found peace, and rages about the death of her twin brother and the policies of Castro. Working with the CIA gives her a chance to get revenge, but it may also complicate her relationship with politician Nick. […]

Killing time between planes

Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin

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Bingo Square: Or (this collection explores alternate planes of existence and inter-dimensional travel) Quotes: “Although his campaign had become increasingly outspoken against “godless” and “foreign” elements of Obtrian society, many Astasa voted for him. They wanted a strong leader, they said. They wanted a man who would stand up against the Vens and restore law and order to the cities, which were suffering from overpopulation and uncontrolled mercantilism.” – from “Woeful Tales from Mahigul” “the Islai had been strong on practical physics, agriculture, architecture, urban […]

A favorite that just gets better

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

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Bingo Square: One (first book of the Daevabad trilogy) This was my third time reading this novel (book club picked it), and I swear I enjoy this series more every time I read it (I haven’t actually reread the other two yet). This was one of those series I kept seeing and then hesitating to start because I think we have all been burned by fantasy trilogies not maintaining their quality but then decided to read once the whole trilogy was available and burned through […]

more zeitgeist-y summer reading

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

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CBR Bingo: Refuge, because of what the ‘strange horrible version of reality’ represents for Natalie. And also, yes, because this gives me a second bingo I feel like having just read and reviewed Fruit Fly, in which I reference my feelings on this book, I should also, you know, review this one. So here we go. Luckily, it’s come up in conversation multiple times since I read it, so my thoughts aren’t as scattered as you’d/I’d expect. SO, as the blurb and all the media makes […]

lucked into the zeitgeist without realizing it, does that make me extra cool?

Fruit Fly by Josh Silver

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CBR Bingo: Or, for a series of unreliable narrators CW: a LOT of trauma, as you’d expect, including emotional abuse and sexual assault Also my recommendation for the September meeting of IRL Book Group, and quite a vociferous one at that–our Benevolent Dictator (TM) had just suggested Plant Lady when I jumped in with “WHAT ABOUT FRUIT FLY” so I was a bit invested in/worried about it not being good (esp after the Prophet Song) (we don’t talk about Prophet Song) (except to remind ourselves that it could always […]



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