Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Anything but plain

Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol

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cbr16bingo Liberate: (Jane tries to liberate herself from the bonds of being a woman; the mermaids try to liberate themselves from ageing) Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol was on my radar for some time, but I never found a copy and reading time at the same time. I’m not sure what I expected, or honestly to like it as much as I did. I thought it would be cute, funny, not WOW but also not mediocre. And while there are no real surprises […]

“Miss, you have a jellyfish in your eye”

The Jellyfish by Boum

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cbr16bingo Dun-Dun (dread of the medical condition our main character has) What I expected from the cover of The Jellyfish by Boum (translated by Robin Lang and Helge Dascher) was not what I got.  I got my physical copy of the book soon after it came out, but it took months to get to it. Then a weekend came, I tripped over the box that I had put it in (moving things around) and decided it was time to clean up things. And when I […]

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s SUPERBUNS!

Superbuns!: Kindness Is Her Superpower by Diane Kredensor

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cbr16bingo  Golden (for the “golden rules”)  Superbuns!: Kindness Is Her Superpower by Diane Kredensor is a cute story about real superheroes. Or more accurately, what makes you, an everyday person, a “superhero” to other people. There are cute illustrations that are fairly simple, but still support the story. This allows you to focus on the text, but are still able to enjoy the art as it is not lacking in fun or details Buns is a bunny who likes helping people in her community. The […]

Same beginning, different stories

Clariel by Garth Nix

Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey

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This is a pairing of two stories that may not seem to have too much in common, but they do. At some point last year we acquired most of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series through a humble bundle deal. I had read a few of her books over the years, but none of Valdemar. I chose at random Burning Brightly, which turns out to be a rare stand alone in the series. What struck me was the similarities in the initial set up with another stand […]

Tense and Sadly Relevant Story

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

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This is Where it Ends is a young adult novel that describes, moment by moment, a mass shooting at a high school. It covers only that day, and it’s told from various perspectives. The short chapters are organized by student accounts. Characters include the shooter’s sister, an ex-girlfriend, the sister’s girlfriend and her twin, and a few others. The book is riveting and moves at a fast pace. While there are some attempts to humanize the shooter through his sister’s narrative, there are no punches […]

“Is everyone really crazy but me?”

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

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30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4 Book 25/30 This is one of the best short story collections I’ve ever read. 3.7 stars is the actual number averaging all the stories out, but that’s really high for me and short stories, especially literary ones. And also, I’m rounding up. Specific thoughts on all the stories in my updates, but overall this is a great collection of stories about the ways that arbitrary social rules degrade our humanity. Brief thoughts on each story below. [3.70, rounded […]



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