Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Terrible the first time through, amazing on re-read

Blindsight by Peter Watts

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This book was so good, I read it twice. And I don’t mean, I read it years ago and wanted to read it again, like LittlePlat mentioned in their review (which is what got me to pick up this book!). No, I read it (or rather, listened to it) about a week ago, finished it feeling I hadn’t retained much, and then immediately re-read it. On the first go, I was constantly confused about what was going on and who the various characters were. I […]

“Maybe that was their magic. Having fun and enjoying one another’s company. Being lifted up even when you were being beaten down.”

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

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This book was a complete joy to read. I must say that first, because it’s probably the most important part of this review – the book is great, please get a copy and read it, especially if you have or are or were or love a young woman. It’s a five star read for me. It’s 1989, and the Danvers Falcons are tired of being one of the worst field hockey teams in their league. Several of the seniors on this team want this year […]

“… I just want to describe it.”

Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux

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This book is a match, a brief flame, over before you are fully aware of the heat of the fire. A lingering scent in the air. This slim novel is only 61 pages – a thorough review threatens to be longer than the book itself. An older woman, likely divorced, invests fully in an affair with a married man. His entire self is foreign to her – literally, as in he comes from another country, but also in the sense that he consists of another […]

Getting Bougie With It

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

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In a nameless Hanseatic city in northern Germany in 1835, the Buddenbrook family has gathered in the salon of their brand new and fairly ostentatious home. There are the grandparents, parents Johann and Elizabeth, sons Thomas and Christian and daughter Antonie (Tony). They are proud, up and coming members of the local upper middle class. They aspire to greatness. And by the end of the novel, it is 1877 and the family has fallen to ruin. In short: Buddenbrooks is about as sunny as you’d […]

What if Lara Croft and Indiana Jones worked together on a dig?

Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura

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3.5 stars Official book description: When archaeologist Dr. Socorro ‘Corrie’ Mejía is invited to join an all-expenses-paid dig in the Mexican jungle, she thinks her wildest dreams have come true. It’s her life goal to lead an expedition in search of the long-lost remains of her ancestor, Chimalli, an ancient warrior of the Aztec empire. But as the world-renowned expert on the topic, Corrie should be leading the expedition, not sharing the glory with her disgustingly handsome nemesis. Dr. Ford Matthews has been finding new […]

Exit Strategy

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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Exit Strategy is the second of my two least favorite Murderbot stories, but I really need to put an asterisk on that because they’re still outstanding. Overall, I would say this one is the worst because it meanders the most. There’s a lot of Murderbot sitting around thinking about security protocols, and honestly that works, but it’s my “least” favorite because it has to stand in comparison to so much other incredibly good stuff. Murderbot returns to HaveRatton station just in time to be almost […]



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