Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Oh Oh No, It’s Magic

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

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To quote perhaps the best book review ever written, and certainly the pithiest: “the covers of this book are too far apart.” I’m not sure what the rules here are on reviewing DNFs, because I make it a point of (foolish, stubborn) pride to finish everything I start. But this book just wore me down with it’s discursive nature, the episodic structure of the plot, and the tedious footnotes which ceased being funny long before the author realized it. I suppose, given the sales, that […]

Three audiobooks narrated excellently by Kate Reading

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas

A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas

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The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter – Theodora Goss Rating: 3 stars Mary Jekyll finds herself orphaned and nearly destitute. Most of the servants have to be let go, and she’s sold off most of what’s valuable around the house. She hopes she can get some money by tracking down Edward Hyde, her father’s infamous friend, but instead finds a young woman, Diana, who is apparently Hyde’s daughter. The girl was raised by nuns, with monthly financial support from Mary’s mother. Diana refuses to […]

“There, it had happened, I had done it: spoken out loud, for the first time in my life, the words of William Shakespeare. In the moment, it was no big deal. Shakespeare, up to that point, had held no meaning to me. But writing these words now, I feel a thrill.”

Making It So by Patrick Stewart

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I am a big Star Trek Next Generation fan and a medium X-Men fan, so part of my science-fiction-loving nerd heart beats for the one and only Sir Patrick Stewart. It still wasn’t a done deal that I was going to read his book because I seldom pick up memoirs but when I found his book (and his face) staring me down at my local library, I submitted to my literary destiny. It was in many ways, an eye-opening experience for me to read, but […]

Another Airport Transit Read

Sleep Donation: A Novella by Karen Russell

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This is another book gifted to me by andtheIToldYouSos last year. And this also turned out to be a great little novella to slip into my handbag for those times I was transiting through airports—this time to Indianapolis. Sleep deprivation is a brutal thing; unfortunately in the last few months, I’ve experienced a good deal of that. However, in Sleep Donation,  loss of sleep has become the new pandemic. In its most extreme form, it kills. However, there is a therapy that has been developed […]

More books I read this summer and am only reviewing now to make it to 104

Cassiel's Servant by Jacqueline Carey

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire

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Cassiel’s Servant – Jacqueline Carey Rating: 3.5 stars Kushiel’s Dart is one of my favourite fantasy books, and books in general, of all time. It stands up, I re-read it this summer in preparation for the release of this. Has Jacqueline Carey done exactly the same thing as Stephenie Meyer and E.L James did, and retold her already existing novel from the POV of another central character? Yes, she has. Was I pretty sure that this was going to be a lot more worthwhile and […]

Wait! Is that Heather on the Hills?

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

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The plotline was a little convoluted at times, but I will forgive a lot for a brilliant premise, and boy, did this book have one. So there was a mapmaker, General Drafting Corporation, which started some of the first road maps of New York State back at the beginning of travel by auto (i.e., prior to Triple A).  They were generally cheap, purchased at the gas stations that were just coming into being, and were very carefully and meticulously researched.  Before long, other larger firms […]



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