Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Well-Intentioned White Feminist’s Version of Community Is Kinda… [insert eyeroll emoji here]

Community Board by Tara Conklin

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A few years ago I made a deal with myself that I would never apply a star rating to a book that I would have scored < 3 (ETA this note that I mean “less than 3 stars” rather than [heart emoji]). I also went through my entire Goodreads (then pretty prolific) and deleted every single written review, leaving only the star ratings. Short of a book that I found particularly offensive that I thought should require content warnings, I had no written reviews and […]

Chickaloonies Vol. 1

Chickaloonies Vol. 1 by Dimi Macheras and Casey Silver

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I discovered Chickaloonies because it was on the bartop at one of my favorite bars in all the world: Seattle’s Twilight Exit. Run, don’t walk there, and order the fried mozzarella. It turned out the bartender was the author, drawing on his experience as an Alaska native and tribe member. I was immediately drawn to the bright and colorful cover and asked for more details. He described it as “Avatar from the perspective of Native American myth.” Sold. The book is chock full of details […]

Bloody Magic Books and the Future Reread

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs

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You know it’ a good read when you start thinking about re-reading a book as soon as you finish it for the first time. Ink Blood Sister Scribe is the first book like that for me in a pretty long while. In some ways the premise is familiar but it still works: Esther and Joanna are half sisters from a family who guards a collection of magic books, but they’ve been separated for years for reasons neither of them fully understands; they need to reunite […]

Berserk Deluxe edition Vol. 13

Berserk by Kentaro Miura

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The worst part about Berserk is that I can’t recommend it to anyone, and indeed the gorgeous deluxe editions are sort of hidden inside my house. I dread the idea of my mother or mother in law picking one up and leafing through it casually. It’s an unfortunate position to be in because the art is unbelievable. Soaring castles, epic battles, imaginative monsters, and detailed character designs. But, the rub: also graphic rape, violence, casual racism, outdated sexism, demonic engines powered by suffering, and torture […]

Vampires as in Monsters and Vampires as in Monsters-But-Anglos

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas*

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*Note: My alt key and other shortcuts for the “enye” tilde over the “n” of the author’s name is not functioning but her name is Isabel Canas pronounced “Can-yas”. This is the first time I’ve been a person to review a book for the first time on Canonball Read break out the champagne. Vampires of El Norte is an upcoming title from Isabel Canas* and it looks like this is her lane. It’s a great lane. Historical fiction with horror elements – if not fully […]

No Kindness Too Soon

No Kindness Too soon by Sylvain Neuvel

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This is perhaps the weirdest and most shame-faced Cannonball I will ever write (I hope) but I read this back in March after hearing the author speak at ComicCon and mention the work, and I’m writing in June. As such, I can hardly remember anything about it. There’s no mention of this on the author’s Wikipedia, I had to check the Audible listing to make sure I had it right. I vaguely remember something about first contact with aliens, or rather, first sign that aliens […]



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