Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Short story review dump (Part I)

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Barn Burning by Haruki Murakami

Mastiff by Joyce Carol Oates

A Village After Dark by Kazuo Ishiguro

King of the Elves by Philip K Dick

The Second Bakery Attack by Haruki Murakami

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So I was nerding out a couple weeks ago, and started another database. This time, I wanted to compile a list of all the stories written by as many well-regarded authors as I could think of. It started off with just novels, but quickly grew to include short stories. Which means the database got out of control pretty quickly. I knew that many (most?) authors publish a lot of short stories – but when you actually see them all lined up….. It made me realize […]

Have you heard of this author, Margaret Atwood?

Angel Catbird Volume 1 by Margaret Atwood

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What do you do with a book like Angel Catbird Volume 1? You read it. However, the real question is should you have read it? In other words, a book is meant to be read, but did it have to be this book? I had heard of Margaret Atwood (she wrote a little book called The Handmaid’s Tale) but had not realized that she had partaken of the world of illustrations and graphic novels. I admit I only realized she was the author after I […]

Sure you have.

Needful Things by Stephen King

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This is the last of the Stephen King novels that came out when I was a kid. I think the ones that I haven’t read yet past this one, I was at least in college for, and will get to those eventually. But I specifically remember my older brother going out and getting this one, and bringing it home, and the large hardback book, with the dark cover with the shop window lighted on it. It’s also a movie we watched together, but I hadn’t […]

Pass the tacos and hold the screams

Apocalypse Taco by Nathan Hale

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When I first saw the cover of Apocalypse Taco, I was wondered if it was going to be a mystery or a cultural coming of age story. I never expected mutant tacos that replicate cars or a multiple armed and legged person who is besties with a tooth monster. Never having read Nathan Hale, I had no idea what to expect. But then again, I did not expect mutant bee-squid creatures or alien dimensions. But, of course, neither did our main characters, 11-year-old twins Axl […]

Swashbuckling fantasy

Lily the Thief by Janne Kukkonen

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I once was talking to a coworker about a book I read and liked but the way I described it was that I had never loved and hated a book so much in my life. It was amazing, but I was mentally-physically ill while reading as the emotions were so great. It was not an easy read, to say the least. And while I cannot say I loved and hated Lily the Thief that extremely, it did create an experience that I felt strongly. I […]

From two masters of the graphic novel

The Eternal Smile: Three Stories by Gene Luen Yang

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My weekend reading included three graphic novels, and while two were “intense” they were not deeply intense like The Eternal Smile: Three Stories was. This book takes three similar themed, but very different stories and punches you in the face. At first you are seeing the reality of the story. Things seem straight forward at first: A young man battles the “big bads” of the world, wins maiden fair and should live happily ever after. A greedy, cigar chomping frog tries to find that one […]



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