Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“I wanted to go home, where I felt safe. It occurred to me, as we continued our journey in silence, that when the first refugees from Earth had arrived on Giant—and, for that matter, on Io—they must have felt much the same.”

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older

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When I finished The Mimicking of Known Successes a couple weeks ago I knew I wasn’t in love with that book, but that I wanted to continue reading the series to see how Malka Older built out her world and dug into her sapphic Watson & Holmes stand-ins because I had become quite attached to Mossa and Pleiti. The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles begins the same way as its predecessor in that we get a prologue from Mossa’s point of view and then the rest […]

There was joy for having arrived, and sorrow for having left, and no way to even pretend this was home.

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

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It’s called the illusory truth effect. If you hear something often enough, for long enough, you’ll believe it. Even if you originally knew that the information was false. ― Natasha Pulley, The Mars House It made January angry too, when people declared that giving someone poor some basic human consideration was the same as being Stalin. It was the kind of argument deployed by people who were saving up for their own private golf course. ― Natasha Pulley, The Mars House CBR17 Bingo: Migrant We […]

“I am proud to be part machine.”

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

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Cannonball Read Bingo: I am counting this book for the “N” square. Anwuli Okwudili is a young Nigerian woman who goes by AO, or “Autobionic Organism.” Due to an array of birth defects, followed by a freak car accident when she was a teenager, AO relies on cybernetic arms, legs, and organs to survive and function. But though she lives in a society where body augmentations are seen as unnatural, inhuman, and even sinful, AO is proud of who she is, both human and machine. […]

Murderbot takes on a murder mystery

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

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CBR 17 BINGO: Black (see cover) I’d taken a short hiatus from reading Murderbot, but watching the Apple series put me in the mood again. Apparently it did the same for many fans, and probably generated a bunch of new ones, because when I went to my local library almost every Martha Wells novel had been checked out. Fortunately, I had plenty of other BINGO books to read while I waited for my turn to borrow Fugitive Telemetry. This time around, SecUnit is brought in […]

Did a chick? Dud a chum?

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

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There isn’t a Constant Reader alive who wouldn’t recognize the title of this post. The lobstrosities that plague Roland the Gunslinger in the second Dark Tower book are one of the only constants in a novel that hurls the reader through different points in both time and space (though always returning to New York City). The Drawing of the Three brings Roland closer to his elusive Dark Tower, but at great cost. Early on, he’s besieged by the horrid, ocean-dwelling lobstrosities, who rob him of […]

1 review plus 3 books equals one awesome series

Gina and the Last City on Earth (Hilo #9) by Judd Winick

Rise of the Cat (Hilo #10) by Judd Winick

The Great Space Iguana (Hilo #11) by Judd Winick

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When I picked up my first Hilo graphic novel by Judd Winick I was unaware of his reality show past. He was one of the first people in The Real World. He started the insanity, so to speak. However, I’ve never seen that show nor hold his past against him, as the future is bright with this series. Books one to eight have been a treat. Some were great, some so-so and maybe one or two were “Well, get on with it! How do they […]



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