Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Amal El-Mohtar Excels at Writing Fairy Tales

Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar

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I really enjoyed this collection of short stories and poems, most of which are based in science fiction and fantasy and heavily influenced by themes of oppression and freedom. Some of them hit more than others, as was expected, with my clear favorites being the ones that had the most fairy tale-like feel. I loved that sort of “tip of my tongue” feeling for one of them because El-Mohtar was drawing from existing tales, and I appreciated the way she could make them feel like […]

Very Strong Comics Anthology About Space Exploration

Ex.Mag: 100 Billion Stars (Volume 6) by Assorted

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Ex.Mag is a comics anthology series from Peow2, a great indie comics publisher operating out of Sweden but with a strong US presence at the small cons I go to. They put a lot of effort into their books, making them look really nice, and it shows here. Each volume of Ex.Mag has a different theme, and the theme for Volume 6 is “Space Exploration,” which if you have cast an eye over my reviews, is something that is right up my alley given my […]

A Romance Anthology Benefiting Reproductive Rights

The Packing List by Mia Hopkins, Angelina M. Lopez, Sarah T. Dubbs

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There are twelve short stories in The Packing List and most of them range from ok to fantastic. The anthology is filled with romances between people over 40 and the proceeds go to reproductive health groups. Access to good reproductive healthcare is a sign of a healthy society and we are losing it. I’m so happy to see some of my favorite authors involved with this. I was impressed with the variety of romances – historical, queer, second chance, sci fi, and contemporary. Rather than […]

Things That Go Bump at the Dinner Table

Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror by Ellen Datlow (editor)

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In this anthology of psychological horror, we encounter killers, madmen, and twisted families in this presentation of the many shades of human depravity. My preferred subgenre of horror is psychological horror. Here there’s no ghosts or curses or demons – just the strange and terrifying excesses of human nature. The horror is enhanced by the fact that, bar the occasional tinge of the supernatural, everything that happened in this book could happen in real life. All of the stories included in this book were originally […]

Jazz Baby

Where All Good Flappers Go: Essential Stories of the Jazz Age by David M. Earle (Editor)

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The flapper girl is an icon of the Roaring Twenties, appearing in plenty of novels and films of the era. In this anthology, Pushkin Press brings together some contemporary short stories about the flapper which were published in magazines and papers of the time that celebrated these young women as a mirror of the times. I haven’t read much literature from the 1920s beyond the obligatory The Great Gatsby, but I’ve always found it intriguing how quickly social mores seemed to swing round during this […]

Metamorphoses for a New Millennium

Fit For the Gods by Jenn Northington (Editor), S. Zainab Williams (Editor)

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Though Greek mythology originates from several millennia ago, their stories have been renewed again and again over the centuries through art and literature. In this anthology, more than a dozen authors tackle this too – but their tellings are with a twist, bringing racially, sexually, and culturally diverse takes to the classic stories. I’ve always loved Greek mythology and have engaged with in a plethora of ways, from reading classic translations to the Percy Jackson books to the recent trend in novel-length unpackings like Madeline […]



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