Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“… sometimes a woman has to be a bitch to survive, but bein’ a bitch is hard work….”

Dolores Claiborne: A Novel by Stephen King

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This was another holiday book exchange gift from Black Raven — a book I requested thanks to the recommendations of other Cannonballers [EDIT: Narfna!! I think it was you again! It’s like I’m your literary stalker.]. I don’t generally read in the horror category (although I did review King’s Carrie a few years ago and thought it was great). While there are some horror-y elements to Dolores Claiborne, I think “psychological thriller” is a better description and it is indeed a thrilling story. I was […]

The sequel is never as good as the original

The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin

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Back in 2020, I finished out the year by reviewing On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Since then, I’ve been trying to motivate myself to work my way through Darwin’s follow up: The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. Knowing that the ideas in Descent of Man were controversial, Darwin held off publishing until 12 years after Origin of Species. His thoughts on natural selection being well received, however, he felt comfortable proceeding to the next step, namely, “. […]

How were we to know the river ever would bend?

Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

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If you’ve been a Cannonballer or a Pajiban for a while you probably know my wife. Her name was Jennie Baxla, and she reviewed books under the username baxlala. Jennie died of cancer back in July. To say that Jennie was an avid reader would be an understatement. She was always reading. Books were like oxygen to her. I can’t remember a time in all the years that we were together when she wasn’t reading at least two or three books at once. I’ve never […]

The good ass-kicking shepherd

The Wee Free Men: A Tiffany Aching Adventure by Terry Pratchett

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In a discussion somewhere back in CBR14, someone mentioned Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series, which sounded fun, and I wish I could remember who brought it up (Narfna? EDIT: Yes! it was Narfna, just found it!) because I’d like to say thanks. This was a delightful read, as Pratchett stories tend to be. I love this one because the protagonist is a nine-year-old girl, a witch in the making, who is smart, practical and no-nonsense but still a child with much to learn. As usual, […]

The Cannonball Read 15 Passport Book Challenge

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Welcome to the Cannonball Read 15 Passport Challenge! This is a year long, self-directed challenge. You set your own pace reading and reviewing 1-15 books. There are 5 challenges. You can read 3 books from each challenge, read up to 15 books for 1 challenge, or between 1-15 books from any combination of challenges. The challenges: Books recommended by friends Books from different countries (set in, written by authors from, translated from a language of) Different genres (or subgenres, for example space opera, hard sci-fi, […]

“With him, I am forever a night-blooming flower, attracted and repelled by the heat of the sun.”

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

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Wren thought she was a normal human girl until the night when scary monsters out of a nightmare came and claimed she was in fact their daughter and had to come back to Faerie with them. Lord Jarel and Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth rip away her human glamour and make sure that Wren sees her human parents reject her faerie self (bluish skin, blue hair, mouth full of razor-sharp teeth) with horror and disgust. The cruel faeries, accompanied by the fearsome Stormhag […]



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