Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Dean hurries past the Phoenix Theatre, dodges a blind man in dark glass, steps onto Charing Cross Road to overtake a slow-moving woman and pram, leaps a grimy puddle, and swerves onto Denmark Street where he skids on a sheet of black ice.

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

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The new David Mitchell novel (Cloud Atlas, The Bone Clocks, Black Swan Green) that came out this summer. The novels begins in the mid 1960s in London as Dean Moss, a talented by hapless bass guitarist, has been kicked out of his apartment and out of his band. As he looks for a place to live, some money, and a gig, he meets Levon, a Canadian music manager, who convinces him to come to a show to see a guitarist. As the evening unfolds it […]

It’s kind of a lot (but that’s ok)

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

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I liked this, but at the same time, I’m experiencing a potentially problematic personal issue where I’m getting pretty fatigued by multi-POV “but like, how are they all connected, man?” stories. Which is (reductively) David Mitchell’s main wheelhouse. Sorry Dave! The problem is that, inevitably, there are some stories/sections I care about a lot, and others where I don’t quite connect to the character and with their relation to the greater plot. This was definitely the case with Cloud Atlas, the only other Mitchell book […]

A Cyclical Story that Works for the Most Part

Slade House by David Mitchell

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Why not read a book about an eerie house during this spooky month of October? Turns out, I didn’t realize that this short novel was an offshoot story from David Mitchell’s larger universe of The Bone Clocks. I can’t help but feel like maybe had I already read The Bone Clocks I would have enjoyed Slade House more, but as a story itself it isn’t bad, and definitely made me interested to pick up the original book that this is a companion to because of […]

David Mitchell is slightly grumpy about things

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Thinking about it only makes it worse is a collection of posts that Mitchell has written for the guardian over the years. Dealing with everything from contemporary politics to weird hangups on grammar David Mitchell does what David Mitchell does best: is slightly grumpy about things. “Brainchild” is an odd word. You hear it a lot in explanatory voiceovers and I suppose I was trying to join in, but I don’t really like it. I’m not keen on the idea that my brain could have […]

This book is a lot. #CBRBingo

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I was skeptical going in to this. If you’re following my reviews, you probably know that lit fic and I don’t always get along. And it was a bit dense, especially at first. I knew going in this was made up of a series of interlocking stories, which was probably another  reason I was wary. It’s actually cooler than that, though. The book is structured in a sort of mirror. The first story is set in the 18th century and is told as a diary, […]

Episode 1-03: Strutting and Fretting His Hour Upon the Stage

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http://neozaz.com/strutting-and-fretting-his-hour-upon-the-stage/ Wherein I review: 6. Odd Interlude #1 (Odd Thomas series) by Dean Koontz 7. Odd Interlude #2 (Odd Thomas series) by Dean Koontz 8. Odd Interlude #3 (Odd Thomas series) by Dean Koontz 9. Back Story by David Mitchell 10. City of Endless Night (Agent Pendergast #17) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Releases I’m Stoked About This Week: Ms. Ice Sandwich by Meiko Kawakami The Sky is Yours by Chandler Klang Smith The Raptor & The Wren by Chuck Wendig



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