Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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And I thought I needed a raise

Vern, Custodian of the Universe by Tyrell Waiters

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I cannot say I am always confused about things that deal with the multiverse, but it can really mix me up. But Vern, Custodian of the Universe was a bit more straightforward, even with some complex ideas about the multiverse. We only touch on a very small handful of possible outcomes to Earth or Earth-like planets, but they range from reptilian to computer to human beings running things. And in each world things are messed up. Tyrell Waiters created the world of Vern, a terribly […]

A little family road trip from and to Hell

Odessa by Jonathan Hill

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I stole this part of the review from Goodreads/François Vigneault: “Odessa is the first long chapter in a sumptuously-drawn post-apocalyptic tale following the journey of teenager Virginia Crane.” That does not seem “steal worthy” but it starts my feelings of this book. It is a long “chapter to the story of the Crane family. I am not sure I would say “sumptuously-drawn,” but it does have its own unique style.    This is the surface story: three children (ages around 9 to 17) travel through a post-apocalyptic world […]

A story that grabs the characters literally (you figuratively)

Shadow Hills by Sean Ford

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While I don’t not think that Shadow Hills by Sean Ford is “OMG BEST BOOK EVER” there was something about it that “grabbed me.” The surface stories are a plague story and an environmental story. But there is also family dynamics at play for two of the main characters. Brothers Cal and Will’s story might be ending but sisters Annie and Dana are starting new. The town is a mess and the ooze (a tar like goop that devours/covers its victims) makes things worse. What […]

If Disney’s WALL-E met Noah’s Ark and narrated by all the nature hosts you know

The Last Zookeeper by Aaron Becker

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is known for their wordless picture books. And The Last Zookeeper is another gem in that genre.  It is always funny to me to write a review about a book with no words. There is a quote from Jane Goodall at the start, but that is it in this  due mid-March 2024 Disney’s WALL-E meets Noah’s Ark story. The theme is simple, environmentalism. However, it goes deeper. The emotional pull of what happens if we do not pay attention to our world and that environment is […]

Twisted

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

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Oryx and Crake is the first installment in the Maddaddam trilogy, a dystopian future with a liberal dose of gene splicing at its core. The novel is told through the perspective of “Snowman”/Jimmy, a depressed man, clothed in a bedsheet, presiding over a gaggle of ‘Children of Crake’ – innocent genetically engineered people living in a ruined world. Through his reflections, with learn about Jimmy and the world that was. We learn of the red-hot gene splicing industry, creating smart Pigoons, delicious Chickienobs, and adorable […]

Yippe for Ype (oh you know I’m not the first to say that joke!)

The Last Gay Man on Earth by Ype Driessen

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CBR15Passport country The Last Gay Man on Earth is both too short and just the right length for reading. And while I did want more, I figure I can wait for the sequel. Ype Driessen allows us to look into his life of crazy, wonderful people, places and his own imposter syndrome (and by the way, he has imposter syndrome about having imposter syndrome). I fell in love with him a few pages in (the work was not going to get done because he was […]



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