Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Fish out of water in deep political intrigue

The Goblin Emporer by Katherine Addison

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I honestly don’t remember how The Goblin Emperor got on my radar (Cannonball Read is a high possibility!) but it intrigued me enough to write it down on my list of books I’m interested in.  To make sure there were plenty of options for my family to get me books for our family Winter Solstice book exchange, I put it on the list, and my daughter picked it for me.  It’s the type of fantasy that is mostly fantasy through mentioned details: no dragons, no epic battles, […]

Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing is going to be alright

The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization by Daniel Pinkwater

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I picked up The Neddiad from the used book shelf at the local bookstore just because I loved the cover. It’s a charming, humorous story, full of fascinating facts and eccentric characters. Written for 10-12 year olds, The Neddiad is the story of a kid named Neddie Wentworthstein in post-WWII America as he journeys across the country and acquires a small object of great value. The significance of the object is revealed to Neddie and his friends as they are pursued by some bad guys. […]

I think I’m done with dystopian fiction for a while

Julia by Sandra Newman

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Dystopian fiction feels very much of the zeitgeist. It’s certainly understandable as some corners of the world get darker and even the brighter ones seem dimmer. Dominant systems are pushing back on the shrinking of their legitimacy, attempting to put the top back on the Pandora’s box of equality and fairer economic systems. This retelling of Orwell’s 1984 from Julia’s perspective is very much in that vein, a misogytopia. Like a lot of men, I like Orwell. Well, more correct to say liked than like. In […]

Keep the change

Fool’s Fate: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 3 by Robin Hobb

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I am completely satisfied with the end of this trilogy but sad nonetheless that it is over. In Fool’s Fate, we pick up with Prince Dutiful and his coteries of Skill users and of “Old Blood” witted folk as they set sail on the Prince’s quest. In order to win the hand of the Narcheska of the Narwhal clan, Elliania, Dutiful has made an oath before his nobles and the representatives of the Outislander clans that he will deliver to the Narwhal clan the head […]

“To call them the weaker sex is to utter a hideous mockery. They are the stronger sex, the nosier, the more persevering, the most self-assertive sex.”

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

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The lovely second Lady Audley is most fortunate, having been elevated in the world from governess to peeress by her marriage to the rich and doting Sir Audley. But, as Sir Audley’s nephew Robert will soon learn, she has a dangerous secret which she will go to any lengths to conceal. Lady Audley’s Secret belongs to the genre of  Victorian ‘sensation novels’ be, which ar a precursor to the more openly violent pulp novels which were popular in the 20th century. Previously I’ve read a […]

Fathers, sons and found families

Golden Fool: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 2 by Robin Hobb

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This second book in The Tawny Man Trilogy was every bit as excellent as the first. Most of the action takes place at Buckkeep castle, where Fitz and the Fool grew up and first got drawn into court intrigue. Given the years that have passed and the changes in their appearances, the two men are not recognized by any who would have known them before, and the fact that Fitz is masquerading as Tom, the servant to the Fool’s Lord Golden, gives him further anonymity. […]



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