Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

The cat distribution system is in place because it works

Dead Weight by Hildur Knútsdóttir

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CBR18 Bingo – Refuge: a pregnant cat and her owner take refuge with someone who didn’t ask for this. A few months ago I got a black cat, which many took as an invitation to talk about how black cats have it worse than others. Look at my cat. He likes the window that makes him hard to photograph. After Night Guest, I wouldn’t have read another book by Hildur Knútsdóttir, but Narfna’s review of Dead Weight reassured me that the black cat would be […]

All this gore and good for her friendship just warmed my lil heart. (The cats helped.)

Dead Weight by Hildur Knútsdóttir, translated by Mary Robinette Kowal

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Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. I was sitting here thinking about how I should rate this, and I just really, really enjoyed myself, so I’m rounding this 4.5 star book up to five. Perhaps it is because there are two cats in here and one of them is a black one, and perhaps it is because of the ending, but regardless, I’m doing it, and I have no regrets. I liked the first […]

100+ chapters never went by quicker

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

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After finishing this one, I thought, “well that was a sweet little horror novel.” I’m not sure I can verbalize why sweet is the best word, but it really is. Maybe it’s Mary Robinette Kowal’s subtle hints of humor alongside the terror in her voice as she narrates Iðunn (pronounced Ethun) in Knútsdóttir’s novella. I rooted for Iðunn and was horrified alongside her as events unfolded. I wanted Iðunn to wake up feeling refreshed, not like she just walked 5 miles or wrestled a bear. […]

Creepy

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

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Best for: Those who like a pretty horrific psychological tale. CONTENT NOTE: There are cats that start out alive but are not alive at the end of the book. In a nutshell: Iðunn is exhausted but doesn’t know why, and doctors aren’t helping. But we eventually know what is going on … sort of. Worth quoting: N/A Why I chose it: I somehow ended up following author Knútsdóttir on BlueSky. No idea when that came about. But I’d been wanting to read this since she […]

If you are needing some unsettling horror-type reading, here you go

The Night Guest: A Novel by Hildur Knutsdottir

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If you’re looking for a book to set you on edge for spooky season, this is it. This short novel from Icelandic author Hildur Knutsdottir is a very quick read full of foreboding and tension. It’s also a commentary on women’s health and mental health and the stigma/lack of attention attached to both.  The novel is narrated by the main character, a woman who I imagine to be in her 30s or so. Odunn (not sure if this is a correct spelling, since it seems […]



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