Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Instagram
  3. Follow us on Bluesky
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • Getting Started in CBR18
    • Rules of Respect
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
    • About Cannonball Read
  • Our Team
    • The CBR Team
    • Leaderboard
    • Recent Comments
    • Participant Interviews
    • Cannonballer Location Maps
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
    • Star Ratings
    • Featured Review Archive
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • Donate
    • CBR Merchandise
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • 2026 Registration
    • Suggest a Review
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Social Media

Underwhelming and Emotionally Manipulative

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

April 14, 2026 by Tracy Leave a Comment

I had high expectations for this book and was significantly underwhelmed by the execution. The main character is Zelu, a paraplegic Nigerian-American writer. Not long after the book starts, she loses her job, and her literary fiction novel is rejected yet again. She decides to write a new book, a science fiction novel that becomes a runaway success. Chapters of that book, entitled Rusted Robots, are interspersed with chapters of the main novel. Where do I start? The overall description of the novel appealed to me, […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: book within a book, literary sci-fi, Nnedi Okorafor

Tracy's CBR18 Review No:25 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: book within a book, literary sci-fi, Nnedi Okorafor ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Please inhale, Ted Chiang

Exhalation by Ted Chiang

January 19, 2026 by fiordeligi Leave a Comment

In both Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life” and its cinematic adaptation, the 2016 film Arrival, the protagonist’s story appears out of order. You read (or watch) the narrative as though you are seeing someone put together an intricate puzzle, and it’s not until one critical piece of knowledge— the central conceit of the story — slots into place that you can understand the correct order of events, backwards and forwards. Reading “Story of Your Life” on its own, I loved it. So, I sought […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Short Stories Tagged With: collection of short stories, literary sci-fi, sci-fi, Ted Chiang

fiordeligi's CBR18 Review No:2 · Genres: Fiction, Short Stories · Tags: collection of short stories, literary sci-fi, sci-fi, Ted Chiang ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Math problems on Mars.

Singer Distance by Ethan Chatagnier

March 28, 2023 by narfna Leave a Comment

I said in a status update while reading Singer Distance that it was giving me Contact vibes, and that’s true. The homespun science and grungy academic feel of the book, along with a group of characters working towards contacting aliens does give me the same feelings I get watching that movie (I have the book and I really need to finally read it!), but Singer Distance also has its own unique feel. This is an alternate history where back in the late 1800s, scientists spotted a message on Mars and began […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Science Fiction Tagged With: #Science Fiction, Aliens, alternate history, Ethan Chatagnier, historical fiction, literary fiction, literary sci-fi, math, narfna, sci-fi, Singer Distance

narfna's CBR15 Review No:35 · Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction · Tags: #Science Fiction, Aliens, alternate history, Ethan Chatagnier, historical fiction, literary fiction, literary sci-fi, math, narfna, sci-fi, Singer Distance ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


Recent Comments

  • BlackRaven
    on They go into the woods and do what?
    I hadn't heard the phrase, but knew that it seemed to be a popular way to end a relationship (dude/dudettes...
  • carmelpie
    on They go into the woods and do what?
    I went for a beautiful hike recently. Every time I peered over the edge, the climax of this story flashed...
  • Classic
    on They go into the woods and do what?
    Oh wow. And yeah I hike and all of these stories coming out these days about partners leaving someone to...
  • Mrs. Julien
    on They go into the woods and do what?
    I enjoyed your review and the story it linked to! Thank you!
  • Fiat.Luxury
    on a pre-Covid novella that I thought was post-Covid
    Right?!
See More Recent Comments »

Support Our Mission

  • Support Our Mission, Donate Today!
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo

The reviews and comments posted on this site reflect the opinions of individual posters and do not reflect the views of Cannonball Read.

© 2026 Cannonball Read Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) | Log in