Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Delightfully unsettling, Lovecraftian adventure

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

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What a journey this book was… This year, I’m trying to branch out and read in different genres and modes, and this book is definitely something that I wouldn’t have picked up before.  The Hollow Places follows Kara (sometimes called Carrot) who moves in with her uncle to help him run his Museum of Wonders after her divorce. It’s a convenient arrangement for each of them as Kara avoids moving in with her mother – whom she loves, but wouldn’t love living with – and […]

Using Lovecraft Against Himself

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin

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I have to admit: I tried to read N. K. Jemisin’s Fifth Season but had to put it down. The world and premise was good, but something about the style bothered me. I then picked up The City We Became which has an equally interesting premise. I still had some issues with the style, but I did manage to finish it. The City We Became is set in a world where major cities eventually develop avatars, people who represent the spirit of that place incarnate. […]

Now that’s how you reclaim a narrative

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You can’t escape Lovecraft’s influence if you, like I, read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy/horror. But until now, I had never read any of Lovecraft’s works directly just interpretations of them by authors like Neil Gaiman. I was aware that he is considered problematic due to racist beliefs that even for his time were extreme but I wasn’t sure how much of that bled into his actual work. Well, thanks to my book club I got to find out firsthand. Our assignment this month was to […]

In Memoriam Heather North

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I finished this novel a few days ago, then I saw yesterday that Heather North, the voice of the original Daphne, had just passed away. Thus it seems that this is a perfect time to reflect upon Scooby Doo and his friends. In terms of cartoon analogies, Meddling Kids is closest to the recent Mystery Inc incarnation of the series because of the edgier character relationships and mysteries faced. In the cartoons, there are mysterious helpers some of whom turn out to be evil, and […]

Creeping Dread Coated with a Veneer of Bigotry

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My introduction to the works of H.P. Lovecraft was most likely the film Reanimator, though I don’t know if I realized the source at the time. I was interested in reading these stories because Lovecraftian mythos is has been the source of so much pop culture that I’ve imbibed – movies, books, video games – Lovecraft has either provided a source for other storytellers to embellish (as in the case of Reanimator) or has inspired all new horrors (like the xenomorph in Alien). Chances are […]

Reclaiming Lovecraft

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H.P. Lovecraft is rightfully considered a founder of the horror genre. His writing is haunting, scary, and vast. His works have inspired countless books, movies, and games. They are also plagued by the extreme, even for the day, racism of its creator. Delightfully, there seems to be this trend of taking his stories and transforming them in order to examine the racist roots. I for one, am here for it. Earlier this year I read and reviewed The Ballad of Black Tom, and recently I’ve […]



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