Cannonball Read 16

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Science Fantasy at Its Best

The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itaranta

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I was in a weeklong writing class recently where they interviewed various authors. One of the more interesting  was Emmi Itaranta, a Finnish author, and I ordered her latest book, The Moonday Letters, after hearing her discuss her process. She writes in Finnish and English simultaneously as she had beta readers in both languages. I can’t imagine writing in two languages at the same time. Writing in one is difficult enough. The Letters are an interesting format: epistolary. The protagonist writes unsent letters to her […]

“The rocket made climates, and summer lay for a brief moment upon the land…”

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

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CBR14Bingo: Hot This is a book I kept out of the library so long as a kid that I accrued a $75 fine (do I currently have two books out of the library that are also so overdue they’re going to charge me for them if I don’t return them — yes, I haven’t learned my lesson). I can’t even imagine how many times I’ve read it and I’m happy to say it holds up yet again. It has been a few years since I’d […]

Meet the friends of, and Planet, you are standing on

Ocean! Waves for All? by Stacey McAnulty

Our Planet! There’s No Place Like Earth? by Stacey McAnulty

Earth! My First 4.54 billion Years by Stacey McAnulty

Sun! One in a Billion? by Stacey McAnulty

Mars! Earthlings Welcome by Stacey McAnulty

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Stacey McAnulty has caused me great stress. I cannot decide which of her books I liked best in the Our Universe series. Was it Ocean! Waves for All? Or was it Our Planet! There’s No Place Like Earth? Or even Earth! My First 4.54 billion Years (the first in the series)? Or the Sun! One in a Billion? Or even Mars! Earthlings Welcome. Each one is a lovely, funny, and educational way to learn about the planets, stars and more. Each subject tells their own […]

My general feelings for this book can be summed up as UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Red Mars (Mars Trilogy, #1) by Kim Stanley Robinson

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I think I am allergic to Kim Stanley Robinson. Loved the idea behind this book, extremely disliked the execution. I tried reading 2312 years back, and similarly, any cool tingly science feelings I got from that book (which if I’m remembering right, starts with a moving, mechanized city on Mercury) was completely murdered by the boring as hell characters and lack of emotional through-line. I just remember the boredom with that one, but here I was not only bored but frustrated and annoyed by KSR’s attempt […]

cbr12bingo – No Money!

Bright and Dangerous Objects by Anneliese Mackintosh

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Full disclosure: I received this ARC from the Tin House Galley Club The atmosphere here in Bright and Dangerous Objects is heavy. It’s laden down with creeping grief, sudden disappointment and the growing dread of continuing to exist while things crash apart around you. Sensitive tattoo-artist boyfriends, fancy craft beer,  and getaways in stone cottages cannot save you from yourself. Solvig has inherited her mother’s furious brain. She has inherited her father’s tend towards self destruction. She has inherited a hunk of malachite that is supposed to […]

Red Rover Red Rover roll right over Mars

Red Rover: Curiosity on Mars by Richard Ho

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Red Rover: Curiosity on Mars by Richard Ho, is one of those books that is cool. Yet I still feel lackluster about it. There was something missing. Katherine Roy’s illustrations are a combination of realistic and a hint of whimsy. The text itself, however, has a more artistic then “serious” scientific element, but still has all the information needed. As we explore the planet of Mars, we learn about the planet and the machines that came before Curiosity. This information will grab the space nut but […]



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