Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Depression, But Make it Funny

Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel

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Small Admissions, by Amy Peoppel, is a contemporary novel set in New York City and supposedly features a group of friends trying to help one of the group get back on her feet. I say “supposedly” because one friend, Chloe, makes the entire situation about herself. In fact, she’s the only character written in first-person, even though she is not the main character. Angela, the sister of the actual main character, tries to help, but mostly just nags and criticizes. And Vicki/Victoria is a completely […]

Not for me.

Secret Identity by Alex Segura

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30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4 Book 2/30 DNF @ 30% I gave it the ole college try, as none of the kids say these days. But this book was not for me! I’m really sad about it, because the gritty 70s NYC atmosphere, the love of comics built in to it, and the MC being a queer daughter of Cuban immigrants trying to make it in comics publishing all really sounded like something I would love, but this book was so dull. What […]

Awkward encounters in the giant wooden elephant and beyond

Treachery on Tenth Street by Kate Belli

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When I put the fourth book in the Gilded Gotham Mystery series (just released) on a Christmas list, I realized I may not have read the third, so I got it from the library. Almost fitting in a way, since Treachery on Tenth Street actually (non-spoiler) ends with a reference to the eventual arrival of Christmas. The mystery is almost secondary here, since there is a good bit of emphasis on characters realizing how they feel about each other. The obvious attraction has been clear […]

When Reality and Fiction Overlap in NYC

The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin

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Bingo 17: North America This might be a little obvious but since The World We Make could actually fit several categories, I’m using for North America because it takes place largely in New York City, and most of the main characters are living avatars of the boroughs of NYC, as well as an avatar for the city overall. The gist of the novel remains similar from the prequel (this is part 2 of a duology): the avatars of Manhattan (Manny), Queens (Padmini), Brooklyn (Brooklyn), Bronx […]

Really good, and I can see why Twitter and CBR love it, but not quite for me

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

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I read Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy last year and loooooooved it, so when The City We Became showed up as the choice for a meetup group book club, I was excited enough to plan to attend and not just lurk. While I did like it, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did Broken Earth. When a city has enough people, history, culture, and personality, it can come alive, with a person becoming the living avatar of that city. New York City has hit […]

For Three!

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

Vera Kelly Is Not A Mystery by Rosalie Knecht

Never Easy, Never Pretty: A Fan, A Team, A Championship Season by Dean Bartoli Smith

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Knocked out three books this weekend, all of which I enjoyed to varying degrees…   The Book of Three A cute, charming fantasy novel. Perhaps a little too derivative of LOTR (the wolf-like character might as well have been called “Gollum”) but still entertaining and occasionally refreshing when compared to the rest of the genre. I also enjoyed a compelling female character that had autonomy without having to be everyone’s Hashtag Badass Woman (in other words: I appreciate a male writer who can write a […]



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