Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Shining Light on Colonialism

Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gappah

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Dr. David Livingstone died in May of 1873 in a village called Chitambo (in present day Zambia), located in central Africa. His African attendants buried his heart there, embalmed his body, and then transported it along with his papers over 1500 miles to Zanzibar so that they could be returned to England. The journey took 200+ days and two of the men on the trip Susi and Chuma gave a short account of it, mentioning illness and deaths within the travel party and other dangers […]

Not just a [Lady], but a Scientist (Bingo: Science!)

A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan

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Brennan’s world of dragons and Scirlandish nobility and the Fish Out of Water trope is worth reading, but I don’t think I, personally will bother reading the second unless I get very bored. I think my biggest issue is (pseudo)Victorian fatigue.

Debut novel worth noting (Cannonball and Bingo Blackout)

Oksana, Behave! by Maria Kuznetsova

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Cbr11bingo Reader’s Choice, substituting for Two heads are better than one Bingo Blackout/Cannonball! I picked this one up for the cover, but I bought it because it is related to the interests of my youth — Slavic studies and history. Maria Kuznetsova’s debut novel manages to be both funny and serious as she describes the life of Oksana Ivanovna Konnikova from her childhood, when the family moved from Kiev to Florida, until her adulthood. Oksana has to deal with loss, uprootedness, unrequited loves, and disappointing […]

So many bad tropes (Bingo: Youths!)

Dragon Called (Deadweed Dragons, Book 1) by Ava Richardson

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If the dragons from this book call you, reject the call and change your number. Actually, that’s not entirely fair. The dragons, from what I read, were fine. It was everything else that needed a lot of work. I gave up on page 139, read the last three or four pages (kind of like I did with Jane Eyre in high school, tbh) and tossed this on the “read” virtual shelf. It needs a good line editor for a start.

If You go into The Hazel Woods Today… (Bingo: Travel square)

The Hazel Wood: A Novel by Melissa Albert

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When Alice was born, her eyes were black from end to end, and the midwife didn’t stay long enough to wash her. (Kindle loc. 221) My mother was raised on fairy tales, but I was raised on highways. (loc. 37) Holy cats, you guys. This book and my reaction to it are probably going to fall down around my ears like a pack of playing cards or a straw house, but for the moment I am in love.

Going the Distance (Bingo “Far and Away”)

Jade City (The Green Bone Saga Book 1) by Fonda Lee

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Summer had barely begun and already the city of Janloon was like a spent lover–sticky and fragrant. (Kindle loc. 125) And with that line, Fonda Lee’s book grabbed me at the end of the first paragraph and didn’t let go.          



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