Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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I think I’m done with dystopian fiction for a while

Julia by Sandra Newman

January 17, 2026 by matt_thac Leave a Comment

Dystopian fiction feels very much of the zeitgeist. It’s certainly understandable as some corners of the world get darker and even the brighter ones seem dimmer. Dominant systems are pushing back on the shrinking of their legitimacy, attempting to put the top back on the Pandora’s box of equality and fairer economic systems. This retelling of Orwell’s 1984 from Julia’s perspective is very much in that vein, a misogytopia. Like a lot of men, I like Orwell. Well, more correct to say liked than like. In […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: dystopia, Fiction, sandra newman

matt_thac's CBR18 Review No:11 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: dystopia, Fiction, sandra newman ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
Front cover of The Heavens by Sandra Newman

Literature will/might/won’t Save the World. Maybe. I’m not sure the book ever told me.

The Heavens by Sandra Newman

January 12, 2026 by matt_thac Leave a Comment

This book takes some really big swings and while it doesn’t miss, it does seemingly bunt the ball. Commenting on the War on Terror & its justifications in the early 2000s – Check. Historical drama featuring Shakespeare – Check. Questioning if Time Travel does actually happen or is just in the mind of the protagonist a la Twelve Monkeys – Check. I could go on. There’s so much happening here that I found myself skimming backwards in the book like it’s a Choose Your Own […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: 9/11, sandra newman, Shakespeare, time travel, time travel and body swap, War on Terror

matt_thac's CBR18 Review No:9 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: 9/11, sandra newman, Shakespeare, time travel, time travel and body swap, War on Terror ·
Rating:
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1984/Julia

1984 by George Orwell

Julia by Sandra Newman

November 22, 2023 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

Over the years I have read 1984 maybe half a dozen times, always for class-related assignments when I was a student or when I was a teacher. It has probably been over 20 years since my last re-read, and I’m glad I picked it up again before reading Sandra Newman’s Julia, a take on 1984 from the point of view of Winston Smith’s lover. I have always found 1984 to be a challenging read; dystopian fiction is unsettling and the end of 1984 is tragic. […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: 1984, CBR15, dystopian fiction, ElCicco, Fiction, George Orwell, Julia, sandra newman

ElCicco's CBR15 Review No:62 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: 1984, CBR15, dystopian fiction, ElCicco, Fiction, George Orwell, Julia, sandra newman ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

On the bright side, no old people means they don’t have to read think pieces in The Atlantic about their generation ruining the world

December 31, 2016 by yesknopemaybe Leave a Comment

This was definitely one of the strangest books I read in 2017. I think it might fall into the admired but unloved category. Sandra Newman clearly put a lot of work into creating this novel, it just didn’t quite resonate with me. That doesn’t mean it didn’t impact me though. I thought about this book for weeks afterwards, trying to puzzle out how I felt about it. The story takes place in some future where most of the population of America has died off and […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: dystopia, Fiction, sandra newman, the country of ice cream star

yesknopemaybe's CBR8 Review No:78 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: dystopia, Fiction, sandra newman, the country of ice cream star ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


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