Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


My year, I fear, ends with a whimper

People of the Dark by Robert E. Howard

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I had intended this to be the start of a review dump of short stories. It’s ended up being a review of a single story: “People of the Dark”. I haven’t been reading very much this year. Anyway. Published in 1932, this is the story of John O’Brien’s attempt to kill his victorious rival for the affections of Eleanor Bland. His target is Richard Brent, and John has followed him into Dagon’s Cave, hidden away in the English countryside. Before he can let loose his […]

Excellent world building that felt a little cut short

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti: Sacred Fire by Nnedi Okorafor

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BINGO – Star Binti runs away from her home, her family, her people, and even her planet to attend school. She is hesitant to leave even though she knows there are incredible opportunities waiting for her at Oomza University. With only a jar of otjize, a clay mixture from her community that she rubs over all of her skin and hair, her edan, a piece of ancient technology she discovered in the desert, and her nearly magical ability to see and grab mathematical equations, Binti […]

Some Romance Quick Reads to Start the Year

One Minute to Midnight by Jasmine Luck

Resolutions by Lucy Eden

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Having always intended to spend New Year’s Day home and reading I had stashed a light, fun read in my Kindle account to help kick off the year. Then, scrolling through Twitter this morning I saw a link to another and thought – yes, let’s do this.  About half the time I start my Cannonball Reads off with a romance (although my first Cannonball book ever, Pope Joan, was definitely NOT) so it felt like the absolute right way to start off CBR14. One Minute […]

“Reagan already felt hard enough. She didn’t need any accessories. She didn’t need to telegraph it out to the world.”

If the Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell

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A few weeks ago, I saw an announcement on Rainbow Rowell’s Instagram that she was releasing a holiday short story this year and I rejoiced. I like Rowell’s short form work as much as I like her novel length ones. I’ve read Kindred Spirits, her 2016 take on fandom and waiting in line for Star Wars. Rowell also has holiday themed ones: Almost Midnight, 2017’s collection that includes both Kindred Spirits and Midnights. Midnights tracks a pair across several years’ worth of New Year’s Eves […]

The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories by Ken Liu

All the Flavors by Ken Liu

The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu

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Always on the lookout for speculative short fiction, I came across Ken Liu on an internet list somewhere. The little bio said he’d won the Hugo and the Nebula for his short stories and translations, and as I’m ashamed to say I’ve read very little by Chinese-American authors, I immediately ran to the library. They had his short story collection, The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories, and even though I knew he was award winning, I was not prepared for just how life-changing this collection would […]

https://cannonballread.com/2020/12/the-paper-menagerie-other-stories-and-all-the-flavors-and-the-man-who-ended-history-a-documentary-ale/

Everyone is Doing Their Bit in Their Own Way

Bisexual Unicorn Vampires Teach Me the Importance of the Vampire Cough by Chuck Tingle

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Well, I don’t think I could have picked a more tonally different read for my No Money review than my Money one. Chuck Tingle is famous for his eclectic romance shorts between people and exotic cryptic species, people and inanimate objects, and even people and abstract concepts. Recently, he has been inundated with requests for Coronavirus related erotica — which he has refused to do, on the grounds that he doesn’t want to write about things or events that are harming people. So instead, Chuck […]



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