Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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cbr12bingo – Gateway (plus two “bingos” and a Double Cannonball!)

Coyote Doggirl by Lisa Hanawalt

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Are you familiar with Lisa Hanawalt? If not, how is that even possible? She is a brilliant cartoonist, show-runner, writer, illustrator, podcast host- the list goes on forever and ever. She designed the entire look of Bojack Horseman, has created comics for Lucky Peach (RIP) and Drawn and Quarterly, and is the creator and show-runner of Tuca and Bertie. You may not be entirely familiar with her work, but you must have seen her brightly colored and lovingly created plant and animal people at least in passing- she is everywhere! […]

“And then I had my greatest stroke of genius since that ham sandwich with pickles that time.”

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

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At one point, I was considering giving this five stars, I was having so much fun with it. Some pacing issues towards the end, as well a tiny quibble with the ending brought me back down to earth, though. But overall, fun! Karen Memory is a book I wasn’t really looking forward to reading, for what reason I’m not sure. I’d never read Elizabeth Bear before (but will in future!), and sometimes Westerns just don’t work for me (and other times I love them). But […]

Gonna ride til I can’t no more

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

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I didn’t think it was a good idea to start in on another mystery after falling so hard for The Dime, fearing that anything would suffer in comparison, but my library loan was expiring soon so I jumped into The Lost Man and hoped for the best. Turns out it was the best one two punch combo ever. They both have a western kind of feel and are slow burns. The Lost Man takes place in the same universe as Jane Harper’s wonderful Aaron Falk […]

Don’t hide your light under a bushel, darling.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

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(Title quote is from Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage) Aven Green has a pretty great life as a middle schooler in Kansas.  She plays on the soccer team, has a wonderful group of friends, is a creative writer, and plays the guitar. She also has no arms. She was born without them, though if anyone asks about it (and boy do they), she always has a wild tale to tell them about where they went and how. But her life is about to be upended: her […]

A Harsh View of the West, Unblemished by Romanticism

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I have been vaguely intending to read this novel for quite a while but I always ended up prioritizing other books, especially since I didn’t actually already have it in my TBR pile.  I’ve noticed a few Cannonballers mention the Bookriot Read Harder Challenge and since I’d already read a few books that fit into the various categories, I thought it might be fun to participate, and it also provided a push to finally pick up Lonesome Dove to meet the Western requirement. I was, […]

“The trip has been long and the cost has been high, but no great thing was ever attained easily. A long tale, like a tall Tower, must be built a stone at a time.”

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I’ve been sitting on this review for months, and have decided I’m going to take the easy way out and not say all the things I could about this last book in Sai King’s Dark Tower series. For the most part, I have loved reading this series over the past year. It’s had it’s ups (books two and five) and downs (books one and four), but on balance is one of the most imaginative, terrifying, satisfying things I’ve ever read. I will definitely be revisiting […]



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