Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Mind Games

Blood Sugar by Sascha Rothchild

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It’s well known that I’m not much of a fan of serial killer fiction. Everyone’s trying (and failing) to ripoff Hannibal Lecter, making their killers even more diabolical than their fictional predecessors. Serial killers are boring. I’m more interested in the “why” of people killing. What makes a human being take another human being’s life? Sascha Rothschild’s confidently written debut work attempts to answer that question through the eyes of a serial killer who swears she isn’t one. It’s difficult to create a legit complex main character […]

Content Warning: Some triggering subjects and Grammar ranting ahead

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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I’ve had Ninth House on a shelf for a while, but I hadn’t really been in the mood for what promised to be a pretty dark story, and as it turns out, it’s a good bit darker than I’d thought. Although, I do have to say the darkness does really suit the story. Ninth House is something of a mix between The Secret History and The Magicians, neither of which I liked. I did however somewhat enjoy Ninth House. So as it turns out, some […]

Way darker than the classic Joshua Jackson vehicle “Skulls”

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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Secret societies and magic have existed at Yale for centuries…didn’t you know? Don’t worry, most of the students don’t either. But the members of the secret societies are elbow deep in literal blood magic that keeps their alumni wealthy, famous, well-connected, well-liked….you name it (Bush the second’s election makes SO MUCH more sense now). Who keeps this kind of power in check? College students aren’t exactly famous for their good judgment. Enter Lethe House, the ninth house, created as a watchdog to keep the other […]

Surprisingly Serious Truths from a Seriously Silly Guy

Vacationland by John Hodgman

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John Hodgman is many things: Daily Show correspondent, a “PC”, podcast guest and host, internet judge, former literary agent, and generally droll New England weirdo. He wrote several books prior to  Vacationland, and all of those books were collections of “facts”. I say “facts”, as that is what he might say as well: Hodgman (with the help of Jonathan Coulton) created three full books of completely made-up facts that he presented as being VERY true. They are a weird delight, and sometimes they are correct, […]

The Quiet Heartbreak of Unreached Potential

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

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In May 2012, Marina Keegan had a lot to look forward to. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale, had a play being produced at the New York International Fringe Festival, and lined up a job at The New Yorker. Just before she graduated, Marina wrote an essay titled “The Opposite of Loneliness.” Five days after receiving her diploma, Marina died in a car crash. She was 22 years old. “We’re so young. We’re so young.” Marina wrote in her final essay. “We’re twenty-two years […]



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