Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Archives for December 2021

Hades and Persephone: The New Power Couple

Neon Gods by Katee Robert

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Neon Gods by Katee Robert was one of the few 2021 released books that I read. I succumbed to the hype around the premise of a modern retelling of the Persephone and Hades myth. In this sexy version of the Greek myth, Olympus is a modern city. The gods live in high-rise towers while the poor live closer to the ground. Zeus still rules but is more of a ruthless CEO with gangster tendencies. There are thirteen rich houses scheming for power. Most of them […]

The History of Flies and Mosquitos: Final Book of the Year

Historia de las moscas y de los mosquitos: y su influencia en el devenir de la humanidad by Xavier Sistach

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This is it: this will be my final book for the year, and #26 for my reviews. And I have saved the most difficult book for last   I’m not going to lie, it took my close to 4 months to make my way through Historia de las moscas y de los mosquitos: y su influencia en el devenir de la humanidad This is honestly because the books was well above my skill level. However, many of the books that were at my skill level […]

“Our humanity is worth a little discomfort, it’s actually worth a lot of discomfort.”

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

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I wish I felt better so I could really give So You Want to Talk About Race what it deserves, review-wise. The short review is if you haven’t already read this, you need to. Maybe you are like me and put it on your TBR right after its publication in 2018 and then it fell slowly down the list. Maybe you saw it on all of the recommended reading lists that proliferated in summer 2020 (A Reading List on Race for Allies, Antiracist Reading, Understanding […]

have I perhaps found a must read author?

Who’s That Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane

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Content warnings: suicide of parent (off screen, described in context of mental illness) Although it wasn’t a specific recommendation for this book, thank you to Sophia for the reminder rec for McFarlane! There are authors of the romance genre who people deem “must reads”–Jasmine Guillory and Courtney Milan come to mind immediately. There are also other authors that I have deemed “must reads” who I then get disappointed by–I thought T.J. Klune might be it but have had to shelve him. E.K. Johnston I’ll read, but so far she’s been a three star […]

Ponyboy? Seriously?

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

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  I was familiar with this book as it is used extensively in junior high and high schools, especially for “reluctant readers”, but I’d never read it.  It meets the primary requirement of being short, and theoretically speaks to the “youth these days” demographic.  Except no.  Instead I got a “hello fellow kids” vibe from it.  And not just because it’s dated (1967). My main quibble is that it seemed so set up to me.  There used to be an author, Gary Paulsen, who specialized […]

A review mostly in quotes because I *cannot* ever adequately review a Terry Pratchett.

Monstrous Regiment (Discworld, #31) by Terry Pratchett

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This book was newly published when I first started reading Discworld eighteen years ago. I wanted to read it right then but, because I am me, I decided to wait until I could read it in order. Literally half my life later, I made it! And honestly, I’m kind of glad I waited. Eighteen year old me was smart, but I appreciate it more now than I think I would have then. This one has instantly made my top five Discworld books, right up there […]



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