Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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CoffeeShopReader's Reviews:

Let’s Save the Endangered Walking Nuclear Dinosaurs

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

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I have to admit, I didn’t especially enjoy the only other novel by John Scalzi that I read (Redshirts) so I was hesitant about The Kaiju Preservation Society, but the premise was just too good to not at least give it a chance. The basic gist is that there are parallel worlds to our own Earth, and one them is home to kaiju, basically nuclear powered dinosaurs the size of mountains; once when one accidentally got through the barrier between worlds, someone who saw it […]

If you need an entire glossary of acronyms and jargon, you may have a little problem

The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross

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The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files 1) is one of those titles that just kept popping up on my radar, and then when it went on Kindle sale I figured, that was the time. The premise is a cross between Office Space and X-Files, kind of like a supernatural NCIS kind of way. Our protagonist is Bob Howard, an IT done of the corporate variety on the surface, but who in reality works for a secret government agency specializing in protection against magic and the supernatural […]

How to be Horribly English

English Etiquette: The motivation behind the manners by Darling Academy, Alena Kate Pettitt

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I like cultural history, and I also have a passing interest in etiquette; I figured English Etiquette: The motivation behind the manners might be interesting. I was wrong; this isn’t interesting; it’s infuriating. Going by the title and introductory chapter, this sounds like a discussion of the history and practicality of English Victorian manners and some possible modern updates. Nope; instead what this book is a prescriptive “how to be English” in the most stereotypical, misogynist, almost xenophobic thing I’ve seen in a long time. […]

Finally Done and Good Riddance

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

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The final twist was stupid, the villain defeat was stupid and anti-climactic, the temporary (mostly) bad things that were done to certain heroes I’ve seen elsewhere in more interesting ways/effects, so very little actually seems to happen, and a lot of the backstory isn’t even all that interesting, although it does explain a lot about certain characters. No one even gets to do anything interestingly heroic here; the personal/self-sacrificial stuff in the final confrontation isn’t even that sympathetic. The prologues and epilogues don’t even add […]

Meh in the Middle

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

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Siege and Storm is better than Shadow and Bone for one reason: Nikolai Lantsov and Sturmhond. There is a lot less of Alina and the Darkling, although both do appear, and that’s not a bad thing. That part of the story shouldn’t really be the focus anyways, given how much Alina keeps focusing on one objective, first learn how to Grisha, then get away from Darkling while trying to find the sea snake/ice dragon and then fire-bird (and that quest is barely even mentioned)/maybe become […]

Getting better but not by much

Kaguya-sama Love is War vols. 2-3 by Aka Akasaka

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Last time I continued a few volumes of a series I wasn’t sure about, it didn’t go that well; this time, with Kaguya-sama, Love is War (vols. 2-3), things actually improved. I still don’t like Kaguya herself, but everyone else gets a little more interesting and relatable. The basic gist is that the top two students at school, Miyuki Shirogane and KaguyaShinomiya, like each other but due to pride etc. they keep trying to force the other one to admit it first. That’s it, the […]



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