andtheIToldYouSos – Page 18 – Cannonball Read 17

Tales from the Bottom of a Winter Coat Pocket

Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch

The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch

The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch

November 29, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Sometimes you find a bunch of cough drop wrappers when you dig into pockets of coats put away for the season, and sometimes you find a twenty dollar bill. Imagine my delight when Tales from the Folly popped up on Scribd! I devoured the series earlier this year -aside from the latest; I am waiting for the paperback release- and when I saw kittenkong42’s review back in October I was PSYCHED to know that the short stories had all been collected into one place! There […]

“There is a pay phone by a truck stop near the town of Leonard, Arizona. Sometimes at night it starts to ring.”

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

November 23, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

I was first drawn into Emily St. John Mandel’s world back in 2015, when Station Eleven caught my eye after popping up in a few “best of” lists. It became an immediate favorite, and I know that love is shared here within our CBR community! I’ve read it twice since first picking it up, most recently in March, right as the world started to dip further and further into pandemic horror. I wrote in a previous review that I would not have picked up The Glass Hotel […]

The Bearmuda Triangle

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling

November 20, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos 2 Comments

Something this dire – a town of people so opposed to paying taxes that they become a country-wide hotspot for bear attacks – should not be this funny. Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling carefully walks the line between Bill Bryson and a VICE documentarian while spinning this wild story of a Free Town and the beasts- man and animal alike, within. This collection of people, carefully and deliberately documented by Hongoltz-Hetling, shoot themselves in the foot so many times and with such ferocity that it is amazing the […]

“She wondered, for the thousandth time, who got to decide one tradition was right and another was wrong.”

The Butchers' Blessing by Ruth Gilligan

November 16, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

What makes a tradition a tradition? How and when do we pass from routine to ritual, and ritual to sacred rite? How do we decide what it kept, what is left behind, and what must be destroyed for the good of the future? Ruth Gilligan knows, but she will not give us any easy answers. Instead, she gives us snapshots; a literal photograph sets us in motion, but glimpses into the life of “modern Ireland” connect the pieces by stringing one red knot to another. […]

“It is very important to approach all unpleasant tasks in life as a performance art piece, especially if you are a teenager.”

Things to Do When You're Goth in the Country & Other Stories by Chavisa Woods

November 16, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Goth or not, country or not, if you have ever been a teenager then SOMETHING in this collection of stories will speak to you. Maybe you’ve never befriended a drug addict squatting in a mausoleum, and maybe you’ve never had a bad trip at a MENSA party hosted by your girlfriend’s parents, but there are definitely some teenage feelings rolling dark and deep in all of us! Chavis Woods has labeled and celebrated that feeling of “something more”; most notably in the titular story, “Things […]

this novel, much like a duck’s uterus, is a tangle of paths and twists

Family of Origin by C. J. Hauser

November 15, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Nope- not just referencing duck biology on a whim; ducks and their inner workings are integral to this story! Labyrinthine reproductive parts, family secrets, climate change, and possible reverse evolution are wound together into a tight knot by C.J. Hauser, and it is up to you to untangle, smooth, and rearrange the beautiful mess within. If you are totally in the dark re: duck workings, please go and watch Isabella Rosellini’s Green Porno entry “Seduce Me”. Obviously NSFW, definitely educational AND fun! Half-siblings Elsa and […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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