In spite of this having been on a number of “best of 2016” lists, I walked into this book completely blind, and was fully shocked, disturbed, and yet driven by it. It’s a really tough read, not just psychologically, but because it’s brutally graphic in a way that doesn’t exactly require a warning, but is unusual for a Western reader used to a vaseline’d lens covering sex and violence. I really loved this, and it continues to haunt me a little bit. I can’t imagine […]
As if I were no more than a possession for these two creatures to fight over.
Dear Cannonball Readers: I am so sorry. I voted for The Devourers for this Book Club Read. I thought it looked awesome. I hated it. This review is a two-star review. Because yes, I hated it, but the end was just okay. It finally picked up. Something finally happened. There was a point. The point was aggravating and boring and seriously not worth it, but it was finally there. These shapeshifters are full of some damn nonsense. You’re a superior creature, but your social rules […]
You are saving their lives for a life not worth living
Bird Box is proof that you don’t need to be inventive to be creative and thrilling. There is nothing new in this novel that hasn’t been introduced by someone else, and yet it’s a phenomenal and magical combination of a whole pile of often-used ingredients. It’s haunting, and tense, and violent, and touching. Without dropping too many spoilers, I’ll say that this is the story of a young woman who survives a world-ending event along with a handful of strangers who find themselves tied to […]
Do any men grow up or do they only come of age?
I’m taking on “The Dark Tower” series! It starts with The Gunslinger. It was reassuring to read King’s preface to the edition I picked up, in which he describes the creation of the story: he was very young, and he was very green, and it took him a very long time to finish the series. And then, as he finished, he went back and revised for clarity and consistency. I admire this, and appreciate it as a reader, and knowing that he was young and green […]
In America the quirk was that people were things.
Social justice warrior alert: this was a really tough one, and also should be mandatory reading. I grew up in Canada, and stories about the American Civil War and the Underground Railroad have always been fairly romantic to me: good and caring citizens resisted the status quo and helped shuttle slaves from town to town until they were safely out of harm’s way in the North, often fabulous Canada where we were the cooler (haha) neighbor, and where former slaves could habeas their own damn […]
Lady, what are you hollering?
Well, I started the year off with a whimper. This book was glowingly recommended to me by a good friend who has led me in the past to some good stuff, so I jumped on it. I was disappointed, but the let-down was actually a little freeing, because I had just started another book she recommended, and my disappointment in Taking What I Like allowed me to give myself permission to put the other one down.* This is a book of short stories tied together […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- …
- 18
- Next Page »