You’re a first-time Cannonballer, right? How’s it going so far? Mostly kicking myself that I didn’t participate before! If there were a lurker trophy for Cannonball I’d have one for pretty much every single year. I love how I learn new perspectives on books that I’ve liked and disliked–keeps me honest and on the path to becoming a better human. What’s a wicherwill? This is a decades old nickname. In middle school, a friend and I would race to the elementary school during lunch and […]
Too many unexpected developments = a super vague (but not spoilery) review
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
This one is so hard to talk about without spoilers! There were at least three big plot points that took me by surprise, so I don’t really want to tell you anything. But I enjoyed 99% of this book, and I’m pretty sure I recommend it, even with that 1%. To start with, Julie is a LADY SPY. She’s beyond great. Unfortunately, she’s been captured by the Nazis, and has been forced to write down secret codes. However, she keeps resisting in whatever small ways […]
Great characters, complicated plot, too much emphasis on poetry as civilization
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
If you like political intrigue in space, then this is the book for you! (I listened to the audio book, so I had to look up all the spellings. I never would’ve gotten Teixcalaanli right!) Mahit Dzmare is a new ambassador from Lsel Station to the Teixcallanli Empire. The previous ambassador, Yskandr Aghavn, is mysteriously dead. When she arrives at Teixcalaan, she is plunged into the mystery surrounding his death, some political machinations from high-level movers and shakers, a favor requested by the Emperor himself, […]
A little bit silly, a little bit sad, a lotta bit thoughtful
Here For It by R. Eric Thomas
If you’re not already subscribed, I highly recommend R. Eric Thomas’s excellent newsletter. He’s funny, insightful, and rambly in a way that always circles back around to the point (or at least a point) in surprising ways. He’s a delight. So of course I had to read his book! This collection of memoir-style essays (or essay-style memoirs?) was a bit more serious than I expected going in, but not at all in a bad way. Eric is a gay, black, christian writer who landed a […]
“The air had the same temperature and quality as a patty melt.” Oo…kay?
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
I thoroughly enjoyed Legion (the first season, at least) and Fargo (the first couple seasons, at least), so when I found out showrunner Noah Hawley had written a few books, I wanted to check one out to see if that talent worked on the page as well. Verdict: The book starts with the crash of a private plane. A tiny, fancy plane leaves from Martha’s Vineyard, carrying two rich men, their wives, two children, and a painter who was friends with one of the wives. […]
Quick Questions with a Cannonballer: Nart
You’re a CBR volunteer, right? How long have you been volunteering, and what’s your area of expertise? I help out with Goodreads because we’re trying to create a more sustainable presence there, hopefully pull some avid readers who haven’t heard of us to the main site, but it’s so small as to be nearly insignificant. In fact, we’re always looking for more folks who, like me, can consistently do like 10 minutes of work a week to make the site better. Join us. We have […]
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