Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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About Bothari43

CBR 6
CBR 7
CBR 8
CBR  9
CBR10 participant
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CBR12 participant
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CBR16 Participant

When writing a genre-based lim'rick / Avoid lengthy 'post-apoc'lyptic' / Though CB reviews / Have broadened my views / My fave is still chick-written sci-fic (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Bothari43's Quick Questions interview.)

Bothari43's Reviews:

Vocab bonus: this book taught me the fun word ‘graunched’

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

August 26, 2020 by Bothari43 2 Comments

Non-review babbling: Back in the Before Times, my husband and I made friends with a retired couple who were regulars at a breakfast place we loved. You know how geek calls to geek, so our passing hellos and smiles quickly grew into book recommendations and story swapping and lots and lots of coffee. They’re delightful, and I miss breakfasts out and socializing and finding new readers/friends. SIGH. Anyway, this was a book that would never have made it on my radar, but my breakfast buddy […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Bothari43, diane setterfield, Fairy Tales, kidnapping, non-CBR rec, Once Upon a River, Thames

Bothari43's CBR12 Review No:26 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Bothari43, diane setterfield, Fairy Tales, kidnapping, non-CBR rec, Once Upon a River, Thames ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

An intriguing but ultimately disappointing take on aliens coming to Earth

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

August 21, 2020 by Bothari43 Leave a Comment

This was such a cool idea! Aliens land in the ocean outside Lagos, and basically start granting wishes to sea creatures. This swordfish wants to be enormous? Done. This eel thing wants to be able to fly? Done. Then the aliens come ashore and are basically like “Yo, earthlings, we’re here, we plan to stay, there’s nothing you can do about it, hi!” No nefarious plots, no interstellar war, no kidnapping humans for experiments. The main alien ambassador chooses three humans to be her representatives, […]

Filed Under: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction Tagged With: aliens in the sea, Bothari43, first contact, Lagoon, Nnedi Okorafor

Bothari43's CBR12 Review No:25 · Genres: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction · Tags: aliens in the sea, Bothari43, first contact, Lagoon, Nnedi Okorafor ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

A decent read somewhat spoiled by sky-high expectations

Making Friends by Adrian Tchaikovsky

August 13, 2020 by Bothari43 Leave a Comment

This is by the author of Children of Time, which catapulted onto my top 10 list last year. This one’s a novella, so not quite as juicy as that one, but it was still a fun read. Coppelia is a puppeteer and a small-time thief in a city that hoards magic. When she is approached by actual living homonculi, she is astonished and delighted. They form a team, with her making new bodies for them to bring to life, and the tiny doll-people stealing trinkets […]

Filed Under: Science Fiction Tagged With: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Bothari43, Children Of Time, kind of like that animated movie Nine, Making Friends

Bothari43's CBR12 Review No:24 · Genres: Science Fiction · Tags: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Bothari43, Children Of Time, kind of like that animated movie Nine, Making Friends ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

‘Tortured genius’ trope: less interesting when not played by Hugh Laurie

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson

August 12, 2020 by Bothari43 Leave a Comment

So here’s my annual reminder that I am not a nonfiction fan. This has been on my TBR list long enough that I don’t remember why it got there, but it was likely podcast-related. And it’s fine! I’m sure if you like nonfiction you would enjoy it! But the subject of the book is basically a jerk, and reading about real-life jerks is not my favorite thing, no matter how interesting the history might be. Oscar Heinrichs was a self-taught chemist who read and studied […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: history of forensics, Kate Winkler Dawson, recommendations from podcasts, smart jerks, true crime

Bothari43's CBR12 Review No:23 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: history of forensics, Kate Winkler Dawson, recommendations from podcasts, smart jerks, true crime ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Quick Questions with a Cannonballer: getoffmylawnn

August 6, 2020 by Bothari43 5 Comments

How many times have you participated in Cannonball Read? Has it changed the way you read? I’ve been involved from CBR 10, probably a bit earlier by just reading all the reviews, but this was the first one I participated in and wrote reviews for! It has certainly changed the way I read a book; keeping in mind what I would like other readers to know about the things I liked reading in it, and making notes or highlighting certain sections (in e-books only) that stayed […]

Filed Under: News from MsWas Tagged With: Cannon Fodder, Cannon Fodder Q&A, quick-questions

Genres: News from MsWas · Tags: Cannon Fodder, Cannon Fodder Q&A, quick-questions ·
· 5 Comments

What would happen if women could thoroughly, completely, permanently turn the tables?

The Power by Naomi Alderman

August 1, 2020 by Bothari43 1 Comment

I feel like this was meant to be a cautionary tale, with an ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ type of message, but maybe I was in the wrong mindset for it, because my reaction was way more on the side of “FRAK YEAH, GET ‘EM!!!” All of a sudden, teenage girls all over the world develop the power to produce electricity from their fingertips. A (long-dormant? brand new?) organ called a skein, located over the collarbone, allows the girls to create and deploy electricity. Parents and […]

Filed Under: Speculative Fiction Tagged With: absolute power corrupts absolutely, naomi alderman, sisters are doing it for themselves, the power, too lazy for bingo

Bothari43's CBR12 Review No:22 · Genres: Speculative Fiction · Tags: absolute power corrupts absolutely, naomi alderman, sisters are doing it for themselves, the power, too lazy for bingo ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment
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