Claire Badger – Page 6 – Cannonball Read 17

California here we come; right back where we started from

California by Edan Lepucki

September 6, 2019 by Claire Badger Leave a Comment

Some dystopia novels are trying to be literature, some are trying to be good trashy fun, some are trying to be profound and fail terribly, some are just way off the mark. Then there’s the category I’d put California in, which is the kind of book that doesn’t really seem sure of what it’s doing, and thus never really makes a mark on the genre or the reader. Meet Cal and Frida! They’re a typical 20-something couple in the 2050s just trying to make it […]

Alone at sea

Alone by Christophe Chaboute

August 27, 2019 by Claire Badger Leave a Comment

On Saturday, my mom came over and, as she often does, was there before I was ready to go. Before I jumped in the shower, I put Alone down in front of her and said, “Oh hey, check out this graphic novel I picked up!” figuring she’d give it a glance and go back to her e-reader with the book she was already working on. Now, I’ve read comic books and graphic novels my whole life, from every genre and style, and never, ever, has […]

Gold Fame Citrus

Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins

August 18, 2019 by Claire Badger 1 Comment

I’m not sure about this book. It took me a long time to read (nearly six weeks) and I stopped mid-way and didn’t touch it for nearly three weeks, until finishing the last 150 pages in one night. In general, I’m not averse to unlikable protagonists, end of the world settings, or literary prose, but there were times with this book where I really felt myself questioning whether or not I do like those things, or if I just want to like those things so […]

Bucolic listening

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

August 11, 2019 by Claire Badger Leave a Comment

Because I’ve been consumed with one of those jobs that requires 12 hours- a-day attention, I haven’t been reading much, but I do get to have some time with my precious audio books, and so I turned my attention to something more literary for my last listen, knowing I wouldn’t be getting do that with a physical book. Some spoilers follow! The narrator of Never Let Me Go has a comforting, almost bucolic way of telling the story. Can a person speak in a bucolic […]

Beware Windigo

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

June 29, 2019 by Claire Badger 2 Comments

You know how there’s that trope in the end of the world book where the city folk go up north, usually at the end of the book, to find a new place to live? They’re expecting it to be quiet, or full of people who just live off the land, and yet curiously no one ever seems to meet a First Nations person? I’ve long thought about that and what happens when the city folk start to migrate north. This book actually approaches the question […]

If this book had a face, I would punch it

Foe by Iain Reid

June 23, 2019 by Claire Badger Leave a Comment

I have got to stop believing the hype around anyone declared Canada’s next big author. I just have to stop doing that for like, my mental health. CanLit is so desperate to have a big thing like Atwood again that they will throw that title around like a stick for a dog, and I, ever the faithful hound, will chase after it. But it’s a stick, not a rabbit, and a stick is ultimately wooden, predictable and boring; like this fucking book. Where do I […]

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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