Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Fiat.Luxury's Reviews:

Re-reading a classic: 1984 in 2020

1984 by George Orwell

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Y’all know the broad strokes of 1984: Big Brother, newspeak, telescreens, doublethink, “We have always been at war with EastAsia.” It’s entered the popular consciousness in a profound way; and for some reason thinkpieces about it have proliferated since 2016.  (I wonder why!  Truly it is a mystery.) So our small book club decided to re-read this one as adults, to see how our reactions to it might have changed, or if it was really all that.  The consensus: it’s a classic for a reason. […]

A Memoir of a Hong Kong Childhood

Golden Boy: A Memoir of a Hong Kong Childhood by Martin Booth

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I can’t remember why I picked this book up, but it was a lovely read.  This is a charming book about the childhood memories of Martin Booth, who, in the early 1950s, moved with his parents to Hong Kong, where his father was posted with the British Navy.  With an open-minded mother and “lucky” golden hair, 7-year-old Martin explored Hong Kong, including the parts of the city usually walled off to “gweilo” (foreigners.)  The book includes lovely and loving descriptions of the city and the […]

A beautiful murmur

The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia

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I bought this book, put it on my kindle, and then forgot about it.  I don’t know why I bought it–I’m sure it was someone’s recommendation, or a list of new books somewhere.  One day I found it again and started reading, having no idea what the book was about. This book was enchanting. Set in early 20th century Mexico, this is the meandering story of the Morales family and their adopted son Simonopio, who was found by old Nana Reja under a bridge, with […]

“Now I am beyond prophecy.”

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

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Everyone on this site who recommended the Winternight Trilogy: thank youuuuuuu! I devoured these books.  Like, ignore dinner, stay up til 3 am, read all lunch break.   Try to read slowly to savor, but can’t because it just is so good. Continue to recommend to everyone who would listen.  I think it’s so rare to find a trilogy that reads so well, for so long.  I can’t wait to read it again! So, back up, these are the second and third book of Katherine Arden’s […]

A debut novel with pomegranates on the cover; obviously, I bought it.

The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan

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This was on a list somewhere of noteworthy debut novels, and I quite enjoyed it.  It’s a fine novel and what’s more, it ticks almost all of my “I obviously have to read that” categories: historical fiction set in the Middle East!  Inter-generational family drama!  Slyly feminist messaging!  Pomegranates on the cover! This is the story of a wealthy family of Persian Jews in early twentieth-century Iran.  Asher Malacouti is the head – an astute businessman who has multiplied his family’s wealth.  His wife Rachel […]

The kind of book that you wish you could read for the first time, again.

Perdido Street Station by China Mielville

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When I was reading this book, a friend asked me what it was about.  I didn’t really know how to respond, because this book is insane.  Eventually I said something like, “It’s about humans…and other creatures that are loosely based on various mythologies?…in a parallel-world steampunk magic police state.  And also they are fighting these crazy dream-sucking moths.” And that’s true!  But there are also mob bosses, red light districts, cactus-people, water-magicians, sentient machines, scientists in secret labs, and, my favorite character, a giant multidimensional […]



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