Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About wicherwill

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She/her. Longtime lurker, goodreads addict :D (Learn more about this Cannonballer: wicherwill's Quick Questions interview.)

wicherwill's Reviews:

now time for books from best of 2024 lists

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

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What a bizarre, bizarre book, which showed up in a list of the best books of 2024 from Slate . I copy here the blurb that made go “eh?” This debut from Irish novelist Ferdia Lennon tells an inspired story of two hapless pals, underemployed potters in Syracuse, Sicily, 412 B.C., who truly cannot believe they just defeated the Athenians in the Peloponnesian War. Now there are all these miserable Athenians imprisoned in a quarry outside town, and what are two lovers of Greek theater supposed to […]

actually a bit of christmas-y schmaltz

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

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A recommendation from Britt! Via Book Group’s year-end book swap, where amusingly enough I didn’t actually pick this up (and no one picked up The New Enclosure: The Appropriation of Public Land in Neoliberal Britain would you believe???) Okay like, is this schmaltz? Yes. Is this very pat and full of plot threads so neatly tied up you’d roll your eyes if someone insisted it’s a true story? Yes. Does this have a bit of a twist that isn’t foreshadowed on the jacket and might entirely throw […]

more cosmere novellas

Sixth of the Dusk by Brandon Sanderson

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What a fascinating story, exactly what I’ve come to expect but just because Sanderson is usually on point doesn’t mean we don’t give him credit for doing so! As always, this short story packs more of a wallop than many longer novels I’ve read and/or started to read and summarily abandoned. Briefly put, we start in the head of a trapper accompanied by his two birds, and while you expect that there is more than meets the eye it’s hard to get much because our […]

excuse my rant about banking

The Ex-Vows by Jessica Joyce

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Recommendation from frogbandocto! Okay so Jessica Joyce definitively dated (or was close friends with someone who dated) a banker at some point during the immediate post-college years, and then she/her friend broke up with them and she’s held onto the memory of what dating a banker is like and used it here, in Romancelandia. It’s surprisingly the first one I’ve ever read with a banker as the unavailable protagonist! Normally they’re lawyers, because that’s an intense job that everyone knows is an intense job! I […]

a book that is well written but infuriating

The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami

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Is it fair to downgrade this book because it’s hard to read? And by which I mean, the plot tears at your heart and makes you furious at times. I guess maybe not, but that is what I feel and so that is how I will rate this. Fair trigger warnings: this book has anything and everything you’d expect to see in a “faithful and true” recounting of Spanish conquistadors lathing their way through La Florida–there’s sexual assault, slavery, cannibalism, emaciation, the whole kit and […]

a voice narrated review

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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I did not like this book. Perhaps you will like this book. If so I’m glad. I want people to like books. Reading books in general is good for all of us, because I want publishing to continue to exist and make more books. Books for you and also books for me. In the latter camp, this book does not fall. I enjoy fantasy. I enjoy books about dragons! I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of series that spend entire books setting up a […]



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