wicherwill – Page 19 – Cannonball Read 17

thoughtful villains to start the year off right

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

January 1, 2024 by wicherwill 2 Comments

Starting the year off right by a) fudging the read date of my first few books and b) writing reviews soon after finishing them!!! Let’s see how long this lasts this year. Many recommendations for this book from the Cannonball community, and really this should have been an easy one to pick up given how enjoyable The Kaiju Preservation Society (just tried typing “Kaiju Appreciation” and didn’t find anything) was. I’d characterize Scalzi as a unique voice amongst those writing today–you can really tell the […]

there were MORE (there are always more)

Compulsory by Martha Wells

Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel

December 31, 2023 by wicherwill Leave a Comment

Compulsory by Martha Wells Murderbot shortly returns, in a book that I was happy to pay $0.99 for to get as much of the world as I possibly could. As someone who spent all last week happily reading and then having to spring out of bed/sofa to catch my father about to trip or someone who needed help with something that definitely didn’t NEED my help but probably justified it, I understand exactly where Murderbot is coming from and where it wants to go (back […]

December 2023, the last set

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

System Collapse by Martha Wells

The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J Evans

The Gentleman’s Gambit by Evie Dunmore

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

Heartstopper #5 by Alice Oseman

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

The Third Reich in Power by Richard J Evans

December 31, 2023 by wicherwill 1 Comment

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske Ah, the first of the many, many books that I was going to read on vacation. Which I finished on December 13th, with my vacation having start on (checks) November 18th. Excellent, excellent, I am SO glad to be moving to a new job that respects the idea of holidays… The final and largely satisfying end to the The Last Binding triology set in a regency(?) England which is so very queer, the pieces that have been slowly moving […]

a thousand apologies and what feels like a thousand reviews (through November 2023)

Edinburgh by Alexander Chee

The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Kindred by Octavia E Butler

Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Hinumegin er mars by Sólrun Michelsen

Trust by Hernan Diaz

How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't by Ian Dunt

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones

The Establishment: And How They Get Away with It by Owen Jones

In the Beginning was the Sea by Tomás González

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

The City & the City by China Miéville

A History of Burning by Janika Oza

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin

Passion Simple by Annie Ernaux

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller

The New Enclosure: The Appropriation of Public Land in Neoliberal Britain by Brett Christophers

The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas

Politics On the Edge: A Memoir From Within by Rory Stewart

Rivals by Katherine McGee

Reign by Katherine McGee

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

The Iliad by Homer, Emily Wilson

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

10 Things that Never Happened by Alexis Hall

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

A Dangerous Kind of Lady by Mia Vincy

A Little Life by Hanya Yanighara

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

The Starting Over Game by girl_with_kaleidoscope_eyes

December 31, 2023 by wicherwill 1 Comment

Edinburg by Alexander Chee CBR15: Sex True fact, when someone British asked me what I was reading I pronounced this “Edin-BERG” and to their credit they didn’t laugh but instead asked, with some horrified sincerity, if that’s how Americans say it. It’s not! At least, not on purpose. It’s just how can the English language claim to have been invented in a country that seems to not have grasped even a shred of understanding of how the various letters in it work? I digress. This is […]

A lovely gift waiting for me after very exhausting travels!

December 24, 2023 by wicherwill Leave a Comment

What a treat to arrive back in the good ol’ US of A to find the following waiting for me from the thoughtful LanierHgts! My request this year was “anything fantasy/sci-fi/fiction…really what would be helpful is books on London culture, as I could do some research before I move(!) next year…but that’s onerous, so see above!” I should have known better, that a Cannonballer never shies away from the harder ask. While I haven’t kept up with Bill Bryson’s latest works as much, A Short History […]

bit too much plot for me, but I enjoyed a number of the threads and will read the next

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles

November 14, 2023 by wicherwill Leave a Comment

The Will Darling books mean that I will read almost anything by KJ Charles for a while. This, however, which was hotly awaited and eagerly devoured didn’t quite do it for me, although I think it would do it for other people! If I had to put a pithy point to it, it reminded me a bit of The Queer Principles of Kit Webb in that there were way too many plots and characters and side quests and backstories all over the place, to the point where […]

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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