Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Mindblowing, but not in a good way

The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

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This is my fifth Scalzi novel, so at this point, I must be a fan! I will admit, I was nearing the end of the year and still too far away from hitting my Half Cannonball so, on a quiet afternoon, I found myself googling “Short Free Audiobooks” in desperation. I stumbled upon the Dispatcher, saw the author’s name and the runtime (2 hours and 18 minutes), downloaded this audiobook (audionovella?) without hesitation. Tony Valdez is the titular Dispatcher, a person who is paid to […]

An impressive athlete and interesting person

The Push by Tommy Caldwell

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I love climbing, and I already follow Tommy Caldwell on Instagram, so it’s a little odd that I wasn’t more excited when my book club chose The Push (2018) by Caldwell for our next book. My lack of enthusiasm stemmed wholly from the fact that I already knew a lot about him. He lives in nearby Estes Park, and I’ve seen a number of documentaries that detail him climbing the Fitzroy Traverse in Patagonia, the harrowing hostage situation in Kyrgyzstan, and his conquering of the Dawn Wall […]

“Abnasio’s smile was so kindly you could shave with it.”

Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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I don’t know if Tchaikovsky’s interest in spiders preceded his writing or followed it, but the man writes a lot of books that try to force people to have compassion for spiders. But dude makes it work. Plot: A spider’s home in a forest is attacked by a team of adventurers on a holy quest to defeat a powerful, evil wizard. A deal was offered – the adventurers get what they need in exchange for not killing all the spiders. And what did they need? […]

I, Misanthrope Bot

All Systems Red - The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

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Having finished my first Murderbot novella, I have the same feeling as I did when I finished Gideon the Ninth – I’m a REAL cannonballer now! Between my husband and countless cannonballer’s reviews, I can’t seem to take two steps without bumping into a hearty endorsement of the Murderbot series. However, similar to Gideon the Ninth, this first installment wasn’t a total hit for me. Perhaps I’m just contrarian or maybe my expectations were too high. But I didn’t love this misanthropic robot as much […]

Chaotic Orbits? Yes, Please!

Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis

How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis

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After seeing Beth Revis talk about mocking a particular billionaire in her new sci-fi heist series, I saw that the Audible sale made it very very affordable. So I bought it, listened to it, and then bought the second book on sale, too. Sadly, the third book, Last Chance to Save the World, isn’t out until April. The story is great. The primary narrator, Dara Rosenberg, is a delight. The secondary narrator, David Bendena perfectly expresses his character’s frustration in each book’s epilogue. I highly […]

“To accept evil without challenging it, would be to condone it.”

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

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I am a huge fan of Barack Obama’s reading lists, and I usually pick up many of his suggestions. But Obama also often includes a hefty biography on his annual list, and these books are generally too much of a commitment for me. I was ready to skip King: A Life (2023) by Jonathan Eig, just because I didn’t have the time, but then I figured I could listen to it on Audiobook. I already knew the basics of King’s life from school, but I’d never done […]



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