Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Featured Review Archive

These reviews, which were promoted in CBR social media, on our homepage, and in Pajiba Love, appear below by review publication date, not by date featured.

 

Come for the Stories, Stay for the Activism

A Portrait of the Piss Artist as a Young Man by Tadhg Hickey

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Best for: Those looking for inspiration from sober alcoholics / people with substance use issues. In a nutshell: Comedian Hickey shares what his life was like growing up in Cork, Ireland, with a mother who was mentally unwell. Worth quoting: N/A Why I chose it: I follow Hickey on TikTok and didn’t realise he has a book. The book is … different from what I expected. Review: I was hoping to squeeze this in as my last review for 2023 but alas, I just missed […]

“I do not want to be protected. I want to be safe.”

The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy

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What are ways that women are not supposed to be? What are they not supposed to do? Mona Eltahawy interrogates social behavioral control of women and non-binary people through the framing of seven types of behavior that are understood to be in some way improper. Anger, Attention, Profanity, Ambition, Power, Violence, and Lust. In Seven Necessary Sins Elthawy asks one of the most important questions – Who does this benefit? The author argues not only that women and girls should engage in activities driven by […]

“Vegetarians have wicked, shifty eyes and laugh in a cold, calculating manner. They pinch little children, steal stamps, drink water, and favor beards.”

How Carrots Won the Trojan War: Curious (but True) Stories of Common Vegetables by Rebecca Rupp

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Did you know that corn creates vampires? Or that peas almost poisoned George Washington? Influential potatoes in the past are the reason that many of us are here although they greatly baffled the conquistadors, and once upon a time pumpkins attended the World’s Fair. All this and more can be learned from this book which takes a look at 23 of the most popular vegetables. This little book is simply delightful, especially for veggie lovers, but possibly also for those that don’t like them. The […]

Inconceivable, or I do not think that word means what you think it means

Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha

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Kit Rocha’s Consort of Fire has done something really well: it has hit that sweet spot between a really well-envisioned fantasy world and romance. Queer romance at that. You could pick it up for either of those genres and be completely satisfied. The fact that it does justice to both is proof that the two authors behind the pseudonym of Kit Rocha are the real deal. Consort of Fire has done an excellent job of introducing us to this fantasy world where the Gods and […]

I, too, like a rousing sci-fi series about a murderous robot that wants nothing more than to watch soap operas.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Network Effect by Martha Wells

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Before I get into the reviews, I’m just going to preface this by saying I don’t really remember all the individual books, but Murderbot is one of my favorite characters ever. All Systems Red (5/5) “Murderbot” is the self-chosen name of a security android appointed with the task of protecting a team of scientists surveying a planet. It is a rogue SecUnit, however, and has overridden its governor, unbeknownst to everyone else, and wants nothing more than to disengage from the world and watch soap […]

“Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

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On St. Valentine’s Day in 1900, three Australian schoolgirls and their teacher vanish while on a school outing at Hanging Rock. Though they have disappeared from view like a rock dropped into water, the consequences of what happened will ripple outward until they touch the stories of even those who had been on the periphery of their lives. I’ve had my eye on the book for a few months now, so when I opened my Cannonball Book Exchange package from ElCiccio to find she’d send […]



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