Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Even better the second time

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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Rereading Gideon the Ninth was an interesting experience. The first time around, I was completely lost for the first half of the book, which caused me to become progressively more frustrated. Then I hit the middle and it was like a rollercoaster ride to the finish. The second half was such a marvel, I completely forgave the author for not explaining much in the first half. This time, since I wasn’t feeling confused and vaguely annoyed, I enjoyed the first half a great deal more. […]

cbr12bingo – Red!

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

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Every entry into Rivers of London starts with a splash; we are always diving head-first, sometimes literally, into rivers of blood. Every delightful cover, all done by Patrick Knowles, is a map with a big, red, bloody “X” marking the spot. Every cover is a map, every map is filled with teensy tiny detail, and every seemingly unrelated sketch or nursery rhyme lyric builds together into the marvelous mess that is London. I love his minute details; I feel like I’m looking at a Where’s Waldo illustration for […]

More like Thud and Fizzle Out

Crash and Burn by Lisa Gardner

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On a dark and stormy night, Nicole “Nikki” Frank finds herself flying through the air in her expensive Landrover, then crashing into a ravine. Though she’s injured she manages to crawl through the mud onto the road, where she flags down a car for help. She insists her daughter Vero is in the car, but a search and rescue finds nothing – and then Nikki’s husband Thomas tells the detectives they do not have any children. Meanwhile detectives discover Nikki’s been hospitalised three times in […]

Ever get the feeling that you’re being watched?

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

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Well, my library is being watched at least. I keep reading myself in circles; themes from one book bleed into another; people, places, statements, snippets of songs- this year is becoming one giant, roiling, swirling brew of a book. Peter Grant and the Falcon Family (tm tm tm!) are back in London, up to their necks in the Thames and sinking fast. Luckily, the river is full of gods who are just as willing to save them as they are to let them drown. Last […]

“Nobody died. how can you kill an idea? How can you kill the personification of an action?” “Then what died? who are you mourning?” “A point of view.”

The Sandman, Vol. 10: The Wake by Neil Gaiman

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This is the second time while reading this series I have been sorely tempted to give one of these five stars, and I probably will when I revisit in future. What’s holding me back right now is that for most of this, I was only mildly emotionally engaged, but the very last issue, “The Tempest,” is one of my favorite things in this series, and maybe that Gaiman has ever written. I got a little teary while reading it, and in a different state of […]

“into every life a little poop must fall”

If It Bleeds by Stephen King

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There’s something about reading Stephen King that really fuels my creativity. And this was a good collection. The real star of these four novellas is the titular If It Bleeds, a direct sequel to The Outsider, but I think I might have actually liked it better than that book. We get some classic themes from Uncle Stevie here but he adds a modern spin to most of them that was interesting, even if some worked better than others for me. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone — 3.5 […]



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