Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Who Published This Book Half-Finished?

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children) by Seanan McGuire

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Coming off the heels of the stupendous Dread Nation, I was pumped for this YA novel. The setup: children travel through magical portals to alternate worlds, only to become distraught upon their return to their tedious old lives. (Postmodern Wonderland or Narnia!) Though this book won all the awards—Hugo, Alex, Locus Nebula—it utterly failed to enchant me. I suppose my heart is a closed door. Or maybe an inky void. Nancy (the sixth most interesting character, maybe) lands at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children […]

“There are new monsters now”

Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

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This novel sneaks up on you. You’re lulled into comfort with descriptions of old video rental places, suburban living rooms, and the polite peace of the Midwest before being startled awake by sudden glances of violence and fear. These shocks originate from movies. Movies within movies. Were they intended for you to see? Why are they here? Who spliced an almost still image of heavy breathing and a woman with a bag over her head into She’s All That? Uncertainty creeps around every corner- breeding fear, […]

Cheating Death Never Ends Well

Vicious by VE Schwab

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 I have a cute model, so here you go. 🙂 I got this from Ale as part of the Cannonball read book exchange. I read it only in the daytime, because I am wimpy. Vicious tells the story of two college boys Victor and Eli who start experimenting with cheating death to become EOs, people with extraordinary abilities. There are a lot of interesting ideas in here about good and evil and souls. Eli gets his abilities and becomes a vigilante, killing other people who […]

In Which Jane Kicks Efficient Ass, Especially the Undead Variety

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

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Yes, we might be living in the darkest timeline—or the dumbest, hard to tell. But be glad that you’re not our girl Jane, who contends with cruel racism and incompetence while also decapitating hungry “shamblers,” the reanimated corpses of the Gettysburg fallen and any poor soul bitten thereafter. Some years ago, the paddy wagon plucked Jane McKeene from her home at Rose Hill plantation so that she might learn the finer points of combat and decorum at Miss Preston’s, Baltimore’s finest school for Negro girls. […]

“When the mist rises, and the smiling man comes walking, you must avoid large places at night.”

Small Spaces by Arden, Katherine

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Ollie hasn’t been much of a people-person, but since her mother died the only solace she can seem to find is in books.  On a bike ride home from school, she comes across a woman sobbing by the lake, trying to talk herself into throwing an old black book into the water.  On a whim, Ollie steals the book and discovers within its pages a strange and spooky old story about the Webster family and their tragedy brought on by a sinister “smiling man.” The […]

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You …

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

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If you haven’t read American Psycho yet, you’re in for a real treat.  Either that or you will hate me for recommending this book and possibly sue me for damages and mental distress. In any case, Patrick Bateman, the titular American Psycho, has become part of pop culture.  Whether you’ve read the book, seen the (excellently adapted) movie, or just know him from this gif: You know that he’s a narcissistic Wall Street trust fund baby with a serious case of bloodlust and unmitigated misogyny. But […]



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