Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Women seem wicked, when you’re unwanted”

Beware the Woman (2023) by Megan Abbott

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I haven’t read very much at all this year; distressing work news  in an absolute shitshow of a job market in my field has affected my concentration somewhat. So have I bought a lot of books? Yes. Do I read them? I try? Between finally watching Succession (Waystar Royco is starting to seem like a utopian haven right now) and familiarising myself with the entire catalogue of Kendrick Lamar (upper management? THEY NOT LIKE US). But I did read Megan Abbott’s Beware the Woman (2023), […]

Not Without My Dice.

A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross

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I’ve been a fan of Charlie Stross’ Laundry Files for over a decade now. This has given me plenty of time to watch the series evolve. Like many other works that began as satire aimed at government bureaucracy, it has grown increasingly cynical as real life has become harder and harder to parody.  In particular, there was a rough trilogy linked to the original Laundry Files stories under the title of Tales of the New Management that hit me as painfully cynical, to the point that it […]

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

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  I really loved Model Home. I think haunted house horror/mystery novels are my favorite thing out there. That’s because you are supposed to be safe with your family, Model Home shows that sometimes it’s your family and neighborhood you should fear. “Model Home” follows Ezri (they/them) and their daughter, Elijah, who are living in London. We find out quite quickly that Ezri has moments when they are not in themselves, that they are far away. Ezri longs for and loathes their mother and the […]

At Least It’s Not Mushrooms This Time

What Feasts At Night: Sworn Soldier #2 by T. Kingfisher

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After the nightmare-inducing occurrence at the Usher manor, Alex Easton just wants some rest, relaxation, and calm days, but instead, as a favor to their valet Angus and the mycologist Miss Potter, they find themself heading to their family hunting lodge, deep in the cold, damp, forbidding forests of their home country, Gallacia. Once there, they discover the gamekeeper dead, the villagers closed in and suspicious, with whispers of a strange breath-stealing spirit entering people’s dreams. Alex doesn’t believe it for an instant; but then […]

Say hello to the night, Lost in the shadows

The Lost Boys (Comic) by Tim Seeley (writer), Scott Godlewski (artist)

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I don’t recall what I was looking for on the library website when I stumbled across The Lost Boys comic, but I hit hold super fast.  After the 1987 movie, there were two straight-to-DVD sequels, and a comic series (Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs) but this comic is a direct sequel to the original film.  And this comic reads and feels like a sequel to a 1987 movie in both good and bad ways. So yes, the rest of this review will have some mild […]

Like Lord of the Flies at Disneyland

FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven

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If you strand a bunch of (mostly) 20 something year old adults who work in a theme park for 35 days during a natural disaster, what do you think would happen? If you’re hoping for Temptation Island level hijinks, you’ll be sorely disappointed. But if you’re leaning toward murder and heads on a stick level violence, then this is the book for you! Think Lord of the Flies, but with adults and multiple tribes. This book works for a lot of reasons. First, you have […]



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