Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“You’ve gotten the taste for excitement and adventure:” Great Sci-Fi/Fantasy by Ann Leckie

Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction by Ann Leckie

Translation State by Ann Leckie

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Ann Leckie is one of those authors that my brain just clicks with so well that I love everything she writes, like a warm bath for my mind. I always feel very comfortable reading her books because I can trust that she’s taking the plot somewhere that will work for me and that I’ll be satisfied with. She may not be on lists of cozy sci-fi, but it’s somehow cozy to me. I was therefore extremely thrilled to see a collection of her short works […]

A charming book about a literal killing machine

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

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“Artificial Condition” is the second book in Martha Wells’ acclaimed series, The Murderbot Diaries. I read the first book, “All Systems Red,” a few years ago, and while I liked the premise, I had a hard time getting into it and didn’t continue with the series. I picked up “Artificial Condition” on a whim this month, and this time, I was hooked. Maybe it’s actually better than the first book, or maybe I’m just in a different headspace now. Either way, I found this book […]

Don’t choose the bear, BE the bear. (Animorphs Challenge)

The Predator by K.A. Applegate

The Capture by K.A. Applegate

The Stranger by K.A. Applegate

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By book 6 of the Animorphs series, our kids are really starting to GO THROUGH IT, and by “GO THROUGH IT,” I mean they are getting dismembered on a regular basis. Usually it’s in their animal morph though. At this point. I’m seven books into the series. Our kids have acquired dozens of animals’ DNA at this point, including vertebrates AND invertebrates. They’re also starting to lean into their favorites. For battle, Jake relies on tiger, Rachel goes elephant or bear, Cassie goes wolf, and […]

There and Back Again: A Spaceship’s Tale

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

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I read Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy last year (two short novellas comprising the Monk & Robot series) and loved them, so her earlier Wayfarers series, starting with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet has been on my to-be-read list for a while. We join the crew of the Wayfarer, a spaceship that’s on a job to travel to a far-off destination and essentially drop an anchor point for a wormhole to make future travel […]

First of three interconnected prequel stories to Vox Machina,

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Whitestone Chronicles Volume 1 Ripley by Critical Role, Tyler Walpole and Marieke Nijkamp

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The Legend of Vox Machina: The Whitestone Chronicles Volume 1 Ripley by Critical Role, Tyler Walpole and  Marieke Nijkamp is not OMG BEST BOOK EVER but it is a nice read. You know the story if you’ve followed Vox Machina in any of its forms, but also because it is a fairly straightforward Villain who does not see herself as Villain (and later a couple forms of revenge) story. The artwork is familiar. You know the scenes and setting. Few real surprises, but it is […]

Ursula Le Guin is a Bad Ass

The Wild Girls by Ursula Le Guin

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The Wild Girls is a small collection of writings by Ursula Le Guin, as well as one interview. I enjoyed this book enormously and it’s a quick read. The first piece is a short story from which the collection gets its name. The Crown men, the elite denizens of a nearby city, kidnap children of the “dirt people,” otherwise known as slaves. They steal a little girl named Mal, whose sister Modha chases after them until she’s caught up with the cadre of soldiers. Among […]



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