Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

a collection of poisonous surfaces

Ghost Lover by Lisa Taddeo

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CBR Bingo Square: Snake I don’t read a lot of short stories these days except for work, so when the description of Lisa Taddeo’s Ghost Lover piqued my interest, I went ahead and put a library hold on it. I felt optimistic: I’d liked both Carmen Maria Machado’s and Helen Oyeyemi’s short story collections when I read them in the past couple years. Well. Taddeo’s a solid writer, for sure, but I did not like this collection much at all. I stubbornly finished so I could […]

Okay the image is taken from the web but the love for this book is all mine

Eternally Yours by Patrice Caldwell

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cbr14bingo Heart Level 2 Eternally Yours is filled with stories that fit all types of romance readers. Though it is young adult based; adults can appreciate editor Patrice Caldwell’s collection as well. With a mix of mortal love and supernatural love, and everything else in between, multiple voices are heard. All races, genders, and even different species come to life when it comes to matters of the heart. Several of the authors you will know, some might be new to you. But each weaves a […]

Art Imitating Life Imitating Art

Wastelands: The New Apocalypse by John Joseph Adams & Others

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I’m putting together a new class for work that is supposed to cover cross-cultural perspectives, but also be speculative, but also be relevant to ‘kids these days’, so what better place to start than with an anthology of post-apocalyptic fiction specializing in pandemics! Chocked full of terrifying tales, Wastelands: The New Apocalypse includes a variety of authors from different places, cultures, and perspectives all writing about humanity’s deepest and darkest fears. From deadly spores and burning suns to viruses and carcinogenic air, this anthology mines for […]

“she allowed people to act in accordance with their own preconceptions”

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good (Elderly Lady, #1) by Helene Tursten

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I definitely want more from Maud, the old lady who never met a problem she couldn’t just casually murder. I had this out from my library so long they charged me for a replacement copy, which is dumb of me because it’s the world’s shortest read. I finished it off in less than two hours. (Don’t worry, I returned it, and me and the library are all good now.) It is seriously a teeny little book, like five inches tall and three inches wide. A […]

Unknown Number

Unknown Number by Blue Neustifter

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I just read this about half an hour ago and this was wonderful. The plot, flow, and the two characters we get to meet in this will do your heart in. I just honestly wish it had been longer, but alas, short story. “Unknown Number” follows a person getting a text message from an unknown caller. The unknown caller seems to know a lot about them and starts telling them personal things. And then the texts take a turn and leads one to wonder about […]

And a Side of Short Short Story

Tall Tales and Timeless Stories by Mary Lou Condike, Brian Condike, and Emily Young

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This anthology is different for several reasons. None of the stories are longer than 1,500 words, meaning a great many of them feel unfinished. They are also split into various genres including paranormal, mystery and crime, literary and memoir, science fiction and fantasy, historical, adventure and western, and young adults and children. I kind of like that. The same writers’ names appear over and over across genres, giving the reader a nice taste of the writer’s style and ability to write in different categories. There […]



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