Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Old Magic, Old Story Style

Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories by Diana Wynne Jones

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One of the things I always find fascinating about reading short story collections by authors who’ve had a very long career is to see the growth and change of their style over time. Unexpected Magic by Diana Wynne Jones is no exception. The collection has stories published from throughout her career, from as early as the 1960s to the early 2000s. Not in any particular order, the stories range from speculative tales of authors so lost in their work it becomes real to cats telling their […]

We get it, Rainbow Rowell, you love Starbucks

The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell

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The Prince and the Troll is more what I was looking for from Rainbow Rowell, more of what worked for the Simon Snow series when it did work, love by way of (mild) fantasy. You have a troll, who catches and returns a phone dropped from atop the bridge she lives under, and the titular “prince,” who begins treating her to (of fucking course) Starbucks every day on his way to work. Rowell doesn’t dive too deep (pun intended) into the lore of the troll […]

Rainbow Rowell does COVID (with a dash of love)

If the Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell

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Somehow, despite Rainbow Rowell being my favorite author, I was unaware of this story’s existence. But, in scouring through all the Rainbow Rowell reviews on here, just out of curiosity, I noticed plenty of reviews for this, discovered it was about Reagan from Fangirl, and decided I had to join in on the fun. If the Fates Allow picks up with Reagan during COVID times. Turns out she’s like my fiancee if  she were far rougher around the edges. Seeing Reagan go to such great […]

Friendship

Fair Play by Tove Jansson

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Best for: Those looking for a mix between short stories and a novel. In a nutshell: Jonna and Mari are artists and friends who are in their 70s and live at opposite ends of an apartment building on an island. Worth quoting: “She’s not shy; she just won’t bother trying to be pleasant. She thinks it’s artistic to be gloomy.” Why I chose it: My partner gave this to me as a gift, I think because it’s a novel about friendship, not romantic love, and […]

Give me space!

Eight Short Science Fiction Stories by Ray Bradbury

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Sometimes you just need to escape and read some space stories. And this collection of Bradbury’s finest was quite satisfying. These are quite old stories, and all are freely available via Project Gutenberg or other sites. I’ll include original publication dates and links in case one or more takes your fancy. Knowing when the tales were published makes each that much more enjoyable (to me, at least). Truly, Bradbury is a genius. 1. Rocket Summer First published in 1947. This is a wonderfully political take […]

Beware of Bored Women!

Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov

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ESPECIALLY if you are the one to damn them into a life of boredom. I sought out this short story after being utterly enthralled by the 2016 Florence Pugh tour-de-force Lady Macbeth. If you are a sucker for a brutal period drama chock full of female desperation-disguised-as-power, then hustle your bustle to your  nearest ye olde video rental and check. it. out. The film is phenomenal, and I was immediately curious about the source material! A little Wikipedia creeping led me to Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk […]



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