Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

If 28 Days Later and The Road had a daughter

The Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff

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This was Round 2 of my ongoing “what’s going in in the world of Irish science fiction?” quest. (Round 1 was here.) First off: great title, no? I was instantly intrigued, especially with the description, and I liked this weird sense I was getting of the post-apocalypse as a site of feminist possibility rather than just endless misogyny and threatened sexual violence. (Sigh.) The premise is straightforward: Orpen lives with her mother and her mother’s partner, Maeve, on an isolated island off the coast of […]

It’s kind of like if Harry Potter was destined to destroy the world, crossed with the Hunger Games, and Hogwarts was actively trying to kill you

Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

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Naomi Novik burst on the scene with her Temeraire series but around book 4 or 5 I lost interest.  Then last year I finally read Spinning Silver and was reminded what a good author she is and was excited to find out that a new book was forth coming in the Fall, Deadly Education.  Attending one of her virtual release events whetted my appetite and I have been eagerly waiting for Deadly Education to rise to the top of the TBR, I’m happy to report it lived […]

Sloppy editing, battle that just kept going, and an egregious character death: Peace Talks part B

Battle Ground by Jim Butcher

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Jim Butcher said it was a publishing decision to break apart Peace Talks and Battle Ground into two books due to length and the sharp turn between the two halves of the story.  However, I’m not certain this was justified or needed.  Last year I read two books that were longer than the combined length of Peace Talks and Battle Ground.  And I suspect had the two been published together that the overall book would have been smaller, had the story not needed to be padded out to fill two […]

Yet another side series but this one works

My Hero Academia Team Up Missions vol 1 by Yoko Akiyama

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I have lost track of the My Hero Academia spin-offs; there’s at least 3 that I can think of, and now here’s number four: My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions. Basically, it’s an excuse to put random characters together and have a little fun. I liked this collection because it is more on the light side, and the main series is getting darker by the moment. Some of the scenarios and pairings are not that original like Bakugo and Deku to see if they can manage […]

Dresden’s very long list of things to do and the best quote, “Home is where you embrace the present and plan the future.  It’s where the books are.”

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

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For the first time I’m going to attempt to work on my review while still reading the book.  Let’s see what happens! 2/23 : I haven’t touched a Dresden novel since the release of the previous volume in 2014, so before cracking open Peace Talks had to look up recaps for Skin Game and Cold Days to refresh my memory.  As it’s been several years, I had forgotten how quickly the stakes are introduced and Harry is thrown into the fire but this book seems to have […]

Slay: Why Virtual Safe Spaces Are Needed

Slay by Brittney M Morris

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Slay by @BrittneyMMorris is a YA about virtual spaces and black identity and exceptionalism. It follows a teenage game developer who creates a game that can be a safe place for black gamers. Excellent conversations on safe spaces and why they’re needed. Can’t recommend it enough.



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