Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

God is Change

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

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Add this one to the list of books I wish I’d read in my teens rather than a butt load of Stephen King. Octavia Butler’s frighteningly prescient dystopian novel needs to be added to every high school curriculum. It is a story of economic and societal collapse, climate disaster and survival in the face of unspeakable pain and loss. It’s a difficult read but none of the horrors feel gratuitous. It comes with many trigger warnings; rape, harm to children, harm to animals and fires. […]

How can we prepare for the future if we won’t acknowledge the past?

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

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I did it! I finished the trilogy!!! It feels a little weird to be proud, I mean, I’ve read a trilogy before, but because I started this journey with an arched eyebrow toward fantasy I feel like I have come out on the other side as a little different, a true fantasy fan. And that credit goes to the awe-inspiring Jemisin. I went down a bit of an internet rabbithole reading about her because she is so cool and smart and found an early AMA […]

Station Eleven, a book about the end and the continuation, about, life, art, and time.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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To write about writing is a strange exercise. When we view stories, we usually view them, somewhat, as experiences, more than as texts. This adds a dynamic dimension, one that is difficult to capture when reviewing and critiquing literature. I talk from the point of my experience of the literature in these writings, but there is undeniable a connection, between the quality of language, of development of setting and character, and the use of the devices of writing, in how the experience of the reader […]

What’s Your Flavor of Ice Cream?

Bones of the Past by Drew Hayes

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Villain’s Code 1 may have been the first thing by Drew Hayes that I read. Now that it was finally time for a sequel, I was kind of excited to see that world again. Villain’s Code 2 is titled Bones of the Past and that’s pretty much an accurate description on a couple of levels. First, the main focus of book 1, Tori, who is now a new villain starting to find her place in the world, is not as much the focus; but she’s […]

Damn the Man

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

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I listened to Sarah Gailey’s Magic for Liars last year and enjoyed it, but this was even better. Upright Women Wanted is set in a Wild West style world from the future, where a continuous war has torn the country apart and men dominate society. Information, the tool we use to grow and learn and resist, is tightly controlled with approved materials from the Librarians. The goal for this society is to keep people uneducated and very carefully educated. At the start of the story, […]

A Sad Reminder That We Are STILL Debating These Issues

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

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The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood My rating: 4 of 5 stars My first encounter with “The Handmaid’s Tale” was through the television show. I only watched three episodes, but it scared me. I’m not one to watch shows or films where people suffer and/or experience trauma. I’m too empathetic. So needless to say, when my wife suggested that we read the book and discuss it, I was wary. At least with viewing something you can look away; not so with reading. Thankfully, the book’s […]



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