Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Woof.

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

by Leave a Comment

The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic tale of a pilot in North America who goes by the name of Hig. Big Hig, his prepper-turned-survivalist ‘mate’ Bangley, and his dog Jasper have carved out a fairly safe refuge at a regional airport, left empty at the end of the world. They spend their days farming, salvaging, hunting, and going on recon flights around the area. Hig and Bangley have a fractured yet symbiotic relationship that is not without turmoil. Hig’s a big ol’ softy, see, who […]

“I suspect if I had owned a border collie, this story would have a very different ending, and I probably would not have been around to type it up. But I had Bongo, and he saved our lives because he is simple and made of nose.”

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

by Leave a Comment

Gotta write this review today because I’m about to start The Hollow Places, and I don’t want my brain to get to confused about it. This book was ooky spooky and I enjoyed it very much. The atmosphere was A+ for me, the MC alone in her evil grandmother’s hoarder house (the book is clear that her being a hoarder is in no way related to her being evil, but the doll room is def related) and a THING in the woods. The THING omg it […]

A trippy, atmospheric sci-fi haunted house.

Rose/House by Arkady Martine

by Leave a Comment

“I am Rose House, entire, and have never been anything else. I am not lonely. I do not wish to be a companion of elsewheres.” This was so atmospheric and a pleasure to read, even though I’m pretty sure I didn’t understand half of what was going on. The main conceit here is that this is a sci-fi take on a haunted house, where the haunt is an A.I. that IS the house, not that inhabits the house or was installed there, but is in […]

“A romance is a belief in the impossible: that anything ends happily.”

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

by Leave a Comment

This was really good but I can’t give it a full five stars for one reason. More on that reason below. But first! I enjoyed this so much! I said this in a status update while reading, but it was such a relief to have a YA book tackle what this book is trying to tackle* and have it SUCCEED instead of falling down on its face. Ava Reid, like her or not, is really talented. There are of course going to be people that […]

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor asteroids, or giants, messy planets, nor gloom of night stays this courier from the not-so-swift completion of their appointed rounds

The Postman from Space by Guillaume Perreault

by Leave a Comment

The Postman from Space written and illustrated by Guillaume Perreault is an odd book that is both really really good and also a, “What did I read?” read. There is a lot going on, even though it looks simple. I was just flying through the minimalist text, thinking things would either be a bit on the “normal and dull” side or outrageously humorous. I am not sure if kids will get some of the Easter eggs (there is an obvious nod to a classic prince […]

One seed

Big Tree by Brian Selznick

by Leave a Comment

While I did not completely love the grainy illustrations of Big Tree by Brian Selznick, I understand the reason for them and appreciate them. And there were several that were more fleshed out, but they felt few and far between. The story is a mature environmental tale with spiritual elements that is told by two seeds from a seed pod from Mama Sycamore. It does not sound like it makes sense, but it does, even if sometimes the flow of the story felt to be not as […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo