Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Not So Evil Evil Society of Cats and the Dogs who Oppose Them

The Evil Secret Society of Cats by Pandania

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Once in a while those “you read X, so we recommend Y” annoyances kind of get it right. That’s how I found The Evil Secret Society of Cats. The premise is simple: said society want to “teach humans to fear the feline race!” Basically it’s a series of 4-panel comics in a quasi manga style featuring the antics of a group of cats and the humans they live/interact with, and a few local dogs as well. It’s kind of cute and mindless, and the real […]

If you don’t love Book 1, do you keep going with Book 2?

The Conductors by Nicole Glover

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I have a coworker who says “I don’t want to get out over my skis” a lot. I had never heard that expression before, but this book really feels like it encapsulates the phrase. The ideas are interesting, and the two main characters are great, but it feels like the story and the writing never quite live up to the concept. This is an alternate history about the Underground Railroad and the uncertain times after the Civil War – except with magic. The story starts […]

Two Well-Regarded Children’s Time Travel Novels

Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer

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I was surprised when I visited England at what a popular genre historical children’s time travel novels were, but it’s one I enjoy so I got a couple. Both are apparently much beloved classics that must have missed me when I was a child, and this was a good chance to fill in some gaps of my children’s novel knowledge. Tom’s Midnight Garden has an intimidatingly positive pull quote by Philip Pullman on the cover: “a perfect book.” This made me internally querulous and I […]

The Memory Librarian

The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe

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Did Not Finish-2 and a half stories in (can’t find the book and mark what page I got to)  So sad I could not get into this collection at all. I know that Janelle Monáe did her “dirty computer” thing and I get where she was going with this. If you pretend it’s just a continuation to her songs/album it kind of works. But if you never listened to her songs or watched the movie based on these songs, you are going to be totally […]

When Fiona woke up on the wrong side of the world

Stung (volume one) by Bethany Wiggins

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If you do not like pandemic stories, please stay away from Stung (volume one) by Bethany Wiggins. While this was written before the current events of 2020 to 2022 (when I read) it is almost like what we experienced and/or are experiencing. Except with the crazy beasts roaming outside the gates of the city, honey being used as a form of currency, and politicians getting called out for their actions. We follow a young girl who is trying to hide, partly in plain sight and […]

Name. Time. Hell.

The Hellbound Volume one by Yeon San-Ho

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This, to say the least, is an unusual book.  What is/was the point? Who are these people that grace the pages? Why do they do what they do? (Okay, the officer who had his wife murdered, and his son, make sense, but still). When is this book taking place? (Is it now? Or a future timeline? Or even an alternative timeline?) So many questions, so few answers in The Hellbound Volume one manga graphic novel. The creators, Yeon San-Ho, Choi Gyu-Seok, Danny Lim (translation) and […]



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