advance reader copy – Page 38 – Cannonball Read 17

I Didn’t Like It.

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K.J. Parker

January 8, 2022 by Emmalita 2 Comments

A couple of years ago, I saw someone who doesn’t usually make a fuss about books raving about K.J. Parker’s Sixteen Way to Defend a Walled City. When I saw it on sale, I bought it, but didn’t get around to reading it. And then I saw A Practical Guide to Conquering the World on NetGalley. I thought, this would be a great motivator to actually read a book already on my kindle! Friends, I really wish I had read the first few pages of […]

And now he was looking at her as if she were a cake, if cakes were also religious icons…

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

January 6, 2022 by Emmalita 12 Comments

I thought The Queer Principles of Kit Webb made me swoon, but I was unprepared for the vertigo inducing swoon of The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes. First I’m going to share two quotes and these ought to be all the advertisement you need to sell you on this book. Next, I’m going to warn you that you cannot read this gem of a book without reading reading it’s predecessor, The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, and then I’m going to add some spoilers for Kit Webb. […]

An Unconditional American

Go Back to Where You Came From by Wajahat Ali

January 4, 2022 by Emmalita 2 Comments

Wajahat Ali’s Go Back to Where You Came From and Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American is an enormously readable punch in the gut. Ali is a gifted storyteller. He dissects his life and the world around him with a fine scalpel. He is funny, smarter than me, and can make me look at the ugly underbelly while I’m laughing until I’m not laughing anymore. As I told an earlier fan, I would love to move back to my ancestral land of the […]

“It’s like the foreign legion for nerds” I said, and laughed.

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

December 18, 2021 by Emmalita 8 Comments

The Kaiju Preservation Society is very definitely a John Scalzi book. In his Afterword, which is worth reading, he describes it as a pop song. It came to him almost fully formed after he finally abandoned a book he describes as “a brooding symphony.” It’s frothy, entertaining and goes down smoothly while pointing out significant cultural issues. The good guys win and the bad guy satisfyingly gets what’s coming to him. I really loved that Scalzi starts this book firmly in our world, in our […]

Jolie had known for six months and two days that her life was now temporary.

If I Were a Weapon by Skye Kilaen

December 17, 2021 by Emmalita Leave a Comment

On a near future Earth, alien ships appear and then moments later all the aliens die. As they die, clouds of nanites infect the area around the ships, killing many and leaving some with powers. Some time later, Deneve is making her way to Austin from Houston. She’s had a flash of a vision, just enough to know someone is in danger. Deneve has been on the road, unwilling to stay anywhere too long since the aliens arrived. The nanites that infect her body lead […]

Not Derivative Enough

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

December 12, 2021 by Emmalita 5 Comments

Elena Armas’ debut romance The Spanish Love Deception, has been getting a lot of attention. I’ve seen the cover on social media a lot and it recently won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Debut. I hate not liking a book, but I did not like it and now I have to write a bad review. Before I requested it on NetGalley, I had seen a few reviews calling it a Hating Game knock off. I read a lot of genre books. I don’t have a […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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