Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The things we do for book clubs (a parenthetical rant)

The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe

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I was all excited when I discovered that a used bookstore near me has a science fiction book club. I listened to the audio book of their pick. It was wretched, but I’m still looking forward to the meeting. Hopefully it will make for some interesting discussion! I fully admit that urban fantasy is not my jam, so maybe this book is just fine and the fault was with the reader. However, the bratty, unlikeable main character (I refuse to call her the protagonist or […]

If you’re a Murderino, you already like this book

Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

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This is absolutely delightful fluff, and if you like the podcast My Favorite Murder, you will like this book. It’s like sitting down and having a cup of coffee with Georgia and Karen. Their stories and essays are loosely grouped into sections based on advice and catchphrases that have come out of the podcast, like “Stay Out of the Forest,” and “You’re in a Cult, Call Your Dad.” Mostly, though, it’s just an excuse for them to ramble (which they are oh so good at) […]

A meandering but mostly fun ride

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland

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This massive book covers time travel, witchcraft, academia, military machinations, and more science and physics than this English major could comfortably follow. It feels like several different books mashed together (maybe because of the dual authors?), but the merging of all the pieces was pretty successful. I haven’t read much Stephenson, so I’m not sure how much was him and how much was Galland, but I enjoyed most of it. Melisande Stokes is trapped in 1851 London, and is writing down everything that happened to […]

A ghost story without much story

The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike

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How long would you stay if you suspected your new apartment was haunted? A week? Six months? Two hundred pages? Misao, her husband Teppei, and their small daughter move into a gorgeous new apartment building. The price is suspiciously low, because the building is located right next to a cemetery, temple, and crematorium. Also suspicious: half the new apartments are empty, and the ones that are occupied are rapidly losing their tenants. The first day they move in, the family’s parakeet dies, and the little […]

“Better nonexistence than pain” – whatever, dude

Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian

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Do you guys find it harder to write a spoiler-free review when it’s for a book you didn’t like? My last two reviews have been for books that were just kind of meh, but then had aggravating endings. It’s tough not to talk about it! Three hundred years after an apocalypse only referred to as “The Storm,” the surviving civilizations are gathered in bunkers and domes. Everyone is issued food, clothing, jobs, apartments, etc.: everything a person needs. The entire occupation of the settlements is […]

I needed more of a reason to care what happened to these people

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

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I finished this book on a plane four days ago, and I’m already forgetting it. It was fine – perfect plane fare, and it fit in my purse. But it was tremendously forgettable. Four girls become fast friends at boarding school, something terrible happens, they grow up with a horrible secret, and events come back to haunt them after they’re all grown and living miles away from each other. Not very original, sure, but there’s definitely potential there. Fifteen years after they left school under […]



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