Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

It was a fun trip!

Stranger Than Fanfiction by Chris Colfer

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Not gonna lie, I picked this up for the title first.  I’m an unashamed reader of fanfiction, so when I saw the clever title, I wanted to know more.  Then I read the back, and immediately knew this was for me!  (Fanfiction doesn’t actually play a huge role in this, though!) This is kind of in the same realm as Geekarella.  There’s a show that’s kind of geeky but has a strong cult following, and they both have conventions!  There are stars that love working […]

A passionate author can make all the difference

Check, Please! Book 1 #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu

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I had seen this floating around, but it wasn’t until I saw Ngozi Ukazu speak at the NYPL professional day at New York Comic Con this year that I really wanted to read it.  I had seen the cover and thought, “Oh, hockey, not really for me,” and passed it by. But seeing Ukazu speak so passionately about her work inspired me to seek it out. (Fun fact – my public library where I work did not have it, but the high school where I […]

Jewish, Immigrant(s, they get the job done) (Bingo: Own Voices)

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

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The US has been ravaged by war and disease (and war over disease) and Noam Álvaro is sixteen and the child of Atlantean (Georgia, that is, not Atlantis) illegal immigrants to Carolina who is involved in the Atlantean Rights movement — until he, too, falls sick with the Fever. Unlike most of the population, however, Noam survives — and wakes up a technomancer, with the ability to talk to computer systems and all manner of technology. And then things get worse.

I came into the Grishaverse backwards

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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I came across the Grishaverse backwards.  Last year I read a write up for Leigh Bardugo’s The Language of Thorns and was intrigued by the concept of a book of fairytales that characters in her Grishaverse would have read or been told, when they were children.  The piece said knowledge of the other books was not necessary to enjoy Language of Thorns and I put it on my Cannonball gift exchange wish list.  I was delighted to discover it in my gift box (Thank you, […]

Beasts of jargon.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

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Let’s face it. If Rainbow Rowell wrote the instructions on the back of a box of oatmeal, I would read it. Many Cannonballers understand exactly what I’m saying and I have to thank their rave reviews from the early days for introducing her to me. “Fangirl,” in particular, is one of my favorite books. Rowell captures what it’s like to be a college freshman: starting at square one, trying to make new friends, and figuring out who you are. The main character in that novel, […]

In which I struggle to understand the reasoning for risking everything you hold dear in life for the guy from Dude, Where’s My Car?

Inside Out: A Memoir by Demi Moore

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CBR11bingo #TrueStory First off, this was not a book I would have ever read on my own. My book club chose it for October. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate a celebrity memoir, I just don’t have any feelings one way or the other about Demi Moore. Or at least, I didn’t. Now I guess I have a few. Demi “tells all” in this book, which starts off with a drug overdose, complete with an out-of-body experience. She definitely knows how to hook […]



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