Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Doctor Who twist on classic fairy tales

Time Lord Fairy Tales by Justin Richards and David Wardle

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Time lord fairy tales, like the title succinctly suggests, is a mashup of the Who-niverse and the good old (Western) fairy tales. It puts classical Doctor Who characters into sometimes well-known fairy tales other times stories that either just borrow the structure of fairy tales or that I don’t know. As an adult it was fun to guess along to identify the origin story or the original baddie. However even though the stories are all written by the same author the quality varies wildly. “Heroes […]

The Original YA Novel: Classic for a Reason

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

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Everyone has a classic book that they’ve successfully managed to avoid. Jane Eyre is mine. After abusive Wuthering Heights left me fuming—f***ing emo Heathcliff—I binned all the Brontë sisters. I know now that I did wrong. Strong and sensitive Jane Eyre is the progenitoress of Anne of Green Gables, Meg Murray, Lyra Belacqua, and Katniss Everdeen. Unlike any English novel prior to 1847, the story happens *inside* a young woman’s mind, giving the reader direct access to her thoughts, emotions, and observations. (The book couldn’t […]

It’s official: I ain’t got no cooth

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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I’ve resolved to read more classics this year, and that puts me in a bit of a bind. There simply aren’t as many capital-C Classics by women (which does *not* reflect well on our culture), and I’m not that excited to overload on male writers just yet. I know this really means that I need to dig a little deeper and search a little harder to find the good stuff, but in the meantime, I have a few on my shelves, including one that I […]

Round Two with the Crew of the Pufferfish

Terminal Uprising by Jim C. Hines

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Hines’ second outing with the hero Janitors involves Mops and crew going back to Earth. There are references to Farscape (living ships), Willard Scott, and sports (as well as possible current US politics). I like the sports in this book. It is also a love novel to books and libraries. While I didn’t find the novel as funny the first one in the series, it is still an excellent book. In part, this is because, like Terry Pratchett, Jim C Hines’ heroes are those that […]

Fables on the Run

Fox 8 by George Saunders

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This short and entertaining tale by the author of the (honestly, so much better) Lincoln on the Bardo goes by at a fast clip. Accompanied by cute fox drawings by Chelsea Cardinal, Fox 8 tells the story of Fox 8, a quick-learning inquisitive fox who learns to speak and read “yuman” by watching a family as they go about their daily business. As civilization begins to encroach on their forest home and the food supply begins to dwindle, Fox 8 (one of many numbered foxes […]

“This life can turn a good girl bad”

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

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  The Trauma Cleaner is the story of Sandra Pankhurst, the owner of a cleaning business that cleans homes after, as the title says “death, disaster and decay.” This includes hoarding situations. It is also the story of a life full of its own trauma, which eventually lead Ms. Pankhurst to run such a unique business. Born biologically male in Australia, she suffered horrific abuse and neglect at the hands of a family who seemed to resent her very presence. Being a trans sex worker […]



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