Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Lumberjane Standalone

Lumberjanes: THe Infernal Compass by Lilah Sturges, Polterink

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Bingo 16 (Illustrated) I really liked the first few installments of the Lumberjanes series, and then things started to get uneven, both in terms of art and the story. Then came Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass. This volume isn’t part of the main series exactly, it’s a stand-alone graphic novel, but it seems to go back to the original spirit in ways I really appreciated. A significant bit is dedicated to a single story that’s not an obvious episode (a good thing). The basic story focuses […]

Really Unreal (pun intended)

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey

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Bingo 15 (Far and Away) What makes The Grand Dark so interesting is that there’s a lot of recognizable elements to it, but at the same time it’s so very much not reality. Overall, this is a creepy but intriguing world because bits are familiar, but then the rest is either too vague or too unnatural. That’s what makes the whole thing, the setting and the story, something you recognize and at the same time really different- the unfamiliar familiar. It’s also a world apart […]

A true story from right here at home

S Street Rising: Crack, Murder, and Redemption in D.C. by Ruben Castaneda

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Five years ago, I moved to the Washington, D.C., that is. Gentrification (likely) isn’t over, I imagine that more neighborhoods will transition, the cost of living will continue to rise, long-time residents will continue to be pushed out, but the D.C. I moved to is broadly the D.C. I know today. The city was very different as recently as ten years ago, but boy howdy has it changed since the 1990s. S Street Rising is the memoir of journalist Ruben Castaneda. In it, he details […]

“The apocalypse began at Starbucks. Where else did you expect the end of the world to start?”

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson

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#CBR11bingo – #cannonballersays Elena Mendoza is a totally normal high school student. She has a best friend named Fadil, an ex named Javi, a job at the local Starbucks, and a crush on the mysterious and beautiful Freddie. Oh, and also, Elena was born without her mother ever having had sex, leading to the EXTREMELY clever nickname “Mary” at school. And she hears voices from inanimate objects that tell her what to do all the time. One day, while Elena is busy at Starbucks, the […]

“Nowhere in the world are there to be found people richer than the Chinese.” ~ IBN BATUTA (FOURTEENTH CENTURY)

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

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CBR11 Bingo: Travel Like most people I fell head over heels in love with the rich world director Jon M Chu created with last year’s Crazy Rich Asians but I hadn’t gotten around to reading the novel it was based on. In a way I am glad I saw the movie first because it pales in comparison to the source materiel and I would have probably been disappointed. Whenever I read the book after watching the movie I find it a lot easier to enjoy […]

CBR11Bingo: And So It Begins (the first three books in the Harry Hole series)

The Bat (Harry Hole #1) by Jo Nesbø

Cockroaches (Harry Hole #2) by Jo Nesbø

The Redbreast (Harry Hole #3) by Jo Nesbø

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I am loathe to start a series (like I did here — And So It Begins!) and not complete it. But I feel like I gave Harry Hole one hell of an effort, and after three very long books, I’m going to retire him early. These are not bad thrillers by any means. But there’s about 10 more in the series and the first three were each about 3 star books, so I’m calling it quits. But not before I review them! The Bat (Harry Hole […]



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