Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

So much promise, yet so bland

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

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Bingo 24: Celestial The Mimicking of Known Successes takes place at some point in the future when humanity has left Earth (maybe hopes to go back) and largely now lives on Jupiter. By virtue of setting, discussed in some detail, this is a cosmic setting with some cosmic questions about the future of planet Earth and humanity and other species. This novella is marketed as a sapphic romance (there’s a little), a murder investigation (also a little), gaslamp (kinda), and maybe a few other things […]

Murderbot deals with a lot of (redacted) and more thwarting evil big business

System Collapse by Martha Wells

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Bingo 23: Tech Sci-fi general is a safe option for this box, and I just so happen to have had Murderbot Diaries #6 on my TBR shelf. System Collapse is definitely tech-relevant, but only if you’re pretty current with previous episodes of the series. There’s two big mysteries in this volume: can Murdebot and its humans save some divided groups of planetary colonists from an evil corporation that wants to trick them into slavery, and 2) what’s up with Murdebot and {redacted}? The {redacted} thing […]

1960’s noir, an art heist, dark family secrets, vintage cars, and loads of sex

Tenebroso by thesehands

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Tenebroso by thesehands Ronan was a portent, an omen, a sign that Adam might be in real danger; Declan had sent the most dangerous person he knew to protect him. ― thesehands, Tenebroso As he lay in Adam’s arms, Ronan noted the differences between what he remembered and what he currently felt. Adam was not as bony as he used to be, no longer elongated with the awkward stretch of adolescence. He was warmer than Ronan’s memories, perhaps only because he was real and tangible […]

“Bourgeois fistula! Bourgeois fistula!” the rest of the dolphins chimed in unison.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

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John Scalzi can usually be relied on to deliver some delightfully silly good fun, and Starter Villain is no exception.  Much in the same vein as one of his other more recent books, The Kaiju Preservation Society, Starter Villain starts with some down in the dumps protagonist whose life is suddenly shaken upside down and they are suddenly swept away to a secret, parallel part of society that we regular schlubs never get to see. A hidden section of society that’s a little fun, a little […]

We’ve done it all before and now we’re back to get some more.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

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Sometimes I think the only way to keep something forever is to lose it and let it haunt you. ― Casey McQuiston, The Pairing “Those men are terminally straight.” “Nobody’s straight on a European vacation.” ― Casey McQuiston, The Pairing CBR16 Bingo: Golden This book contains golden everything. From the food (golden honey, golden grains, golden baked bread, golden pastries, golden saffron), to the characters (sun-kissed and golden, golden hair, golden skin), and emotions (golden memories, golden opportunities, and people more precious than gold), just […]

For any girl who ever broke up with a guy because her friends or family didn’t approve

Persuasion by Jane Austen

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CBR16 BINGO: Liberate, because Anne liberates herself from her ridiculous family and finds love Double BINGO! Diagonal: Détente, Fiasco, Dreams, Horses, Liberate Four corners and center square: Bananas, Détente, Rings, Liberate, Dreams Poor Anne Elliot is saddled with a vexing family. Her father and older sister, Elizabeth, are snobs of the highest order, while her younger sister, Mary, does her best to make herself the center of attention and whines about every minor inconvenience. Anne is, by any sane person’s standards, practically perfect in every […]



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