Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I don’t want it if I can’t have it with you.”

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall, Will M. Watt (Narrator)

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I blasted through three Alexis Hall books in relatively quick succession in 2022 and then sputtered out in 2023 when I borrowed Husband Material from the library and never got around to reading it and had to return it. Last year was a slump year, but the bummer of not being able to get into a book that I had been so excited about following reading Boyfriend Material has sort of kept me away from Alexis Hall books since. That is, until I saw narfna’s […]

A heartwarming book I adore

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

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This book is set in the future, in which robots do everything, and anything. It follows a robot by the name of Roz as she learns to survive in the wild after crashing into an isolated island. She has to learn to communicate with animals by watching their patterns and learning from them. However, she’s a foreign object, made of metal and quite loud. Then, one horrible day, she accidentally kills a family of ducks by crushing their nest. One egg survives, and it’s now […]

More danger, calamity and heroism in space (Bingo)

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

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CBR16 Sweet Books: Binge CBR16 Bingo: Celestial (set in space. I’m sure the characters observe lots of stars on their epic journeys through space) Spoiler warning: this is the third and final book in the Illuminae Files. A lot of stuff happened in the previous two novels, and it will be impossible to review this book without referring to some significant plot points. Additionally, I don’t see how this book would be a satisfying reading experience taken out of context. So if you aren’t up […]

“I had you in my life, and I had you in my future, and that was enough for me.”

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen

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In December of 2022 I read Megan Bannen’s The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. I devoured it, it sunk into my soul a bit and left me with big feelings that I had a tough time initially putting into words. When Bannen’s second book, The Undermining of Twyla and Frank was announced I immediately put it on my to read list and was even more excited by Emmalita’s review in June about a love story between two folks in their 50s. When I got my […]

“I hate having emotions about real humans instead of fake ones, it just leads to stupid moments like this.”

Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells

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I have many grudges against the New York Times, dating back many years (even while acknowledging the amazing work its staffers can do), but I think the Times review of Exit Strategy almost perfectly describes who and what Murderbot is, “”a beautiful blend of exhausted cynicism and deep, helpless love”, because while Murderbot hates having feelings and would likely try to argue that it can’t love, it is the only explanation for the choices it makes throughout this book.   In Rogue Protocol Murderbot goes […]

“Nobody grabs SecUnits. I hadn’t realized this was a perk until now.”

Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells

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When I read this book in January of 2019 it was my least favorite of the original four (spoiler, it still is), mostly because I didn’t connect with the non-Murderbot characters. To a degree that is still true, I feel less connected to them than I did to Mensah’s team in the first or the programmers in the second. But, on a second visit I think that’s probably by design, as Wells is clearly juxtaposing Don Amene and Miki against those other relationships. There is […]



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