Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Creating seasons where none exist (Groundhog Day part II)

On the Calculation of Volume II by Solvej Balle

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CBR 17 BINGO: Green (see cover image) Translated by Barbara Haveland Back in April, I read the first installment of Solvej Balle’s seven-part series On the Calculation of Volume and was impressed by its poetic sublimity. I wondered how she could possibly extend the concept into six more novels. I enjoyed part II, but I’m still wondering where this is going. To recap, in part I, bookseller Tara Selter is experiencing “broken time.” She appears to be caught in a loop where she keeps experiencing […]

Murderbot + ART = Joy!

Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

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Cbr17bingo Favorite I’ve read this book, actually the whole existing Murderbot Diaries series, a few times, and I think I have reviewed it for CBR a couple of times, too. So it is definitely a favorite. Artificial Condition is the second book in the Murderbot series, the follow up to All Systems Red. Series 1 of the Murderbot Diaries just ended on Apple TV and I loved it. They made some changes from All Systems Red but they were changes that made sense for a […]

Can You Ever Go Home Again? (And Should You?)

You Belong Here by Megan Miranda

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Beckett Bowery thought she’d never return to Wyatt Valley. The college town nestled in the Appalachians was her home. It was where she grew up, her parents taught, and she went to school – until a tragedy her senior year resulted in the deaths of two men and her roommate on the run as the prime suspect in their murder. Faced with the scrutiny and suspicion of town and college, Beckett moved away from Wyatt Valley and planned on never going back. But her daughter […]

Girl in a Band: A Memoir

Girl in a Band: A Memoir by Kim Gordon

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I have to confess I have never been a particular fan of Sonic Youth. I would read about them in Sassy, but I didn’t really hear much of their music other than when the Kool Thing video played on Much Music, and I just didn’t really love it. The band had an aura of cool (New York, friends with Chloe Sevigny, etc) that felt really beyond me because I just did not get it. However, I was in a used record store this spring and […]

”Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting my friend”

John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie

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Cbr17bingo Arts Like millions around the world, I am a Beatles fan. An obsession developed when I was about 12 years old and lasted through my high school years. I spent all my money on Beatles records. They were my first real music love. Many decades have passed since then but my love was renewed when I saw Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary on Disney+ a few years ago. And thanks to Facebook’s algorithm, my feed has been flooded with Beatles-related posts ever since. As […]

“In my place will grow a feral rose, soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth”

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab

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Bingo Square: B – Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil V.E. Schwab has created another enjoyable stand alone novel with Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.  It’s about hunger, love, and rage.  Starting in 1532 Spain and concluding in 2019 Boston, Massachusetts.  Three women, across time become inextricably linked and, in Schwab’s words, this is their “toxic, lesbian vampire story”. Bury my bones in the midnight soil,   plant them shallow and water them deep,   and in my place will grow a feral rose,   soft red […]



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