Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Lost World by Arthur Conan

The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

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As a huge fan of Doyle, and knowing the influence this book has had on fantasy, I saw an edition of The Lost World from a printing in the early 1970s at a used book store and immediately purchased it. Oy, what a mistake. I am aware that Holmes has been accused of being misogynistic and there are elements of racism within those books but man did Doyle let his id out of control in this novel. I literally hated every single one of these […]

“Slavers, dinosaurs, and mummies, oh my!”

The Champion by Taran Matharu

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I picked up the first book in this series on a whim, not sure what to expect, but the history geek action-adventure with a scifi twist hit the exact right note for me. And this final book in the trilogy is no slouch in terms of any of that! Cade, Amber and Quintus (and the rest of the teens) have had a short reprieve after defeating the Hydras, but Abaddon isn’t done with them yet. But Cade’s darkest moment yet leads to the startling revelation […]

Humans fight dinosaurs in space; don’t think too much and enjoy the ride

Steel World by B. V. Larson

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BINGO – Machinery (and my first completed Bingo!) You know those movies whose trailer you watch the first time and you think, “Who gave that the green-light? That looks so dumb.” And the second trailer comes out and you think, “Okay, maybe that looks kind of fun but still. There’s no way I’m going to see it.” And then you see a trailer one more time and finally relent to think, “Yeah, sure, that looks fun and dumb; I’m in!” That was Steel World. It was […]

Roar! We are But a Speck in Time

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

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Tell me I’m not alone: sometimes I’m sitting somewhere, minding my own business, when the thought intrudes, “I can’t believe that dinosaurs were real.” It just seems so impossible. Surely they are made-up movie creatures. How can such amazing beings have once roamed (and dominated) the world? Well, Steve Brusatte’s The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of Their Lost World tells you all about it. And I loved every second of it. Beware: this book will give you an existential crisis […]

Break a leg

Roxy the Unisaurus Rex Presents: Oh NO! The Talent Show by Eva Chen

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In the mix of my 130 emails (I know, so few for most, but for me, that is an unbelievable amount!) I have an email from a rep of the bookstore. They send out a list of new books coming from a website we use to order and/or look at titles on. And occasionally there is a snippet or two/a page or three, that gives you a hint of what is to happen. However, they also sometimes have links to download or in the case […]

What do a hippo, worm, lightbulb and a dinosaur have in common? Their books are mentioned in this review!

The Secret Rhino Society by Jonathan E. Jacobs

The Legend of King Arthur-A-Tops by Mo O’Hara

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I was in a bit of a reading slump but realized that it was because I was not reading the right books. I was trying to read novels and was in the mindset for picture books. Those fun, clever little gems that takes a few minutes to read, but you feel accomplished after. After all, think of the child just reading; they cannot do War and Peace, but when they read a book of a few dozen pages, a few hundred words or so, and […]



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