Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Dan might be a dolphin, but James the Stanton needs help!

I Think Our Friend Dan Might Be a Dolphin by James the Stanton

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I think that James the Stanton might be a little crazy. Okay, a lot crazy. Afterall, why would someone write a book (or more actually a zine) called I Think Our Friend Dan Might Be a Dolphin and proceed to make one of the more warped things I have ever read (and honestly I think I’ve read several warped things). I hated everything about this book. It was too small. It was too blue. It was really really NSFW or  anyplace else for that matter. […]

“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 […]

“Don’t swim with the dolphins during a labor dispute. No matter how much they try to convince you otherwise.”

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

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I really enjoyed Starter Villain, and then I put it aside for a couple of weeks (*cough*months*cough*) because I had other reviews that need to be written sooner, and when I came back to write this review, I had a warm fuzzy feeling, but nothing of substance to say. That’s not the worst thing I can say about a book – that all I remember is a good feeling. So I reread Starter Villain, and that was not a chore. I enjoyed it again, though I […]

Dolphin Summer

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Dolphin Summer by Catherine Hapka is the type of book I would have loved when I was eight to about ten years-old. There is a girl a bit like me (always a plus when I was reading), dolphins, interesting questions, a bit of a mystery. As an adult, of course, there are holes in the story. But I have no problems recommending this to kids. The story is basic but fun for the third to (low) fifth grade reader. Our heroine, Lily, is alone for […]

I’m a fountain of blood in the shape of a girl…

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Patricia Engel has published two other books, the short story collection Vida and the novel It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris. Even though I haven’t read either of those books, I felt that I needed to read her new novel, The Veins of the Ocean. Not only because the reviews were intriguing (and very positive) but also because I don’t remember ever reading anything by a Colombian American novelist. The Veins of the Ocean is the story of Reina Castillo. When we first meet Reina […]



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