Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I’d spent my entire life overdosing on uncut escapism, willingly allowing fantasy to become my reality.”

Armada by Ernest Cline

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I recently finished Armada by Ernest Cline – my second read by that particular author, after Ready Player One. And while it did not live up to the first book for me personally, there was still a lot to enjoy about Armada. Gamers saving the world through mad gaming skills is always an enteraining theme. This was a light and fun read, particularly the first half with the setup of our hero (Zack Lightman) and learning how his upbringing and experiences have defined who he […]

SOMEONE explain this one to me, please

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

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Hot Take (04/2022): Full review to come but like: Wade is a Gary Stu, everything is a Deux Ex Machina, the 80s had more than just male artists/everything. Why does everyone love this so much? Full Review (6/2022): so it’s been two months since I read this, and I can’t say my feelings on the matter have softened all that much. For some reason I always slot this book next to Ender’s Game in my mind, probably because they both make me think of 80s sci-fi, and […]

The future, the present and the past are all scary places

The name of the rose by Umberto Eco

The searcher by Tana French

The push by Ashley Audrain

The hunting party by Lucy Foley

Snow crash by Neal Stephenson

Ready player two by Ernest Cline

Tender is the flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

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My final review dump and then I’ll be all caught up! Woohoo! These books are about the past, the present and the future. The name of the rose by Umberto Eco Eco is my dad’s favourite author. He’s read all of his books, some of them probably several times. I, on the other hand, had never read anything by Eco before. I had seen bits of the film years ago that had intrigued me enough to want to read the book but for some reason […]

I Know Why the Caged Nerd Sings

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

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The internet likes to crap on Ready Player One, the pop-culture-reference laden tale of the ultimate MMORPG quest to literally own the internet. People look back on that book with dripping distain, calling it out for toxic nerd culture, gate-keeping fandoms, and glorifying having an encyclopediac knowledge of useless movie references. But I really enjoyed it! It made me laugh, referenced a bunch of silly crap that I like, and it entertained me for a few hours. I didn’t see the harm. Hell, I even […]

An Attempt Was Made

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

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  Well that happened. I enjoyed RP1, though I am aware of the criticism thrown its way. It was essentially a love letter to Gen X white men but dammit it was FUN and it had an underdog protagonist you could root for. Let me quickly sum up the Ready Player Two for you; take the plot of RP1, raise the stakes but take away the fun of the first book, turn your protagonist into a petty billionaire and try to cram even more eighties […]

I finally got around to the one I was saving

Armada by Ernest Cline

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I’m a big fan of Ready Player One, especially the version read by Wi Wheaton.  So I knew right away that I wanted to listen to his narration of Armada.  (I bought it right away when I got my Audible account, and then saved it.)  Ernest Cline obviously loves video games and the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, and the ‘90’s too.  The amount of pop culture he includes in his books is impressive.   For some reason, I thought this was written way before it was.  Ready […]



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