Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Short story that needs a novel

Hush by Mary Anne Mohanraj

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Dear Mary Anne Mohanraj, your story Hush just blew me away! I have probably never read anything so short that threw me for such a loop. This story about a middle-aged mom coming home from a long trip as a flight attendant. She is “human” but not of a new world, not like her ancestors of Old Earth. But is she humane? This is tested the day she comes home to find her (alien) neighbors’ daughter (approximately 14-years-old) being harassed by the local authorities. Of course, you […]

slick with sweat, thick with hate-and I love it

The Lover by Marguerite Duras

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Somehow, this incredible little novella flew completely under my radar until last year. Luckily, the folks over at Lit Hub are absolutely obsessed, and I was unable to remain in the dark for much longer. When it’s in a book I don’t think it’ll hurt any more …exist any more. One of the things writing does is wipe things out. Replace them. While not entirely an “autobiography”, Duras tells the tale of a very young girl who grew up in an unstable household in French-colonized […]

I need these books in a completed edition!

Asadora! V02 by Niaoki Urasawa

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Asadora! V02 starts with a short flashforward to “now” (or the “now” of the story), we are teased by a theme introduced but not explored in book one. Two scientists find a clue to proving Asa might not have been seeing things the day of the tsunami that destroyed her home and tore her family apart. We then go to where we left off in book one continuing Asa’s story of trying to help others by flying over the flooded town, dropping food to those […]

My dad isn’t a vampire but my mom was (almost) a lumberjack

Lumberjackula by Mat Heagerty

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We know the story presented in Lumberjackula by Mat Heagerty: a child wants to please his parents by doing what they want him to do; however, he does not want to do exactly what either wants for him as neither choice is the right fit for him. He has a need, a need to DANCE! But when your mother is a lumberjack and your father a vampire, you must decide which side you are on. Or do you? Of course, there are lies (Jack tells […]

Bitter sweet goodbyes

The Sour Cherry Tree by Naseem Hrab

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When I first saw The Sour Cherry Tree by Naseem Hrab, I thought it was going to be an Asian folktale. Instead, this lovely story of a granddaughter saying goodbye to a beloved grandfather is a realistic story with Arabic characters. But the great part is, it is relatable no matter your background. Anyone with a grandparent that maybe you did not have a terrible close relationship with but had a very special one will understand how the young girl feels the day she learns […]

These little mermaids don’t use snarfblats

Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh

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Some of my usual dislikes in a story are in Thirsty Mermaids: the drinking to excess, the odd characters that are less than intelligent about common sense, not getting punished for events like stealing, and every character is conveniently “other.”  However, in Kat Leyh’s graphic novel, they are pluses. I can forgive the stealing as the guy they stole from seemed like a jerk. I can accept the drinking because it is necessary to push these characters forward. Would I like to have seen less […]



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