Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“A woman’s life is endless work and suffering.”

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

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CBR15 BINGO: Asia & Oceania, because it focuses on characters in Korea and Japan Pachinko is the saga of a Korean family that spans 79 years, beginning in Korea in 1910 and ending in Japan in 1989. Being a weighty tome covering five generations, it’s hard to summarize the plot, though the main story begins with Sunja, the only surviving child of a struggling Korean couple who run a boarding house in Busan, Korea. Sunja’s father, Hoonie, has a cleft palate and a crooked leg, […]

An Amazing Queer Historical Mystery

The Bell in the Fog by Lev A.C. Rosen

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When I heard there was going to be a sequel to Lavender House, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Plus I love that Rosen writes such complex, messy queer characters who aren’t necessarily good people, but their queerness isn’t why they’re not good people. I really love Andy, his community, and the ways he’s growing since leaving the police force and finding a family that accepts him for who he is, no hiding needed. This story especially shows him making so […]

“In Swahili it’s called utu. In Zulu, the word is ubuntu. It translates to ‘humanity,’ but what it really means is ‘community.’ I am because we are. Our humanity is tied together.”

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

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Yet another book being done a disservice by its cover. (Should I switch careers and become a book designer? I have zero art skills but I could supervise people who do and like make decisions and stuff!) Anyway, it’s an attractive, colorful cover that I really like the look of, but it doesn’t convey at all the tone of the book or what it is about. I can’t even tell this is a fantasy from looking at this cover, and this is definitely a fantasy, […]

I really liked a cozy mystery!

The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency (The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency, #1) by Lydia Travers

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Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC. It hasn’t affected the content of my review. This was fun! I will read the next one! I have a really hard time with most cozy mysteries. I really don’t want to come across as a genre snob here, because I love genre. LOVE IT. But in my experience, most cozy mysteries are just not that well-written. And by that I don’t just mean I don’t like them, which is what most people say when they […]

Those Still Living…

Tokyo Redux by David Peace

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: getaway. I’m swapping this one out for “violence (banned).” Though this book is plenty violent. Plus, I really want an excuse to write about this book and make it count for CBR15Bingo.  I don’t know what to say really. This trilogy wrecked me. And to think, I wouldn’t have picked it up if not for journalist Max Read’s suggestion. I read the last three books of David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet last year and you can look at the tag […]

Adding vampires to history and historical fiction, metaphor or plot device?

Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman

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Bingo 16: History Scarlet is basically fan-fic of historical fiction; totally counts for history since the historical part is real (revolutionary-era France). The historical fiction base is The Scarlet Pimpernel, set in the aftermath of the execution of the rulers of France; if you don’t know the story basically the mysterious masked hero from England saves the lives of French nobility by sneaking them out of France while the French authorities try to put a stop to that. So, basically, Batman who is British and […]



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