Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This was perfectly fine and I did not like it at all.

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

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I actually think what’s going on here is that I really do not like most possession/exorcism stories. Despite loving the friendship aspects of My Best Friend’s Exorcism*, I had a hard time getting through that book and I like it the least of all Grady Hendrix’s stuff, and now I think I know why. The possession story arc mimics dysfunction, and the breakdown of familial relationships (often) or friendships is highly unpleasant to me. I also don’t get anything out of it. Starting about thirty […]

“Go then, there are other worlds than these.

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) by Stephen King

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I rated this four stars the first time I read it. I think that was because I hadn’t read the rest of the series yet, and now that I have in my head what this series can really do when it’s going, this one just feels a little anemic in comparison. Also, it’s such a weird book that I didn’t know what to make of it at the time, but I can see what he’s doing now that I’ve read the rest of it. In […]

Surf Dracula

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

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The Surf Dracula corollary began as a tweet regarding television. User @TopherFlorence… back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you’d see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale Topher’s tweet is accurate. Too many shows nowadays are invested in origins and withholding. It […]

“Imagination is hungry, and needs to be fed.”

You Like It Darker by Stephen King

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I have long maintained that, for me, Stephen King’s short stories and novellas hit harder than most of his books. I just like them more; they are snappier. While I do enjoy taking my 1,000-plus-page journey to Derry in IT, sometimes it’s nicer to have a story come in, do its thing, and then leave. You Like It Darker is Stephen King’s latest short story collection and is a mix of previously published stories (something I did not realize until I was like, “Wait… have […]

“Only living here wasn’t exactly turning out to be normal.”

Night of the Living Queers by Shelly Page and Alex Brown

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In honor of Pride month (well, actually, Overdrive selected it for me because it was available, and, fortuitously, it fits the theme!), I picked up Night of the Living Queers, edited by Shelly Page and Alex Brown. This YA short story collection, which is unfortunately named, in my opinion, was terrific. As with any short story collection, there were a few stories that didn’t work so well for me, but as a collection, writing quality was uniformly high, the variety was delicious in terms of […]

A pretty disappointing anthology, to be honest.

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by ed. Jordan Peele & John Joseph Adams

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While there were a handful of really good stories in here, overall I was disappointed with this collection. Way too many confusing or unsatisfying endings. (This was edited by Jordan Peele, but also by John Joseph Adams, whose anthologies in the past I have not really liked, either, and I wish I would have known he was involved before I read it. Would have had more accurate expectations.) “Reckless Eyeballing,” N.K. Jemisin — Okayyyy, but what does it meaaaan. 4/5 stars “Eye & Tooth,” Rebecca Roanhorse — The […]



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