magical realism – Page 13 – Cannonball Read 17

all ABOARD!

Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi

April 30, 2021 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Mysterious and melancholy adventure awaits! Otto and Xavier, legally paired but not traditionally wed, receive a lavish not-honeymoon gift from a fabulously wealthy aunt: a trip on a strange and fabulous train. They don’t know where they are going, why they have been invited, or who is truly pulling the strings behind this event. They don’t know if the reclusive woman who lives full-time on the train (what a dream!) held up a sign that said “HELP” or “HELLO”, and they don’t know if they […]

I can’t fully get on board the Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

April 25, 2021 by KimMiE" Leave a Comment

Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad won both the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction, and part of me is sheepish that I can’t get behind that level of admiration. While the novel is powerful and at times poignant, I had a fundamental issue with its execution. The novel focuses on Cora, a young slave on a Georgia cotton plantation whose mother was infamous for having been the only slave to ever escape that estate. Cora is an outcast even […]

lovely, stinking, brutal, sunburned, magical, and filthy.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

March 28, 2021 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Jacob de Zoet is a young man of meager means. He has hitched his hopes to the Dust East India Company- he’ll spend several trading seasons on Dejima- about as far away from home and his fiancée as he can physically be. What is Dejima? Why, I’m glad you asked! The year is 1799, and Japan is very strict in regards to foreign interference and influence. Following disasters interactions with the Spanish and Portuguese decades earlier, Japan is a closed empire. Dejima, a man-made island […]

when I hold you like I hold that bakelite in my hands

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

February 28, 2021 by andtheIToldYouSos 4 Comments

Can you really like a book while still strongly disliking nearly everyone in it? I found Landline to be compelling and affecting, but I was driven to states of near agony by the overall behavior of the protagonist and almost everyone else in her orbit. The setup: Georgie McCool (a name that could be very silly, but as a person with a seemingly “fake name” I am on board) is a writer on a cheesy TV sitcom. She and her writing partner, Seth, have been working […]

Magical Realism and Baked Goods

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber

January 31, 2021 by Jenny S Leave a Comment

As I come off of winter break and into the craziness of a new semester, I’ve been drawn to books that are a bit lighter in tone, to balance out the more serious stuff I’m reading for work. I’m looking for things that go down easy and don’t tax my brain or require intense concentration. Midnight at the Blackbird Café by Heather Webber provided just the mix of magical realism and baked goods that I needed. This novel tells the story of two daughters who […]

Run, don’t walk, to read this trilogy!

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, 1) by N.K. Jemisin

January 18, 2021 by cheerbrarian 14 Comments

And a happy new Cannonball year unto you! It’s my first review of the new year, and as last year my full cannonball slipped through my fingertips I’m hopeful that this is the year…of redemption. But like, also, this is the year of realizing that it’s just a number and as long as I’m reading I’m a winner. Onto my first review! I had already heard of N.K. Jemisin from LeVar Burton Reads, the podcast wherein the ever delightful LeVar Burton reads short stories. He […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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