Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Back to Gilead

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

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I had planned on reading The Testaments (2019) as soon as I’d heard there was a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, but I figured I’d have to wait some time before I could get it from the library. Fortunately, I found it on my library’s “Lucky Day” shelf and was able to grab a copy right away. I’m very glad I read this book. I found it an interesting addition to the story. However, I think The Handmaid’s Tale is still a step above. I loved the beginning and middle […]

You know what you’re getting but stick it out anyway

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

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It took me more than a little bit to really feel like I was into The Testaments but once I was in I was all the way in. I put it down to the format – I didn’t realize from the onset that I was going to get this books from three different perspectives, plus one of those perspectives is told in two different time periods. It’s a lot to get your head around organizationally, but when I did, I was very happy I’d stuck with […]

A fitting amuse bouche to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (in it’s various incarnations)

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

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The Testaments is the hotly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, told by Atwood through the voices of three women intimately acquainted with the Gilead regime. It aims to answer the lingering question that many readers had after The Handmaid’s Tale – what brought about the oppressive regime’s collapse? Many words have been written here and all over the internet about this sequel. Was it needed? Is it just a cash-grab? My opinion on the ‘necessity’ of The Testaments is that it is an amuse […]

Blessed Be The Fruit of Margaret Atwood’s Mind

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

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Oh boy, where to begin. I read The Handmaid’s Tale for the first time two years ago and I was terrified.  I agree with the many think pieces on how the timing was right for a resurgence, what with the creeping anti-abortion laws in the southern States.  Despite this, I always thought that Canada was beyond the American abortion debate but the last two years suggest otherwise: Alberta elected an anti-abortion Premier (Jason Kenny) and the leader of our official Opposition Party (Andrew Scheer) is […]

No books were harmed, this time

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

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I was 16 when I read The Handmaid’s Tale and I was just beginning my love affair with dystopian tales. I don’t think I liked bleak stories all that much growing up, but man, as soon as I read Fahrenheit 451 they were all I wanted. Give me some of that sweet, sweet harrowing future straight to the veins, and anything like it. When a friend gifted me The Handmaid’s Tale, I thought I’d love it. I read it voraciously, in about two days, and […]

Satisfying Follow-Up

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

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BINGO: Pajiba Best for: Those who have read (or watched) The Handmaid’s Tale. In a nutshell: We know that Gilead eventually fell. But how? Worth quoting: “The truth can cause a lot of trouble for those who are not supposed to know it.” “Another girl’s disgrace could rub off on you if you got too close to it.” “They said calm things like ‘You need to be strong.’ They were trying to make things better. But it can put a lot of pressure on a […]



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