Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Please, Re-read the Previous Book First

Queen Demon by Martha Wells

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So, I did mention I had more than one Martha Wells book to attend to today, and this is the tricker one to write about. I read Witch King  earlier this year, and while I very much liked it, there were, I thought, some notable flaws. Witch King had a dual narrative, with each of the two branches separated by over fifty years. And within these fifty years, there have been some significant political changes that are sometimes a little hard to grasp because of […]

“Because being of utility was more than I had expected, and yet one still does not want to be used. Of use, but not used.”

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older

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The Mimicking of Known Successes can be quickly described as what if Sherlock Holmes, but sapphic and in a sci-fi future where the Earth is uninhabitable and humans have colonized Jupiter?   Malka Ann Older’s resume is a wide combination of things, and it feeds directly into the kind of book that The Mimicking of Known Successes is. We have here a book that examines what happens next when final resources are used to leave Earth, but the goal is to go back. Pleiti is our […]

Among the Stars

The Georgian Star by Michael D. Lemonick

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Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: migrant. William Herschel, the main focus of this book, was born and raised in Germany but eventually migrated to England due to military commitments. He settled in England, where his migration was most beneficial as he turned to astronomy and discovered great things in the name of the King. I’m not a big science guy but astronomy has always been a curiosity of mine. What I know about it could fit in a thimble — and this book probably […]

“We all carry our special homes with us – in our backpacks and pockets, and in our hearts.”

My Home Is in My Backpack by Eugenia Perella

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cbr17bingo, MigrantMigrant: There are many ways to find a book when you work in a bookstore. One is finished copies sent out before the book is published. This way the bookseller can get the full feeling of the book. And I am very glad I was able to do this with My Home Is in My Backpack by Eugenia Perella (due in October 2025). An online copy would not  do this book justice. Clara and her family are forced to leave an unnamed home/homeland. They […]

Poetic Migrant Journey

A Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

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Joukhadar’s novel follows twin stories in alternate timelines, one set in recent Syria and North Africa during Islamic State and another set in the same are during the 1300s. Both stories feature girls who pose as boys, allowing them to do things that would otherwise be prohibited or unsafe for women. Nour is our present day heroine, and she has returned to Syria with her mother and two older sisters following her father’s death from cancer in New York City. Although Nour was born in […]



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