Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Escape From the Present with… THE FUTURE!

Ark by Veronica Roth

Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin

The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay

Randomize by Andy Weir

You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towlesl

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

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And you know what? The future isn’t that bad! Well, it is full of disasters- pandemic, plague, asteroids, climate change, robot uprising -but there are always sparks of humanity ready to push through none the less. Amazon’s Forward collection, a group of five short stories from some big names, throw some big ideas out into the universe and let you, in a way, choose your own adventure! I suppose there is a “correct” order in which to read these, but I didn’t bother. I don’t think […]

The world is falling apart, but the magic is coming together

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

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This felt like a post-apocalyptic story within a post-post-post-apocalyptic story. In the aftermath of the last Fifth Season (a catastrophic event that causes massive destruction and changes the face of the Earth for an unspecified amount of time; the last one started in the first book), Essun finds herself in a new community, with everyone learning how to live and work together. There are bandits and bad communities, internal strife, lack of food and resources, and the usual post-apocalyptic worries. Of course, this being an […]

“For without contrasts, how does one appreciate the different forms that joy can take?”

How Long 'til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin

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  This seemed like a perfect selection for a Black History Month read (yes, I am VERY behind on writing reviews). N.K. Jemisin is probably best known for her fantastic Broken Earth Trilogy which you should absolutely read if you haven’t. This book is a collection of short speculative fiction stories which are set in places ranging from the Jim Crow South, to the net, to a dystopian earth colony. One returns to the world of the Broken Earth Trilogy and one introduces her new […]

Late to the party, but so glad I finally made it!

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

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I knew this would be good (pages and pages of CBR reviews told me so), and I was not disappointed. There was some truly incredible world-building, some interesting writing choices (second-person point of view chapters?), and characters I wanted to hug or fight battles with. I can’t wait to read the next one! It feels silly to recap the plot when everyone has read it already, but here goes (in case this review is the final straw that pushes you into reading it and joining […]

“He’s been here one hour, but already he feels like he has never lived anywhere else. And even if he doesn’t know who he was … he knows who he is.” #CBRBingo – UnCannon

The City We Became (Great Cities, #1) by N.K. Jemisin

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I feel like I do this every time I read an N.K. Jemisin book. Part of me wants to give it five stars, but I’m going to hold off until I see where it’s going to end up. I did that with The Fifth Season, too. (And I know when I go to do my re-read, I’m going to up that book to five stars.) I feel like every time I read one of her books, she does something that I’ve never seen before. It’s […]

Short story review dump (Part IV)

Cuisine des Mémoires by N.K. Jemisin

Valedictorian by N.K. Jemisin

Blur by Carmen Maria Machado

Staying Behind by Ken Liu

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

The Foster Portfolio by Kurt Vonnegut

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This is something new I’m trying this year, where I review short stories as stand alone stories, not part of anthologies or collections. Here are parts I, II, and III. Cuisine des Mémoires by N.K. Jemisin (5 stars) This little experiment of a short story read every day (which I’ve already failed at) has led to some wonderful discoveries. Along with Ken Liu, N.K. Jemsisin (who I’ve long wanted to read) are definitely at the top of the list, though. A man is taken to […]



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