Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Anansi Boys-An incredible novel

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

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I admit it, I am a Neil Gaiman fanboy. So, when I tell you that this is one of the best works Neil has ever written, please believe me. This is Gaiman’s second novel and the growth from American Gods, which takes place in the same universe as Anansi Boys, is remarkable. Anansi begins, as so many tales do, with the tragic death of a main character on stage, performing karaoke, and accidentally exposing the breasts of a young woman as he tumbles off the […]

Good Collection

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer

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There is a misnomer on the cover of this book. Some short stories in this volume have not been commissioned for the book. Several of them have appeared in various magazines and collections (some have appeared over a decade ago). This is okay, for this is the first time that they are all collected together and I hadn’t read any of them before. The purpose of this collection in part, according to Bernheimer, is to present fairy tales as an acceptable source of literature, at […]

The Importance of Dairy

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

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Right away I could tell this was written by Neil Gaiman.  I mean, I think that happens with most Gaiman books, but this one jumped out at me.  I think after listening to Neil read his own books I tend to have his voice in my head when I read his work.  We have a lovely tale about a father who goes out to pick up some milk and the fantastic journey he takes to get home.  I could see this being a story that […]

“All Bette’s stories have happy endings. That’s because she knows where to stop. She’s realized the real problem with stories—if you keep them going long enough, they always end in death.”

Preludes & Nocturnes (The Sandman, #1) by Neil Gaiman

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This is one of those books that come heavy with the weight of other people’s expectations. I genuinely had almost no idea what it was about, only that the people who love it LOVE IT, and I had a general idea that it was pretty weird. The only thing I knew for sure was that Death was a character, because Gaiman spun her off into her own comic at one point. I added it to my TBR when it became apparent that I would probably like it if […]

Drop-kick That Magic Lamp into Mount Doom

The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin (editors)

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Short story collections are like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: you have to gnaw some nuts and chews to eventually find that chocolate truffle. That said, The Djinn Falls in Love is phenomenal. Six of the twenty-one stories are among the best short stories I have read. Ever. (Jhumpa Lahiri, I’m sorry to report that you’ve been bumped.)  The editors’s international ensemble of authors clearly did their research, populating their confident tales with every manner of djinn, jinn, and genie. Some lie in wait in […]

I would like a copy of the ‘Buggre Alle This’ Bible.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

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This is one of those books that are good when you first read them, but get better as you get older. A lot of satire is probably like that, especially comic satire. I thought this book was funny in 2009, but now parts of it made me laugh so hard I was crying. Plus, I did the audio this time, and it made it even better. Martin Jarvis has a nice sense of comic timing, and his voice characterization is great, particularly for Crowley and Aziraphale. (The […]



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