Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Don’t you hate it when you’ve hit the ripe old age of 29 and have experienced all the world has to offer, so you rip a hole in reality so you can cavort with pain demons just for a change of pace?

Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

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(Trigger warnings for various unsavoriness.) I like my horror with a heaping helping of cheese (Slither, Night of the Comet, Cabin in the Woods), so I have never read any Clive Barker, and I’ve never seen Hellraiser. So when my sci-fi library book club picked Hellbound Heart, the book the movie Hellraiser is based on, I was not sure what to expect. I mean, I was expecting gross stuff and a guy with pins in his face, but I was not expecting such unlikeable characters. […]

rain, rain, go away

Summerwater by Sarah Moss

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Is there anyone who isn’t at least slightly maddened by days and days on rain? I’ve spent many summers working outdoors under mostly temporary cover. It’s been years, but I vividly remember the feeling of perpetually wet socks and bones that felt internally chilled. In the summer of 2008, when I was working as an adventure guide at a camp in the White Mountains, it rained 29 days in June and 30 days in July. We ran out of “rainy day” activities less than a […]

A masterclass in the novella; body horror and racism collide.

Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark

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We know that the people who join the Ku Klux Klan are monsters. Average people who act in monstrous, horrible ways. But what if some of the Klan members were actual monsters? Giant, hulking, dog-like beasts that want to consume and destroy Black people? Such is the premise of Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark. Maryse, a Black woman, hunts these monsters in Prohibition America with the help of her magical sword infused with the anger, pain, and despair of Black men and women of […]

A very put-down-able novella

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

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Amanda, a young woman, lies in a hospital. We don’t know how she got there, or what’s wrong with her. Sitting on her bed is a young boy, David, who is not her son, but who nonetheless seems to know a lot about her. David is urging Amanda to tell her story, to be observant, but to be quick, as she doesn’t have much time left. What follows is a somewhat suspenseful story that touches on a few interesting themes, including parenthood, but ultimately doesn’t […]

“Disinformation, which is the same as lying but for some reason has a different name, is the top tactic in corporate negotiation/warfare.”

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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AHHHH, YOU DON’T SAY?! That phrase hit me this morning while I was failing to get ready for work in a timely manner- I was listening to this book, brushing my teeth, scrolling through twitter, and BAM. I’m pretty sure I heard that same sentiment expressed several times over while stress-watching the entire certification process on Wednesday night/ Thursday morning after, you know, homegrown terrorists were allowed to run amok in the Capitol. Lies are still flying fast and furious, and it becomes more and […]

If you need me, I’ll be exporting all of my anxiety directly to Murderbot.

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

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Murderbot, you have done it again! You have ignored the order of my TBR pile, but you have also served as much-needed distraction. I had a VERY important event scheduled for this afternoon, and had made the arrangements for this to happen weeks ago, but as of 9AM today I had yet to hear back from the group running this event. This waiting translated into heart-pumping, sweat-pouring STRESS that has kept my edgy and more-or-less constantly awake since….Friday, maybe? Happy New Year! This event was […]



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