Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I wanted to go home, where I felt safe. It occurred to me, as we continued our journey in silence, that when the first refugees from Earth had arrived on Giant—and, for that matter, on Io—they must have felt much the same.”

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older

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When I finished The Mimicking of Known Successes a couple weeks ago I knew I wasn’t in love with that book, but that I wanted to continue reading the series to see how Malka Older built out her world and dug into her sapphic Watson & Holmes stand-ins because I had become quite attached to Mossa and Pleiti. The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles begins the same way as its predecessor in that we get a prologue from Mossa’s point of view and then the rest […]

My Travels to Tanria Come to an End

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam by Megan Bannen

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The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam is the third and final book in the series that began with The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. It was one of my most looked forward to books of the year, and while it was my least favorite of the three, it still has that Megan Bannen way of approaching a story that I love. In her Fun Author Questions with Powell’s Books Bannen talks about loving to mash genres together so that we can all have fun in […]

“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 […]

“Now you understand not every story shares the whole truth.”

The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez

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By about 10% into the book, I was reminded viscerally of The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. When reviewing that book I focused on the idea of there being a special power in taking a known story and envisioning it in a new way. I’m firmly of the opinion that approaching storytelling that way – taking what has existed previously and viewing it another way – can lead to some inventive storytelling. There are any number of ways to approach it, and The Maiden […]

“Hope was such a sticky thing. And it was sneaky too. Always showing up in the moments it was least welcome.”

In a Jam by Kate Canterbary

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I spent two weeks traveling earlier this month and decided a hefty 450-page romance would be an excellent choice to keep me company on planes and in hotel rooms. I was very right. I have spent the past three years adding Kate Canterbary books to my to read list thanks to a review by emmalita of The Worst Guy. Unfortunately for me, her books aren’t available through my library system so when I came across a sale, I decided that In a Jam would be […]

I kept imagining Father Brown’s bicycle just around the corner.

Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess

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In January I shelved this as a to-read book, and I have no idea why I did that. Did I see it on a list of anticipated publications in 2025? Did I see someone else mark it as to read and read the blurb and decide it was for me? And why did I also put it on my library request list ahead of its publication? I have no idea. I feel like so many books show up in my life and I either know […]



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