Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I had you in my life, and I had you in my future, and that was enough for me.”

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen

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In December of 2022 I read Megan Bannen’s The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. I devoured it, it sunk into my soul a bit and left me with big feelings that I had a tough time initially putting into words. When Bannen’s second book, The Undermining of Twyla and Frank was announced I immediately put it on my to read list and was even more excited by Emmalita’s review in June about a love story between two folks in their 50s. When I got my […]

“Tech is racist and sexist and ableist because the world is so. Computers just reflect the existing reality and suggest that things will stay the same—they predict the status quo.”

More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech by Meredith Broussard

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Meredith Broussard’s More than a Glitch took me a long time to read (nearly two months) for such a short book (around 190 pages before Notes and Bibliography). But if you happened to attend Cannonball Read’s Murderbot book club then you got a glimpse at part of what was bothering me about reading this book right now – and why it was so important that I do so. I’m having big issues with the onslaught of AI (specifically generative AI) especially with so little oversight […]

“I hate having emotions about real humans instead of fake ones, it just leads to stupid moments like this.”

Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells

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I have many grudges against the New York Times, dating back many years (even while acknowledging the amazing work its staffers can do), but I think the Times review of Exit Strategy almost perfectly describes who and what Murderbot is, “”a beautiful blend of exhausted cynicism and deep, helpless love”, because while Murderbot hates having feelings and would likely try to argue that it can’t love, it is the only explanation for the choices it makes throughout this book.   In Rogue Protocol Murderbot goes […]

“Nobody grabs SecUnits. I hadn’t realized this was a perk until now.”

Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells

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When I read this book in January of 2019 it was my least favorite of the original four (spoiler, it still is), mostly because I didn’t connect with the non-Murderbot characters. To a degree that is still true, I feel less connected to them than I did to Mensah’s team in the first or the programmers in the second. But, on a second visit I think that’s probably by design, as Wells is clearly juxtaposing Don Amene and Miki against those other relationships. There is […]

“I liked protecting people and things. I liked figuring out smart ways to protect people and things. I liked being right.”

Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells

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My Murderbot re-read continues with the introduction of my favorite character, ART (which, side note, it has taken me over five years to notice that ART is in the title Artificial Condition). Book two picks up quickly after the events of All Systems Red, with Murderbot having left Mensah and her team to figure out what it wants with its freedom, now that it is off inventory from the company, but not wanting to be a “pet robot”. Quickly, Murderbot realizes it wants to get […]

“It took a tremendous effort for me not to rip his arm off, and I’d like that noted for the record, please.”

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

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Back in November of 2018 I joined the cult of Murderbot. After I had read and loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers Emmalita and narfna had told me that Murderbot needed to be next up in my reading of contemplative, character driven space opera. I was immediately in love. I’ve kept up with the furthering adventures of Murderbot in the intervening years and had decided earlier this year that I wanted to do a full series re-read before I […]



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