Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Importance of the Library

Deal With the Devil by Kit Rocha

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Bingo 18: Shelfie I knew there was going to be some romance going into Deal with the Devil, but I was really hoping the series title “Mercenary Librarians” would be more the focus. Sadly for me, this was definitely more romance than librarian-ness. Set in a somewhat generic dystopic US potentially within my lifetime (maybe, assuming I get close to the triple digit age) after humanity has been devastated by some massive solar flare activity (I liked how this was put in; not a big […]

Ridiculous but enjoyable

The First Starfighter by Grace Goodwin

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My love of scifi romance is well established, so it’s no surprise that my friend picked up something with the most ridiculous premise they could find (“It’s like Ender’s Game but not as genocide-y!”) as a pick-me-up. And while I can’t honestly say it’s a great book, it’s definitely served its purpose for cheering me up. “To you, it was a game. To Velerion, a tool to identify and recruit the best Starfighters we can find.” If the only thing Jamie has going for her […]

‘The spook and her pet’ take on an alien empire in this amazing sequel – and Bingo #2!

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

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CBR 13 Bingo: New Series – This is the sequel to A Memory Called Empire which was published in 2019 and completes my second bingo. I loved A Memory Called Empire , in my review said it was deserving its spot on the Hugo nominee list and I was delighted when it won!  The follow up, A Desolation Called Peace, is similarly incredible.  In preparation for reading this, I found an excellent recap that goes over individuals and factions, and their motivations.  I highly recommend it. The […]

I’m not clockwork.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

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CBR13 BINGO: Machinery Big thanks to Merryn for using this novel for the Machinery square. Very clever way to fill a square that would have otherwise had me stumped or using up my free/pandemic options. Machinery with magical shenanigans is more my speed. Thanks! This novel dips its toes into multiple genre pools: historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy and a dash of romance. It’s hard to find a story uninteresting if it can bring together the Fenian bombings of 1884, the premiere of Gilbert and […]

“Slavers, dinosaurs, and mummies, oh my!”

The Champion by Taran Matharu

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I picked up the first book in this series on a whim, not sure what to expect, but the history geek action-adventure with a scifi twist hit the exact right note for me. And this final book in the trilogy is no slouch in terms of any of that! Cade, Amber and Quintus (and the rest of the teens) have had a short reprieve after defeating the Hydras, but Abaddon isn’t done with them yet. But Cade’s darkest moment yet leads to the startling revelation […]

And that’s a resounding meh from me

On Mission by Aileen Erin

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After In Command, I had high hopes for some amazing political wrangling in this book. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly what I got. After the events of the last book (and novella), it’s pretty clear that SpaceTech is coming for the Aunare sooner rather than later. But due to parts of the Alliance treaty, Lorne acting preemptively against them could lead to the other parties allying with SpaceTech. On top of that, the other members of the Alliance are still refusing to talk to Lorne, so he […]



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