Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

An unusual murder mystery

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

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“Gosford Park” meets “Groundhog Day” by way of Agatha Christie – the most inventive story you’ll read this year.   Tonight, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed… again.   It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.   But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will […]

Dune – A Father’s Perspective

Dune by Frank Hebert

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Dune is one of the fundamental texts of speculative fiction and I have probably read it a half dozen times over the years. Why re-read it now? I saw the trailer for the movie coming out later this year (and if you haven’t seen it, find it online, it is fantastic) and realized I had not read it since my kids were very little. I thought I might have a different perspective now that my youngest is a teenager and that was certainly true. When […]

Too Many Extremes

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

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In August, LittlePlat wrote about this book and I thought “huh, that sounds up my alley,” and I quickly bought it and started to read it. It took a while to get into, but by the second half of the book I couldn’t put it down, and spent a rainy day at the cottage finishing it up. I love the world building. Tidal locked planets seem to be a hot topic in sci-fi these days, and I’ve enjoyed reading some of the ideas about how […]

Even better the second time

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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Rereading Gideon the Ninth was an interesting experience. The first time around, I was completely lost for the first half of the book, which caused me to become progressively more frustrated. Then I hit the middle and it was like a rollercoaster ride to the finish. The second half was such a marvel, I completely forgave the author for not explaining much in the first half. This time, since I wasn’t feeling confused and vaguely annoyed, I enjoyed the first half a great deal more. […]

Getting back to my Animorphs re-read, sort of.

The Suspicion (Animorphs, #24) by K.A. Applegate

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The Helmacrons are the worst villains. I also like them and think they are effective and ridiculous? It’s complicated. The Helmacrons are an extremely violent and egomaniacal alien species that has decided to invade Earth and subject all citizens to their will, destroying the rest. They are also 1/16th of an inch tall. Cassie finds their spaceship and thinks it’s a toy, so she donates it to Goodwill. The Helmacrons are very angered by this, and call for help. The result is two tiny spaceships […]

Waiting for the end of the world

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi

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Official book description: Seven days. Seven days. The Earth might end in seven days.   When news stations start reporting that Earth has been contacted by a planet named Alma, the world is abuzz with rumors that the alien entity is giving mankind only few days to live before they hit the kill switch on civilization.   For high school truant Jesse Hewitt, though, nothing has ever felt permanent. Not the guys he hooks up with. Not the jobs his underpaid mom works so hard […]



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