Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The first book in an intimidatingly long series about nerdy, silly, time-travel historians, with a surprising amount of angst and drama.

Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #1) by Jodi Taylor

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“If this was one of those books, there would now be three pages of head-banging sex. The reality was that he pulled me close, whispered, ‘Mfhbnnntx,’ and I pulled his arm over me like a cover and muttered, ‘Trout,’ and that was pretty much it.” This was a lot better than I thought it would be! (I’ve seen quite a few negative or lukewarm reviews.) I had fun with it. This strange little book is one that only could have come from the bonkers ground […]

My Kind of Western

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

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This novella has been sitting on my kindle forever and I don’t know why it took me this long to read it but I’m so glad I finally did! I think I’ve talked before about my struggles with short fiction, I always want more. This one wasn’t any different. I don’t know if reading any of Gailey’s other novellas would help clear up some of the background on this story. It’s set in a dystopian America torn apart by war with most people reduced to […]

Taking the easy joke here, this book made me want to die inside.

Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg

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I had a hard time deciding between one and two star rating for Dying Inside, as it was well written and the literary voice was engaging. But I found this to be vile. A sexist, racist, masturbatory exploration of a really cool concept. Dude took the laziest option and tried to be profound with it. Ick. Thanks a lot, TBR Jar! Anyway, as you can see, I ended up at 1.5 stars rounded up, because I am willing to extend some leeway for all the positive […]

“They were supposed to grow up with their hands in each other’s pockets, compensating for one another’s weaknesses, encouraging one another’s strengths.”

Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1) by Seanan McGuire

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This was my first Seanan McGuire book, which is a little unbelievable, both because she writes in genres I love, and because she writes so very prolifically. And I started with a really good one. I’m not against spoilers and frequently spoil myself for things, but I went into this book almost completely unspoiled, even for the premise, and I think that’s the way to go. The book is so weird it’s almost impossible to really sum up in a blurb anyway. So, how to […]

How many legs do I have?

Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #3) by Tamsyn Muir

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Three months later: I’ve had some time to adjust. This book is still wild, and while I’ve come to terms with most of it, there’s one thing that’s still bothering me. I’m hoping it will be resolved in the last book. No idea how she’s going to manage it, but she somehow managed to pull Harrow and Nona out of her butt, and they are both weird and mad genius in their own special ways, so I’m sure she’ll manage it, but I will not lie, I am […]

“There is beauty in my truth, and I have so much to share.”

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022 by Edited by Rebecca Roanhorse

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I look forward to this collection every year and so it was a treat to see it pop up in the bookstore recently. The selections are always varied and interesting, and John Joseph Adams should get special kudos for all the preparatory work he does before he chooses the best 80 stories and hands them over to the guest editor to choose 20 for publication. In contrast to the 70s SF/F anthologies I’ve been slogging my way through this year in the hopes that there […]



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