Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Lover from the Forest

The Lover by Silvia Moreno Garcia

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I have been interested in reading Silvia Moreno Garcia for a few years. Her Amazon Original was an opportunity to dip my toes into her library. I can mark another passport stamp as she is from Mexico, and the story is set in a mysterious village. CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books from different countries (book 3 of 3) SPOILERS AHEAD! We meet Judith in “The Lover”. She lives in a small village and makes a wish to bring her lover to her. Soon, a hunter named Nathaniel […]

Other things I have read – a mixed basket of books i finally finished

Prime Meridian by Silvia Morena-Garcia

I Have Always Been Me: A Memoir by Precious Brady-Davis

Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard

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An assortment of books that have been on my kindle for a while – half read and now finally finished Prime Meridian More of a novella, this is set in a near future where humanity is starting to head to Mars, but much of our current issues are are still there.  The heroine, Amelia, doesn’t have much money. She scrapes a living with various tasks and dreams of being an astronaut.  She had a relationship with an artist who turned out to be wealthy, but […]

A love letter to Arthurian legend told through inclusive re-imaginings

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices by Edited by: Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

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Thank you, llamareadsbooks for gifting this book to me in the CBR Book Exchange! CBR14 Bingo: “Time” – This anthology moves through time, from the ancient past to the far future. Sword Stone Table first came to my awareness through emmalita’s review.  When narfna reviewed it a few weeks ago, it prompted me to move it to the top of the read pile.  I have a deep affection for stories about King Arthur and Camelot that probably started with the Disney animated version, was strengthened by […]

Jane Eyre meets H.P. Lovecraft

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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I am a big fan of gothic fiction reinterpreted in postcolonial settings, so this was right up my alley.  Moreno-Garcia’s novel follows Noemi Taboada, an upper class university student in 1950s Mexico City. When her father receives a strange letter from Noemi’s cousin, Catalina, Noemi goes to visit Catalina in the remote mining town where she lives with her husband Virgil’s family. Granted limited access to her cousin, who is said to be ‘recovering’, Noemi spends a growing amount of time with Virgil’s family, including […]

A compelling mystery, an intrepid heroine, a musty creepy mansion… and colonialism

Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

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The book opens up from the perspective of a boy out on a party with a flighty, superficial and possibly spoiled socialite.  I think this was intentional on the part of the author.  A party girl is not what we expect to be a heroine of a story, much less a horror one.  Noemi Taboada is a lovely heroine. Unusual in that she is smart and strong (as most heroines are) but also flighty, stubborn and a socialite who enjoys going to parties and flirting with […]

I think I’m in the minority on this one: I don’t think I liked this book?

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Morena-Garcia

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After reading and enjoying Turn of the Screw, I craved more gothic literature. Silvia Morena-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic kept popping up on booklists everywhere, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s now been three days since I finished the novel and I think I finally figured out how I feel about it. Set in 1950s Mexico, Mexican Gothic follows Noemí Taboada’s journey to conduct a wellness check on her cousin Catalina at the behest of her father. Catalina lives in a remote mountain town […]



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