Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Fifth Season: The Earth Really is Trying to Shake Us Off

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

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Season after season the Earth is hit with cataclysmic events: volcanic eruptions, massive earthquakes, a mining accident. These events cause shifts in the continent(s) and climate events that alter the earth’s ecology again and again. These events and their aftermath are called Seasons. The Fifth Season is a generic term for an extended winter of more than six months caused by a large scale environmental alteration. There are no vehicles, no internet, no fossil fuels. This is the backdrop for the stories of three women: […]

A powerful sorceress, a tiny man, and some ponies

Nebula Awards Showcase 2012 by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel (editors)

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I’m lucky to live near so many Little Free Libraries. According to the official website, 10 such diminutive lending centers are located in my zip code, and I’m pretty sure there are a few others that aren’t noted. Whenever I walk my neighborhood, I stop at the libraries located along my route and check out whether anything new and interesting has appeared, and occasionally contribute something to the stash. I recently happened upon a couple of Nebula Awards Showcase collections and decided they’d be great […]

Feelings, free will, and a robot adventure: CBR Bingo – Two heads are better than one, Bingo!

Cog by Greg Van Eekhout

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Completing the “Two heads are better than one” square fulfills my bingo column, “Cannonballer Says” to “Remix”, and gives me my first bingo!  I used my “Reader’s Choice” to replace “Remix” with “Classic”. Dome’Loki Greg van Eekhout is a local San Diego author who frequently does events at my favorite independent bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy.  He writes for both adult and middle grade audiences.  Greg’s two most recent books are middle grade and as a result, it has been great fun to take my kids with […]

(bad “Electric Feel” joke)

The Power by Naomi Alderman

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The Power is horrifying in a lot of ways, one of which is how parts of it are also rather cathartic, which it shouldn’t be on the whole. If that opening sentence sounded a little confused and contradictory, that’s because it reflects my feelings about the thing. On the one hand, it’s about women getting to win, but on the other hand, the violence and abuses of power by men and women make it hard to feel good about anything, because it comes off as […]

“The ache to return to a time long gone was almost worse than fear.” (CBR11 Bingo)

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

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I knew what to expect from a Becky Chambers book after reading two of her previous novels in the Wayfarers series (which apparently this novella is not part of… but I swear its in the same universe). To Be Taught, If Fortunate would have some vivid writing, exceptional world-building (seriously, what Chambers can do in a matter of sentences to build an entirely new environment is insane), and diverse characters. I knew nothing else when picking it up, and I’m glad. I didn’t need to. […]

A little bit romance, history, and ghost story

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

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I have a friend who is an Outlander fanatic.  She re-reads the series every couple of years and the book associated with the tv series season before it is aired.  For the past couple of years at Christmas, I have given her Outlander calendars and one year an Outlander cook book (which she used and it has good recipes!).  Last year I wanted to introduce her to a new author.  My favorite local independent bookstore gave me a couple of recommendations but I settled on […]



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