Ship of Smoke and Steel by Django Wexler
Ship of Smoke and Steel is an enjoyable fantasy that squeaks into the YA label because the protagonist is a teenager. The violence and sex in the book make it suitable for older teens at best, and boy do I feel like a prude saying that. I found out about this book thanks to John Scalzi’s wonderful segment on his blog “The Big Idea” where an author tells you about a book they have coming out and how they came up with it. I find […]
The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
This was reviewed recently on Cannonball Read and it piqued my interest enough that I not only purchased it, I moved it way up the TBR pile. It is an excellent novel that is let down by it’s execution. The concept is great, the theme is thought provoking and well executed but there are moments where the plot needed tightening and there is one section where the gross prejudices of the author come out in ways that almost stopped me from reading (and stopped many […]
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
Educated is the memoir of Tara Westover who, despite being in her early thirties, really does have a story to tell. My mother read this in her book group this past fall and raved about it to me, so much so that I bought it immediately on my kindle. I started reading it about week ago, and was immediately mesmerized. The prose in this book is compelling and hypnotically readable. I’ve been sitting on this book for a week trying to figure out how to […]
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
I have sung the praises of T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon many times here on Cannonball. Her books are autobuys for me, and I have never been disappointed with them. They are funny, clever, sensible fantasy romps and I love them to pieces. I love her world building and they way that so many of her novels are reactions to other stories. For example, in this book Kingfisher was annoyed by Elric (Michael Moorcock’s Elric? I haven’t read them, I’m not familar) and claimed the real victim […]
Ami Ami Kittens: Seriously Cute Crochet! by Mitsuki Hoshi
Literary Yarns: Crochet Projects Inspired by Classic Books by Cindy Wang
When I received Ami Ami Kittens as part of the Cannonball Book Exchange I was super, duper excited. I had put it on my Amazon wish list as a kind of “hm… this craft looks fun and I think I would like to learn more” kind of thing and wasn’t much more motivated to pick up the craft then that. And then it arrived in my book exchange and I got excited, because it gave me an excuse to try it. For the record, I’ve […]
The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
Every time I find a Liane Moriarty book that I haven’t read yet, I celebrate. However much I end up liking the book, I know that I’m in for some kind of treat. Her writing is engaging, and her characters lively. No exception here. I quite enjoyed the book, despite some irritation at one of the character arcs. It might be my second favorite Moriarty book. The book is about the various relationships between sisters, daughters, mothers, grandmothers, and friends. Oh sure, there is the […]
