Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


About stegolily

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Stego Lily is a mom, educator, and sci-fi/fantasy enthusiast. When she isn't reading, she enjoys playing the piano, gardening, and chasing after her two chaos gremlins.

stegolily's Reviews:

“Potatoes…do not make gods.”

Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher

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T. Kingfisher was my most read author in 2025 (I read five of her books and reviewed two), so I had planned to wait before reviewing anymore of her books, but my hold for Hemlock and Silver finally came up on Libby, and I enjoyed it too much not to talk about it. So here we are. Anja is an expert in poisons. Or, more specifically, she is an expert in antidotes. But when the king himself summons her to investigate the poisoning of his daughter, […]

Kinga is having a rough week

A New New Me by Helen Oyeyemi

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A New New Me is narrated by seven different characters, each a different personality occupying the same body. Kinga Sikora has a personality for each day of the week. Kinga-A is capable and optimistic and handles Mondays. Cynical Kinga-B is in charge on Tuesdays. Kinga-C spends each Wednesday flying by the seat of her pants. Thursday’s appointments and errands are handled by Kinga-D, the “self-care queen.” Dreamy Kinga-E drifts through her Fridays, and Kinga-F parties hard every Saturday. Kinga-G…well, nobody knows much about Kinga-G, but […]

Better off sad than dead

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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It’s been said before, but with how popular the Hunger Games books and movie franchise got, and how many mediocre-to-terrible copycats they spawned, it’s easy to forget that there’s a reason the original trilogy was so successful. That reason being, Suzanne Collins is a really, really, really good writer. In this prequel, Collins has a tall order to fill. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes presents the backstory of Coriolanus Snow, the totalitarian president from the first three books. Villain origin stories are so tricky. You […]

“The possibility of pain is where love stems from.”

The Humans by Matt Haig

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Bingo: I think I’m too late for this to count, but just in case I’m not, I’m counting this for the rec’d square, because my sister recommended it to me. And that makes this my 3rd bingo! “The Humans” is about a body-snatching alien who has to pretend to be human, and in the process, falls in love with humanity and life itself. This extraterrestrial visitor is impersonating Andrew Martin, a Cambridge professor who has just proved the Riemann hypothesis. After killing Martin, the bodysnatcher’s mission […]

“The best way to go through life is to be a major donor of kindness”

Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas

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Bingo: I am counting this book for the “Diaspora” space on my bingo, since it centers on the author’s experience as a member of the Iranian diaspora. This was a memoir covering Firoozeh Dumas’ life, from her family’s move from Iran to California when she was 7, up through her teenage years and young adulthood. She writes about her experiences with American food (hot dogs are pretty gross, if you think about it), her family vacations to American tourist sites, her disastrous stint at summer […]

“In life, if you were careful, there were simply not that many times where you absolutely, positively had to turn into a bear.”

Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher

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Bingo: I am using this for the “Red” Bingo square. because the cover is red. Istvhan is a former berserker, a paladin left without a god. Clara is a were-nun from an order of shapeshifting sisters. He is on the trail of a mysterious killer; she is on a mission to rescue her kidnapped sisters. As their quests bring them together, they will face bandits, creepy rabbits, living crockery, gladiator pits, and maybe (just maybe) emotional vulnerability. This was a fun addition to T. Kingfisher’s […]



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