Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About Tracy

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40-something psychologist living with a husband, preschooler, and 2 cats. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Tracy's Quick Questions interview.)

Tracy's Reviews:

Healing Grief in the Ashes

House of Frank by Kay Sinclaire

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This book starts out feeling a bit like Under the Whispering Door, which was a pleasant way to start. Main character Saika has been grieving the loss of her sister Fiona two years ago, and her magic hasn’t worked properly since then. Fiona wanted to have her ashes planted at Ash Gardens, where ashes are planted and grow into colorful trees. Saika isn’t as ready to let go of her sister in this way as she thought she was, and the owner of Ash Gardens, […]

From the Magical to the Personal: Two Reviews

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

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Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis was such a blast. It features Dread Lord Gavrax, a dark wizard (and a mediocre one at that, we learn as the story progresses). Except that Gav has no memories of this. He wakes up with amnesia, freaks out when he realizes he appears to be in a dark lord’s lair, and quickly comes to realize that he is said dark lord. He then spends a good chunk of the book trying to hide this fact from potential enemies while also […]

A Warm Hug of a Book

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

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I have heard people talk about cozy books feeling like “warm hugs,” and until now I didn’t understand what that meant. I wasn’t even sure I had the same definition of “cozy” as everyone else. But now I understand what that means and how a book can be cozy without being low stakes. This novel was so wholesome and all around delightful, a perfect blend of cozy and adventurous. Tress lives on the Rock in an ocean made of green spores. No one is allowed […]

A Novel About Race, Identity, and Satire

Erasure by Percival Everett

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I learned about this novel when the movie American Fiction came out (which I’m hoping to see this weekend). It’s striking and sad how relevant this 23-year-old book still is when it comes to race and racial stereotypes. Percival Everett provides a sharp critique of race. It’s biting and funny and depressing and tragic. Told through journal entries, it follows Thelonious (Monk) Ellison during a time when he is facing dramatic changes in his family and has chosen to write a book intended to be […]

Returning to Old Friends and Meeting New Ones

The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab

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This felt more like the 4th book in the Shades of Magic trilogy than the start of a new series, which is not a complaint. We are given the opportunity to revisit the lives of Kell, Lila, Rhy, and Alucard. The novel is set 7 years after the first trilogy, and Schwab uses flashbacks to fill readers in on what these characters have been doing, which takes up a large chunk of the book. They have evolved in various ways, and I particularly enjoyed seeing […]

The Art of the Con

The Lies of Lock Lamora by Scott Lynch

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This is like a grittier, adult Six of Crows (though I would argue that SoC doesn’t feel particularly YA). The main character, Locke, is highly intelligent, and the book features found family, cons, and morally gray characters whom you nevertheless root for. Be aware that there is a notable absence of plot armor – Lynch doesn’t pull punches when it comes to violence or death. Lynch interweaves present day Locke and company, who call themselves the Gentleman Bastards, as they work on a con while […]



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