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:

Three Heads Are Better Than One

The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell

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In this cozy-ish fantasy, cynical three-headed wild dragon Garrodigh pretends to be a downed “tamed” war dragon from Kardosa so he can get food and medical attention. This results in his acquiring the eternally cheerful rider Rania. Garrodigh is not a fan of humanity, primarily because he was formerly a four-headed dragon until human wars took the head named Lefty. The remaining heads are dealing with that trauma in different ways, with Centerhead being the POV character. The first half of the book was a […]

The Book Jacket Wrote a Better Story

Palaver by Bryan Washington

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For the first time since I started using my current rating system a year or two ago, I’m giving a book less than 3 stars. Typically, I give a book at least 3 stars if I finish it because if I’m not liking it, I’ll usually DNF. But I kept expecting this book to redeem itself. The novel follows a mother and son who are only ever referred to as “the mother” and “the son.” They have been estranged since the son moved to Japan […]

Learning About Ogbanje

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

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It felt strange to read this, knowing how heavily autobiographical it was. I felt like I was learning a lot about someone who’s a stranger but doesn’t fully feel like a stranger because I’ve read up on Emezi. It’s almost voyeuristic in a way, as I was left wondering what parts were fiction. I would call this a literary spiritual novel. The book follows Ada and the spirits (ogbanje) that inhabited her from birth. Most of the POVs are from the ogbanjes’ perspectives, sometimes from […]

Eat the Rich

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

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I did not have “give 5 stars to a horror book” on my BINGO card for this year, even if it is considered a “cozy” horror (a descriptor that I disagree with). But I really loved everything about this: the characters, the humor, the themes. The main character is Shesheshen, an amorphous goopy monster who is rudely awoken from hibernation when monster hunters enter her lair. She is injured while fleeing in a shapeshifted human form and rescued by Homily. Shesheshen realizes she needs to […]

Interesting From an Intellectual Standpoint

Making History by K. J. Parker

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Well this certainly had a unique premise. Our nameless narrator, top in his field of linguistics, along with 11 other top-of-their-field scholars, is voluntold by the tyrannical king of Aelia to create a city. The king wants an excuse to attack a neighboring country that won’t get pushback by the citizens of Aelia, so the group has to literally design and build an “ancient” city that can be “discovered,” complete with language, art, etc. While this is technically a fantasy, that label is based on […]

A Slight Disappointment and a Solid Continuation

Startup Hell by Caitlin Rozakis

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

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Startup Hell This was a fun urban romantasy that satirizes office culture. Main character Morgan is working for Zabloom, a company whose CEO keeps changing what their product is. When her boss dies while summoning demon Lucareoth (Luke) to make a soul-exchange Deal, Lucareoth ends up freed from his salt circle and Morgan agrees to help him get home before he gets in trouble with his own boss. Things do not go as planned, and they end up needing to try to make a Deal […]



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