Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I found a new place to dwell

Heartbreak Hotel by Micol Arianna Beltramini

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Several books on my recent HBR (Have Been Read) list have had similar feelings and/or themes. And yet, each one is its own unique read. Heartbreak Hotel by Micol Arianna Beltramini and illustrator Agnese Innocente falls into this “alike but not alike” category. This coming of age story is similar to the stories The History of Everything: A Graphic Novel by Victoria Evans, Raging Clouds by Yudori, and The Flip Side by Jason Walz. Yet, it is also its own work and has its own […]

In time for Halloween 2026

Scritch! Scratch!: An Itchy, Witchy Halloween Tale by Teri Sloat

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Just so you know, this book is due late July 2026. Yes, I read via an online reader a book due in the summer of 2026. So why bother with reviewing it in November 2025? Because you need to know about this new book. Scritch! Scratch!: An Itchy, Witchy Halloween Tale by Teri Sloat and illustrated by Zuzana Cupova might just become a classic.  You see, it is already halfway there with its classical looking illustrations. The black and white images, mixed in with sepia, […]

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip…

Ship of Magic: The Liveship Traders Trilogy Book 1 by Robin Hobb

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I’ve discovered that one of the advantages of reading an e-book instead of a hard copy book is that often, when I download an e-book, I have no idea how many pages long it is. Having just finished Robin Hobb’s The Farseer Trilogy and loving it, and given the rave reviews I’ve seen other Cannonballers heap upon Hobb’s other series, I immediately downloaded The Liveship Traders Trilogy and dove right into Ship of Magic. If I had known the books in this trilogy clock in […]

A Very Satisfying Conclusion

The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

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Raisa takes the throne as Queen, but there is still much work to be done as well as the threat of invasion.  Someone is murdering wizards, political machinations abound, and pressure for Raisa to marry.  Raisa and Han are struggling both with the fact that almost everyone seems to be against Han in general and their relationship isn’t officially allowed.  Plus between each of their duties, they don’t see each other much and are not sharing all of their plans with each other.  As the […]

A Pair of Library Books

A Treachery of Swans by A.B. Poranek

The Geographer's Map to Romance  by India Holton

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A Treachery of Swans by A.B. Poranek – 4 stars Odile, the adoptive daughter of a sorcerer, must steal the identity of the beautiful Marie, get herself engaged to the crown prince, and get her hands on the only remnant of magic in the kingdom to bring it back everywhere. But when a brutal murder rocks the palace, Odile finds herself turning to an unexpected ally – Marie herself. Guys, I’m obsessed with the cover. This book is more inspired by Swan Lake than a true retelling, […]

The business of empire and myth making

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

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There are a few different layers through which to view this book. At the top, there is the story between the knight and the scholar, two people intertwined across time, who are in a loop and keep reliving the same story, with variations, and have a strong connection and love, and whether they can ever break the cycle and get their happy ending. It is a story about storytelling – something Harrow seems to be more and more interested in with the Spindle Splintered novels […]



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