Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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The Fifth Season: Funny how oppression is never the answer that the oppressors hope it is.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

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A good friend gave me this book a few years ago as a very strong recommendation for the series. Intending to read it right away, I immediately purchased the rest of the trilogy. Then they sat on my shelf for a while. After reading Amina Al-Sirafi, I wanted to dig into Shannon Chakraborty’s trilogy. So, off I skipped to the local bookshop only to find that they had 1 and 3 in stock, but #2 would take a few weeks to arrive. Rather than be […]

Mostly Amusing, Sometimes Confusing

Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead, The Loyal Opposition Trilogy Book 1 by K.J. Parker

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As a product of the Catholic school system from second grade through university, I have sat through A LOT of religion and theology classes. Heresies, schisms, saints, martyrs, whatever, I feel pretty well versed in church history. While KJ Parker’s Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead is a fantasy novel, it leans hard into Christian church history and theology, setting up some good old fashioned good versus evil scenarios, but it’s not always clear who is good or evil. That’s intentional, but while Parker […]

“In-Yo would say that the war was won by silenced and nameless women, and it would be hard to argue with her.”

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

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Nowhere Bingo 26: Novella Dark Corner Selection: January 2026 Chih is a young cleric from the Singing Hills monastery who travels around the country searching for stories and history. At the shores of Lake Scarlet, Chih finds the abandoned dwelling where the former Empress In-Yo (the titular Empress of Salt and Fortune) spent her many years in exile. Chih encounters the elderly Rabbit, one of the Empress’s former handmaidens, who tells Chih stories of her own past and how it intertwined with that of the […]

When you fight evil instead of slumber at your slumber party

Unocorn Boy V02 Unicorn Boy and the Slumber Party of Doom! by Dave Roman

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I really liked the first Unicorn Boy by Dave Roman. It was both new and fresh, plus also familiar. I liked that combination. The fantasy elements are fun, the LGBTQ elements on point, I thought the humor was mostly laughing out loud. Sure, some were a bit “kid centered” but that doesn’t mean an adult could like it. Then I read via an online reader Unicorn Boy and the Slumber Party of Doom! (Unicorn Boy #2) by Dave Roman. It is due in early May […]

Raven’ about bath time

Arlo and the Raven by Lucy Fleming

Bathtime for Snow Monkeys by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura

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Because I have one of the best jobs when it comes to books (bookseller and behind the scenes goddess) I get access to future publications. While viewing the online reader copies I have access to, I located two titles that are fall publications. One is coming out in November 2026 and one in October 2026. The first was Arlo and the Raven by Lucy Fleming, the second was Bathtime for Snow Monkeys by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrated by Yas Imamura. I almost did not write […]

This read is younger than his others (or I’m assuming as I haven’t read them) but still not for really really young

Leo da Vinci: Renaissance Kid by Richard Ashley Hamilton

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If you like stories about, or at least a modernization of Leonardo Da Vinci’s story, you just might like Leo da Vinci: Renaissance Kid by Richard Ashley Hamilton. Of course, things are totally fictionalized (or so one would assume, but perhaps it is set in an alternative reality?). The language is completely of today with actions to match (fist bumps, calling stepfather Tony).  Now, maybe it is not the best book, but for certain it is a fun one that I will try to find […]



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