Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search this Site

Some doors shouldn’t be opened

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer

by Leave a Comment

I was so excited when I saw that Marissa Meyer had a Bluebeard retelling (I enjoyed her recent Rumpelstiltskin inspired duology though I think it might have worked better as a stand alone) and there wasn’t anything wrong with this story at all, I just felt like it could have done more. I don’t think I heard of the Bluebeard story until my teens or early 20s (my introduction to it might have even involved Margaret Atwood) but it’s always interesting to see what people […]

You have to get the words right

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

by Leave a Comment

This was a reread for me but it was a book club choice and it had been long enough since I read that I was a little fuzzy on the details (also, I’m not sure if I simply read them around the same time or if the authors approached their descriptions in similar ways but the changeling in this novella strongly reminds me of the possessed kid or changelings child in the Emily Wilde novel). This is an alternate version of Sleeping Beauty where Sleeping […]

Not what I expected, but absolutely amazing

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

by 3 Comments

So at the end of last year, I decided that 2026 would be the year that I fully indulged my love for dark academia. I did some googling and put together a list of books that were considered part of the genre. Somewhere I came across The Raven Scholar and put it at the top of my list, as everyone seemed to love it. While reading it, I realized two things: 1) while there are a few dark academia elements, it’s not a book that I […]

A Well-Realized World in a Small Package

The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark

by 6 Comments

I’m starting to really love P. Djèlí Clark’s writing. This is the second book I’ve read by him, and I liked it even more than Ring Shout, which is surprising because it’s rare for me to give a novella more than 4 stars (4.25 for this one). Often I find that characters don’t end up getting fleshed out enough for me, and while I would have loved more of The Black God’s Drums, Clark did a remarkable job considering the limited space he was working with. […]

Opposites attract

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

by Leave a Comment

I realize that Ali Hazelwood does not write perfect books, but I find them highly entertaining and I usually go out of my way to read them. However, I’ve never had much interest in paranormal romance novels with vampires, werewolves, and the like. So, when I first heard that Hazelwood was branching out of her normal STEM romance novels, I figured I would skip them. But then I ran out of things to read, and I decided they were worth a try after all. I […]

Read Me

Monsterlogica: A menagerie of monsters, beasts and magical beings by Martin Maudsley and Victoria Topping

The Big Book of Useless History Knowledge: 250 of the Coolest, Weirdest, and Most Unbelievable History Facts You Won't Be Taught in School by Kay Wolfersperger, Liz Kay, Lauren Radley, Neon Squid, and Vicky Armstrong

by 1 Comment

It is that time of year when the publishers are promoting their future releases. Two of those books that were highlighted are below in this combined review. Neither had a finished online readers copy available, but what they did have made me terribly excited When I started Monsterlogica: A menagerie of monsters, beasts and magical beings by Martin Maudsley and illustrator Victoria Topping (due September 2026) I was not sure of it. Another monster book? Eh. I mean, sure monsters are fun, they could add […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo