Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“But all’s well that ends well, and if your adventure is successful, all those little problems you had will soon become very funny to you indeed.”

Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Tiny Forest Adventure by Emma Steinkellner

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This is the charming sequel to the first Nell of Gumbling book. The series takes place in a fairy tale based town, but it’s just normal life for everyone and the focus is more on the power of community and learning positive lessons versus the magical elements. I like this sort of everyday life within a fantasy world, so the setting really works for me, and Emma Steinkellner’s art is perfect. In this volume, Nell is going to do a summer camping course (the Wilderness […]

“A magician whose magic had left him; a forest felled; a dragon lost; an attack forthcoming; our king fated to die …”

The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright

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The Hedgewitch of Foxhall is a young adult stand-alone (yay) vaguely historical fantasy.  Set in medieval Wales, this is in a version of Wales where magic was very real.  Or it had been and the quest to restore magic to the land is the big driving force of the narrative.  I listened to the audiobook version of the novel, and it was awesome to hear the Welsh names and phrases pronounced.  For those who pick up the physical book, there is a pronunciation guide.  (I […]

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, […]

Creature Cats get Cozy

Yokai Cats vol. 1 by Pandania

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Bingo 20: Disco On the assumption that “disco” may be applied to any culture blending, I am going with Yokai Cats 1 for this. That and also somehow managing to use both muted but also very colorful illustrations. The muted part is not disco, but the rest is, so we’re going with it. I have to admit that I was a little surprised that there appear to be four volumes of this, which I noted adding it to my Goodreads. It’s pretty simple: envision various […]

Infinity War – But Even Better

Wicked Problems by Max Gladstone

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Earlier this year, I reviewed Dead Country, a newer installment in Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence. Dead Country was an unusual entry in the series with its simpler parred back narrative and more personal focus— until we hit the end of course. That’s when a then-low lying series-spanning threat suddenly decided to make itself known. This leads us to Wicked Problems, which deals with the massive fallout. Tara had previously returned to Edgemont to deal with the aftermath of her father’s death, and while there, had […]

Shiver me timbers and all that good stuff

Sea of Thieves: Sea Dog's Search by Jeremy Whitley

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Sea of Thieves: Sea Dog’s Search by Jeremy Whitley and illustrated by Rhoald Marcellius is more of a 2.5 than a 2. That is not to say this graphic novel is not good, in fact, it is a lot of fun. But nothing “grabbed” me into saying “Best book.” We know the stories of female pirates proving themselves to their families and self, and the illustrations are in a traditional comic format. However, if I had known about the podcasts, shows, and the other items […]



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