Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Down among a bait and switch

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seannan Maguire

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This book explores the origin story of Jack and Jill, twin sisters from Every Heart a Doorway. The novella starts from pre-birth all the way through Jack and Jill finding and then fleeing The Moors. Along the way we meet the worst parents in the world who didn’t want children but wanted a perfect photograph of children; The Master, a vampire who rules the Moors; Dr. Bleak, mad scientist who pushes the boundaries of science going so far as to raise the dead; and many of […]

“Shakespeare knew too much.”

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

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I really had a good time with this one. I didn’t realize it was YA going in, but while it did lean into YA sensibilities at points, mostly it just felt like a kooky magical adventure story. It was very hard to put down, and I found myself constantly wondering what would happen next, which doesn’t really happen all that often to me anymore because I read so much (usually for me these days I vacillate between “I pretty much know what’s coming” because I’m […]

A Sugar Spun Fantasy

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

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I don’t normally use the word exquisite to describe a book, but Erin Morgenstern’s book The Night Circus is exquisite. Thanks to the generous Ale, who sent me this book for the holiday book exchange, I got to read one of my favorite books of the year. The Night Circus is about two talented enchanters, Celia and Marco, who have been brought up since childhood to engage in a mysterious challenge with each other. Both take part in creating the night circus, a magical circus […]

So conflicted about these books, but I will definitely keep reading because I trust my recommenders!

Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson

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It’s going to be hard to keep all the spoiler-y bits out of this review, so I’ll try to bifurcate it such that the spoiler parts are clumped together. First off, Wayne is a treasure and probably the best part of these books. I actually get a strong sense of like, Temeraire + Lawrence from His Majesty’s Dragon and the rest, with Wax a less boring foil for Wayne’s antics than Lawrence even managed to be. (Is it Laurence? That’s how much of a snooze fest he […]

This book is TOO SHORT, which is probably the best critique a book can get

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

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A recommendation by narfna! Quite short and interesting, especially writing this review after all the multiverse talk that has permeated the pop culture o sphere with the release of Spiderman: No Way Home. In a nutshell, this is a Sleeping Beauty retelling where Zinnia Grey is our Briar Rose. She’s suffering from a genetic disease brought on by an Evil Corporation, but the clock is running out and she’s unlikely to make it to her twenty-first birthday. Zinnia has decided to live life to the […]

“His big, obnoxious Scorpio energy is invading your cozy Cancer safe space!”

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

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I saved this for Halloween* and I’m so glad I did. It was so atmospheric and spooky and fun, with great worldbuilding and great characters. The only reason it’s not getting five stars is that I was straight up able to predict everything that happened in the plot, because the author telegraphed it all pretty hard. It didn’t really affect my enjoyment that much, because the fun here was the world and the characters, but I of all people should just not be able to […]



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