Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

less practical, more magical

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

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Twenty two years after the publication of Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman fired up the ol’ Owens Family Cauldron to brew up (I apologize for NOTHING) the story of “The Aunts”. Before Jet and Franny were kooky caregivers with cupboards full of teeth and dove hearts, they were kids squirming under the overbearing but uninvolved eyes of their midcentury modern parents. Necessarily, when re-approaching a well-defined but of-its-time creation, one must get a little creative with facts and figures. Practical Magic was already a bit screwy with time, […]

Another faerie murder mystery for October Daye

A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire

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A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire is the second book in the October Daye series. I reviewed Rosemary and Rue for CBR11, so it’s only natural I pick the series back up for CBR 12. This novel finds the changeling Toby stumbling upon an unexpected murder mystery in Silicon Valley. As his knight, Toby can’t refuse a request from Sylvester, the Duke of Shadowed Hills. His kingdom is the faerie land closest to San Francisco. He wants her to check on his niece, January. She […]

Sexy magic boots

Kicking It by Faith Hunter and Kalayna Price

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When the ‘rona hit, I found it hard to concentrate on a book. If you’re in a slump, I highly recommend trying an anthology from your favorite genre. Kicking It was edited by Faith Hunter and Kalayna Price. I haven’t read any Jane Yellowrock books, but her story made me order the first book. I stumbled across the anthology more so for Price who wrote the Alex Craft books, which was my be favorite series from last year. I took a lot of breaks between […]

Music and dragons

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

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Seraphina by Rachel Hartman follows a young girl who lives for music. An excellent pick for the music square for CBR 12 Bingo. The novel is set in a fictional kingdom of Goredd where dragons and humans have found a fragile peace. The dragons in this book are scholars who love cold logic and have a hankering for math too. They can transform into a human form to take up these pursuits. A murder mystery unfolds that opens up old wounds between the two races. A […]

Middle Earth or New Zealand for this BINGO square; it’s a toss up. #CBRBingo – I Wish

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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“You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!” I have always wanted to go to Middle Earth. Well, I say always, but I actually came to The Hobbit a little late (and The Lord of the Rings later than that). It was required reading for freshman year English class in my high school. I was absolutely enchanted by it, especially the “Riddles in the […]

So This Is Why Geralt Is So Reticent

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

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Confession: My Witcher experience to date has been a bit arse over tit. I appear that have done everything completely backwards. My first introduction to the series was the TV show earlier this year, which then prompted me to purchase The Witcher 3 (Which I’m not very good at—I’m going to blame the Joy-Con drift). So after all that, I thought I should start with one of the books. The Last Wish is made up of a series of short stories and is the rough […]



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