Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

An interesting take on Elric

Elric Vol. 1: The Ruby Throne by Michael Moorcock

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I first read Elric when I was about 12 or 13 and fell for the character. He was brooding, intelligent, conflicted, it is easy to see how an introverted pre-teen could identify with him. Visually, I have to say that this first volume is extremely impressive. In the notes, the artist talk about how the way the Melniboneans are portrayed is inspired by the Cenobites from Hellraiser. And it works. The reader really gets a sense of the alien nature and cruelty within the Melnibonean […]

A Hard Life And Dark Magic

The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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The story itself doesn’t shy away from the dangers of both life for young women (which may be very troubling for some readers-many serious issues are discussed and Alex has had a hard life) and unfettered magic use in this world. Alex’s backstory is engaging and while she has a clever retort for most situations, the pain and trouble that fuels her make the young woman very sympathetic. Please feel free to take a look at my other reviews.

Magic and mystery at Yale University with a healthy sprinkling of ghosts

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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[My first Cannonball Read review ever. I’m very excited to be here and to join in this shared reading experience with you all!] Galaxy Stern is not a standard Yale student and the magic established in Ninth House is not the standard system. Ninth House finds Galaxy (“Alex”) at Yale and a part of the ninth house of Yale’s magical secret societies despite the fact that she is a high school drop out from LA. Her role at the Ninth House of the Veil, Lethe, is that […]

The fluff that almost, almost got interesting

Mooncakes by Wendy Xu, Suzanne Walker

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Mooncakes is a fluffy light read, but it could have been so much more. Like a lot of the graphic novels I tend to pick up, this one features a fairly YA story about 2 queer characters probably in their late teens who have something supernatural about them, and they must face some sort of supernatural problem while dealing with their mutual attraction to each other. Nova is a witch in training, and Tam is her werewolf childhood friend/possibly something more who moved away but […]

A book so good I may soon need an intervention if I’m ever to stop re-reading it

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

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An absolutely fantastic follow up to Every Heart A Doorway, Down Among The Sticks and Bones gives us the back story to two of the most interesting characters from its predecessor, showing us how Jack and Jill found themselves at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children in an outing that is so brilliant I found myself devouring it within hours before turning around and reading it all over again. Jack and Jill weren’t always who we now know them to be. Born Jacqueline and Jillian […]

Knock knock

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

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The story begins in 1901, with January Scaller, a young girl who lives in a lovely home in rural Vermont. This home is filled with strange and wonderful objects, found by her father for owner of the home, Mr. Locke. Mr. Locke is a member of a prestigious archaeological society and loves to be known as a collector of wondrous things but prefers not to do the collecting himself. So he sends Julian Scaller on the search, sometimes for months at a time. While Julian […]



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