Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Stunning illustrations and a story about a special friend

Little Mole’s Wish by Sang-Keun Kim

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Contains spoilers Little Mole’s Wish is a cute story, but also is a bit sad. This is especially true for the almost end. I am not sure how a child might take the fact there is a loss, but suddenly, “poof” the lost person is back. However, Sang-Keun Kim’s illustrations are lovely. Kim’s illustrations are just adorably comfortable. They are softly colored and perfectly detailed without being over-the-top. They are even slightly fuzzy, but not in any negative way. They just show how calm and […]

Superheroes come in all shapes, sizes and plant material

The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid by Kirk Scroggs

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Do you like puns, bad jokes, typical science fiction stories and friendship? Then you should try The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid by Kirk Scroggs. This graphic novel, for ages 8 to 10 (up to young 12) is a “what could happen if Swamp Thing was a middle school kid instead of being a big ol’ Swamp Thing Man” story. We follow middle-schooler, Russel, as he deals with being different (he has one very large arm, is green, has a carrot finger, tendrils and is […]

The end game for Alera

First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher

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The final book in the Codex Alera does a great job of tying up all of the plot lines without tripping up and also continues the job of changing your perception of what you thought you knew already. Tavi is aware that his grandfather has died as the Great Fury Alera has visited him and is making him (and Kitai) undergo training from hell on their journey home to Alera. This is so when they arrive Tavi is prepared to deal with the realities of […]

New friends and old enemies – the war for Alera has begun

Princeps Fury by Jim Butcher

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In this, the fifth book of the Codex Alera, the cat is out of the bag following Tavi’s declaration of himself as Gaius Octavian. To protect him and to build alliances his grandfather supports Tavi helping to return the Canim invaders to their homeland. This protection is both from the increasing Vord activity in Alera and the usual Aleran politics that would see him dead. This time we have more than 2 plots as Tavi’s newly honoured mother Isana (regarded as the First Lady of […]

Rejected title: The Epic Rage of Genie Lo

The Iron Will of Genie Lo by F. C. Yee

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The Iron Will of Genie Lo picks up pretty close to where we left off with Epic Crush. Genie is now the Protector of California, splitting her time between high school (where she’s once again had leadership thrust upon her as captain of the volleyball team) and keeping yaoguai in check. It’s a fairly tightrope that’s rapidly fraying at both ends as she tries to figure out how to keep all the plates spinning without letting anyone down. Genie is angry, y’all, and possibly suffering […]

That we are capable only of being what we are remains our unforgivable sin.

The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe

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This is the second of this older series by Gene Wolfe. It’s weird because I read the back of the book and I look through various material and I know there’s something more going on here in the text than I am seeing or realizing, but I have not yet found the text to have explained much beyond the story. It’s one of those things were I can’t tell if I’m missing it or if people are transferring later known quantities about the text on […]



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