Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A blazing good friendship

Baby Dragon, Baby Dragon by Melissa Marr

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Baby Dragon, Baby Dragon had great potential for becoming a great a bedtime story, but it fell short at the last minute. It was a treat to watch Baby Dragon play with his friend throughout the castle and the village, but then it is time for rest, which would have been the perfect ending. But Melissa Marr decides to let Baby Dragon wake and start again. The pacing of the book makes this rest only the time of a cat-nap and not the falling asleep […]

The first adventure of the Bug Boys will probably be my last with them

Bug Boys by Laura Knetzger

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Bug Boys looked interesting from the cover. Perhaps a bit too whimsical for my illustration tastes, but I was willing to overlook it to find a book with science peppered throughout it. (Or I was assuming it would give facts and fiction). Also, how does one not love a good book about friends? What could have been a modern Frog and Toad or the new Elephant and Piggie, turned into one huge mess. The spiritual aspects and the growth from there that the characters should […]

When everyone has magic you’re special if you’re the one without

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

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Furies of Calderon is the first book in Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera. The book series came about as the result of a discussion about whether a good premise could overcome a bad writer or vice-versa – that a good enough writer could come up with a story even from a bad premise. Jim’s response was to say give him two terrible ideas and he’d write the book combining them; so here we are with a book that combines the Lost Roman legion and Pokemon! This […]

Either shorten it or split it

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

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I read Guy Gavriel Kay’s Sailing to Sarantium and its sequel last year (or maybe the year before) and thoroughly enjoyed them. So much fantasy feels so very centered on western European culture and histories and Kay breaks the mold a little bit with some very Ottoman-inspired fantasy. The Lions of Al-Rassan, which I was very much looking forward to, was similar in that respect, I just wish it had been trimmed down, or possibly split across two books. This is a sprawling fantasy story covering multiple […]

I was born reaching for her.

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

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I was super excited when I got my hands on this at the library. The title popped up as recommended all over my book apps and emails. Fans of Harry Potter, V.E. Schwab, and Lev Grossman’s Magician’s trilogy were into it, so I had high expectations. Unfortunately, that particular well of mysteries set at magic schools is pretty much full to the brim. Twin sisters Ivy and Tabitha Gamble are estranged. Their sisterly bond was torn apart by a dying mother, a grieving father and […]

(Bingo: Pajiba) All shall fade into the whiteness of death

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

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I was keenly intrigued upon reading both the Pajiba post about this one and I think also possibly Big Idea on Scalzi’s website but I’m not certain about that. I just know I saw a fair amount of press and was very interested in reading James’ take on an epic fantasy world beginning from an African perspective. “Children cannot help how they are born, they had no choice in it. Choosing to be a fool, though . . .” (Kindle loc 1020) Unfortunately, I am […]



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