Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

When the days call for a story about a family of mice

Brambly Hedge The Secret Staircase by Jill Barklem

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I have recommended the Brambly Hedge series by Jill Barklem for ages. I have seen them go out of print and back into print again at least once. Yet, I have never read an actual book. I found The Secret Staircase (pun not intended) while looking through some books that were (let us say) preloved. I picked it up thinking they were standalone stories. However, I quickly realized, while they are standalones, they do connect with each other and had I read a completed chronological […]

“In my humble opinion, pride is a fairly common sin, because everyone thinks very highly of themselves.”

Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

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As anyone who has been part of the Cannonball Read for a while knows, I simply do not have the power to resist a Jane Austen retelling. Even if I’ve heard terrible things about it, I’m probably still going to read it. Unofficial sequels, modernizations, books told from alternate points of view? I am ALL IN. I recently saw an article talking about how Jane Austen is all the rage right now with Southeast Asian writers and readers, and how there were a slew of […]

It’s a crab! It’s a submarine! It’s SUPER NARWHAL!

Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt (A Narwhal and Jelly Book #2 by Ben Clanton

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Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt (A Narwhal and Jelly Book #2) by Ben Clanton is a typical Narwhal and Jelly book. However, Narwhal is not as annoying as they have been in other books. Usually the naivetés of Narwhal borders on the frankly, stupid, and I cannot get pass that “comedy of errors and misunderstandings” (I never thought Abbot and Costello all that amusing) to enjoy the story. This time, even though Narwhal stays true to himself and personality, the story worked much better for me. Our “heroes […]

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling

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Oh, wow, so it’s been a month since I read this. Good thing I’ve read it five billion times; my reactions are always fresh and ready to go! And also I took pictures of all the quotes I wanted to talk about. This review is not quite the 10,000 words as requested, but I suppose it will do. (I anticipate my review of Goblet of Fire to be monstrous.) I just needed to get this done before I started the next one on 4/1. Ooh, […]

I read this to spare you all. You’re welcome. Unless you like bad paranormal romance.

Bitten by Kelly Armstrong

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I decided to request Bitten from the local library because I’d seen it on a list of good fantasy series. I’m so very glad I did that. Got it from the library that is. This book is the epitome of everything that people don’t like about paranormal romance. I’m almost tempted to throw it in the river and save everyone else who may check it out the experience; I won’t because that’s destruction of library property (and therefore bad on principle) and the book’s not […]

Good Smolder and Original Urban Fantasy

Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa

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My strategy for surviving the Trump presidency is to hide exclusively in fun escapist books and Rhapsodic, involving a fey king and a human siren, fit the bill. Callypso is a siren who can use her voice to compel humans to do/say whatever she wants, a power she utilizes to coerce bad people to admit their crimes, stop stealing from the innocent, etc. When she was younger she bought favors from the Bargainer, a dark fey. Not just a few favors, HUNDREDS OF FAVORS. She […]



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