Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I’ve Been Expelled From Heaven, I Think I was In Heaven”

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

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I’m not sure if I have been in a book slump or of my mind hasn’t been able to focus due to all the things going on at work at the beginning of the year, or if it was inability to find a book that could hold my attention.  It was probably a hybrid of the two, since I’m still in a very picky mood about books, but count on Seanan McGuire, a true and tried favorite, to get me out of my slump. I’m rather late getting to […]

No Nonsense Fairy Tales

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede

Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede

Calling on Dragons by Patricia Wrede

Talking to Dragons by Patricia Wrede

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(Spoilers throughout) Dealing with Dragons has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, but this is the first time I’ve read the rest of the series. This series, known as the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, focus on a group of characters living in and around an enchanted forest (as you may have guessed). The first book, Dealing with Dragons, introduces Princess Cimorene. She’s a misfit as far as fairy tales are concerned: she’s too businesslike to care about romance, is more interested in […]

Nature of happiness

The Fox on the Swing by Evelina Daciute

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The Fox on the Swing was created by Evelina Daciute and Ausra Kiudulaite. This creation of theirs has made the award scene say it has something about it that earned it the 2019 Batchelder Award. This winner, originally published in Lithuanian as “Laime Yra Lape,” is obviously not a book that was written in English first.  You can feel the non-Western flow to the writing style. There is an obvious feeling of a translation, but everything does work as the translation was not choppy as […]

Ghost Ships and Magic

Ship of Smoke and Steel by Django Wexler

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Ship of Smoke and Steel is an enjoyable fantasy that squeaks into the YA label because the protagonist is a teenager. The violence and sex in the book make it suitable for older teens at best, and boy do I feel like a prude saying that. I found out about this book thanks to John Scalzi’s wonderful segment on his blog “The Big Idea” where an author tells you about a book they have coming out and how they came up with it. I find […]

The front seat is for people who’ve never been kidnapped by bloody numpties.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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Oh what fun!  This was such a delightful read during the grim darkness of winter. I have read a few books by Rainbow Rowell that I really loved and one that didn’t work for me. When Carry On popped up at the library, I was looking for something frothy and fun and escapist, and I had no expectation about the story. I could not have chosen a better book. Simon Snow, a 17 year old boy, is the most powerful wizard ever, but he is […]

Without Darkness, how could we recognize the light?

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy #1) by N.K. Jemisin

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I received this book in 2015. The fact that I haven’t read it until now says far more about the depth of my “to be read” pile than it does the quality of this novel. I promise you that.



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