Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Drop-kick That Magic Lamp into Mount Doom

The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin (editors)

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Short story collections are like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: you have to gnaw some nuts and chews to eventually find that chocolate truffle. That said, The Djinn Falls in Love is phenomenal. Six of the twenty-one stories are among the best short stories I have read. Ever. (Jhumpa Lahiri, I’m sorry to report that you’ve been bumped.)  The editors’s international ensemble of authors clearly did their research, populating their confident tales with every manner of djinn, jinn, and genie. Some lie in wait in […]

Magically Delightful

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

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It took me a while to find my feet in this one, but once I did, it was a delightful romp through a fantastical Regency England. In Cho’s world, magic is in the air….or it would be if the Fairy Courts hadn’t plugged up the hole allowing their magic to trickle into England. But someone’s pissed off the Fairy Queen, and it becomes quite the kerfuffle for our titular Sorcerer Royal, Zacharias. On top of Fairy feelings, Zacharais is also fighting deep seated racism since […]

This is where we learn it’s not a good idea to throw your GF into a bottomless pit

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

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Book: One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake Series: One Dark Throne Medium: Audiobook Date Read: Jan 8-10, 2019 Overall Rating: 4 poison viles/5 I know that I go easy on YA’s rating wise but you know what, they are so fun, you want to read them,  and they keep you reading and this sequel is just that.  Excellent character development, continuation of an interesting plot, and people making terrible mistakes due to lack of communication.  Oh, teenagers, when will you learn? In the sequel to […]

Implied beastiality aside, a good little fairy tale/sci fi/YA romp

Winter by Marissa Meyer

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Book: Winter by Marissa Meyers Series: Lunar Chronicles Medium: Audiobook Read From: Jan 05-08, 2019 Overall Rating: 3.5 wolf cubs out of 5 I had started the Lunar Chronical before Christmas break and finished the last in the original series (there is a prequel called Heartless I have yet to read) on the recommendation from my husband who listened to the audiobooks (which surprised because there are some pretty hilarious lovey-dovey romance bits that apparently jive with him. We’ve been together for over a decade and I was having […]

The academic research paper of fiction

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

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For a book that seemed to be received so positively initially, around the time of release, it seems like all I’ve read lately are reviews that are disappointed by how boring it is and confused by why it was so well-liked. You might say my expectations were pretty low. So I had to laugh as I realized I was enjoying it. A Discovery of Witches is EXCESSIVELY academic. Not just in the subject matter, which obviously is, but in the whole tone and writing approach. […]

What might happen if a fan got to live inside her favorite story.

The Fandom by Anna Day

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“What the fuck is the fandom?” — Reagan, Fangirl Every time I have seen the title of this book, or the word “fandom” in any context since 2013 (the year Fangirl was published), I have thought of this line.  And it somehow feels fitting for my reaction to this book to be precluded by a quote from another (better) book, because The Fandom just did almost nothing for me as a reader. This was actually the first book I picked out of my brand new […]



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