Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Featured Review Archive

These reviews, which were promoted in CBR social media, on our homepage, and in Pajiba Love, appear below by review publication date, not by date featured.

 

Lucky Tomorrow by Deborah Jiang-Stein

Lucky Tomorrow by Deborah Jiang-Stein

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Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review. This is a collection of short stories by Deborah Jiang-Stein. The main reason why I just gave the overall collection 5 stars was that although it took me a bit to get used to how she curated this collection, it started to resonate with me after a while. We follow a “main” character so to speak, but some of the other stories were so short that I didn’t […]

When in a pinch use a banana

The Book of Candles: Eight Poems for Hanukkah by Laurel Snyder and Leanne Hatch

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After reading the book, Shrinking Violet by Laurel Snyder, I wondered what else they had written. I found The Book of Candles: Eight Poems for Hanukkah (illustrated by Leanne Hatch). It is currently available (it came out mid September 2025) but I was able to find an online reader copy. I might purchase a few copies for some adult friends and/or my local library as it had a fresh take that makes it “not another Hanukkah” story. Most Hanukkah books have an ideal setting for […]

“The child intuitively comprehends that although these stories are unreal, they are not untrue…”- Bruno Bettelheim

F*cked Up Fairy Tales: Sinful Cinderellas, Prince Alarmings, and Other Timeless Classics by Liz Gotauco

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This book goes to show fairy tales are timeless; the same crap you’re going through now in real life happened to people whose stories (most of the time) ended in “Happily Ever After.” It was highly enjoyable; I appreciated that Gotauco pulled out a list of stories that (for the most part) I had never read or heard of before, as well as one or two I’ve read different iterations of. Interesting (and showing the international collectedness she talks about) how many of the stories […]

A Gothic Classic for a Reason

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

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Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. The opening chapters of Rebecca by Daphne du Marier are a haunting introduction to a place we will come to know quite well by the end of the book. Our unnamed narrator takes us past the lodge house, up the long drive to the old house, all the while reflecting on how nature has begun to take over the grounds and land, and only the most intrepid poacher would dare to trespass. She then thinks on their […]

A Very Satisfying Conclusion

The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

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Raisa takes the throne as Queen, but there is still much work to be done as well as the threat of invasion.  Someone is murdering wizards, political machinations abound, and pressure for Raisa to marry.  Raisa and Han are struggling both with the fact that almost everyone seems to be against Han in general and their relationship isn’t officially allowed.  Plus between each of their duties, they don’t see each other much and are not sharing all of their plans with each other.  As the […]

700+ words on how much I disliked this book

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman

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BINGO: TBR, even though it’s relatively recent, because for how excited I was for the launch it’s shockingly long before I actually forced myself to sit down and read this thing Maybe I will change the review for this when I’ve calmed down but for now WE RIDE AS WITCHES, perfectly serene and passionate and unbothered by the vagaries of humankind. Warning that at some point I do go off into a bullet point list which have some spoiler-y elements, but it is worth it […]



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