Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This broke my heart, and not in the good way

The Dravenhearst Brides by Lindsay Barrett

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I haven’t had a book break my heart the way The Dravenhearst Brides did in a long time. Since Lindsay Barrett is a new to me author, I went in with few expectations, but I was immediately drawn in. The Dravenhearst Brides is a gothic romance set in Kentucky in 1933, towards the end of Prohibition and is described as a loose retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Since the book is a loose retelling of Rebecca, I wasn’t surprised that two of the characters […]

Evil Geniuses Come in All Ages

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

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Bingo: Culture. This book covers many aspects of fairy culture. I haven’t read any fantasy in a long time, so I picked up the YA novel Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. It was a light read, but I enjoyed it. Artemis Fowl is a twelve year old boy who comes from a long line of crime lords. He is extraordinarily smart and devious. At the start of the book, he manages to get his hands on the fairies’ golden book, which holds all their secrets. […]

Greed, pretty princesses and monsters

Darkly She Goes by Hubert

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After reading Darkly She Goes by Hubert and illustrated by Vincent Mallié (translated by L Benson and color by Bruno Tatti) I realized that I will be haunted by Hubert’s writing. After reading Beauty by them, I figured nothing would shock me about their style. But Darkly She Goes is a terribly odd, weird, insane ride. There were unlikable characters, situations and the ending was unsatisfying. The images were dark, violent and awkward. Yet, I was mesmerized from page one and could not stop reading. […]

I’m still not going camping, but I’ll read about it

The Best Worst Camp Out Ever by Joe Cepeda

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Every so often I still find an older online reader copy in my saved links. And The Best Worst Camp Out Ever by Joe Cepeda (from late April/early May 2024) is one of them. I honestly do not think I would have liked this book if I had not found (again) and read it on a day in October 2025. I was in the right place and it was the right time for it. Summer was ending, fall was bursting out (minus good color for […]

For a guy without a head, that Headless Horseman has a good one on his shoulders.

Ghost Circus by Adrienne Kress

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Okay, so my title is a little bit of a spoiler to what happens at the end of Ghost Circus by Adrienne Kress and illustrations by Jade Zhang. The Horseman shows up at the end, you think he’s a bad guy (like he usually is in stories) but he helps our heroes. I just couldn’t resist making a good (or bad depending on how you feel about it) pun. And I think you shouldn’t miss this graphic novel either. Both classical and modern elements make […]

Her voice

Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open: Poems by Diane Seuss

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A friend of mine who is also a writer, poet, editor and constant learner recommended the poet Diane Seuss. Of course, my kid self said, SEUSS? Well that’s a hoot. And I am sure she is tired of people asking and/or joking about it, so I’ll just leave that there and talk about Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open: Poems (Juniper Prize for Poetry) instead.  And I’m not really sure what to say about things. It has a unique modern voice with obvious classical influences, […]



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