Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

In a distant country, war is affecting Theo in his safe home

Planting Sunshine by Andrée Poulin

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From the moment I saw the cover of Planting Sunshine (due Feb 2026, read via an online reader) it had really gotten under my skin. At first, I loved it; then I didn’t; then I felt it and hoped I would like the story beyond it. For sure this image gives one an emotional response. And to say that Andrée Poulin’s text also gives an emotional response, is an understatement. They combine poetry, graphic novel formats and novels, with contemporary events. The “Why” of a […]

A cozy fantasy

The Baker and the Bard: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure by Fern Haught

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I have wanted to read The Baker and the Bard: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure by Fern Haught since I first saw it coming out, which was probably around 2023 for reader copies, and then 2024 for finished editions. Now it is 2025 and I am glad that I read it via an online reader copy as it was terribly short and it had a few open spots that I felt needed to be filled in and while I enjoyed it, I do not want a […]

“Good Morning with roses and jasmine,”

A Good Morning for Giddo by Dahlia Constantine and Irene Latham

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Picture books are a great way to read a book without reading a few hundred pages. They still can entertain, give factual information and make you laugh. Of course, you can cry and be mad, too, as everything is there, as well. I have said this before and will say it again: Picture books are legitimate books. And A Good Morning for Giddo is a very legitimate book. It does not have a big action scene and the message is a little slow in the […]

Choosing your life partner based on her footwear might not be a good idea

Revolting Rhymes: Cinderella by Roald Dahl

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(A  few spoilers are included) Do you like Roald Dahl? Well if you do, you might want to try Revolting Rhymes: Cinderella (illustrated by Adam Larkum). Now, I think this book is a reissue, but I am not really sure, but I do know that it will be an edition out in mid-April 2026. I am just going to say two things: One, I am not always a fan of Dahl, but two, I appreciate the work. And with Cinderella, I like the ending as […]

Buck some stereotypes and be you

My Guncle and Me by Jonathan Merritt

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I saw the title on my online reader list (though it is available), My Guncle and Me. Okay, (I thought) another gay uncle story. Cool. There are a few for kids, usually the uncle is pretty flamboyant, and that’s the moral of the story (it’s okay to be you), but let’s see if this is different. And, it is. Yes, the uncle is still flamboyant (not “as flamboyant” as say the drag queen uncle in the book, Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero by Ellie Royce […]

Beauty and the Yeast Infection

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

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If this is what counts as a fairy love story these days, then consider me permanently checked out. A Court of Thorns and Roses is one of the most poorly written, boring, and utterly unbelievable ventures into fae romance I could imagine. Centered around a protagonist named Feyre — which is somehow both an absurd and fitting name for such a ridiculous character — the story begins with her starving in the woods and shooting a wolf with her bow and arrow. This apparently triggers […]



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