Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Someone poisoned you last night,” I said bluntly. He looked thunderstruck, then hurt. “It was my birthday party.”

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

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Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is as enjoyable a read as it’s predecessor, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faerie. I found that I liked spending time with Emily, Wendell, and Shadow even in the places where the plot dragged a bit. Emily is as prickly as ever, and I love her all the more for it. The marriage proposal remains unanswered, but Wendell remains delighted by her. I only wish there had been a few more of the “my dear dragon” endearments. Emily and Wendell […]

Same therapist, wrong answers?

Work-Life Balance by Aisha Franz

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The graphic novel Work-Life Balance by Aisha Franz and translated from German by Nicholas Houde is an Emotion Book. Not an emotional book, but an Emotion Book. Well, it is both. You come away with feels after you see the feelings, actions, and missactions of the four characters of Franz’s book. Some of those feelings are good, some bad, some really icky, and some are “What The Flaming Monkey Toots” did I just experience????   The art (according to the publisher description) is “striking” and I […]

Inside A Serial Killer’s Fantastically Disturbing Life

Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbo

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I saw the person with a gun first and I felt obligated to read the blurb. As expected, forbidden fantasies between the hire-to-kill Olav and his boss’s wife, Corina, who – WTF? – Olav has been sent to kill for having an intimate affair with her stepson. This story was translated by Neil Smith from Norwegian to English. Buckle up because this plot is wild! SPOILERS AHEAD Olav Johansen is our philosophical main character. He’s a bit of an odd duck, with layers of personality […]

The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind small

Zanzara by Gloria Vitanza Basile

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Born in poverty and raised in a squalid orphanage, Phaedra’s life transforms completely when her identity as a prince’s illegitimate daughter is revealed, vaunting her into the lap of luxury. But she has a long, tough path to tread still before she will reach her happy ending. I really, really love the crazy bloody bodice rippers of the 1970s and 80s. They are always wild and adventurous, often with a strong historical grounding, and take you careening through the kind of heroine’s journey that leave […]

“When I can’t find a scintilla of hope here on earth, I can imagine there’s something out there that will help life make sense.”

Imperfect Lives by C.J. Washington

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New year, new book club selections! I had never heard of C.J. Washington or this book, but it was picked for my book club so away I went. This isn’t a book I would have naturally gravitated to, but as a beach book or in my case, something to read at the Korean spa, it was perfectly fine. I had to reread the first two chapters twice to get going, something about the way he was introducing the characters didn’t stick with me, but after […]

“So if you don’t mind, I need your stupid brain and maybe a reassuring glasses cleaning or two.”

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story by Amber Benson

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of my favorite shows of all time. Full stop. So I was immediately curious about this new spin on an old favorite, capitalizing on our cultural zeitgeist for multiverse properties. Why Buffy? Why not! When I learned that the series was written by Amber Benson, i.e., the actress who played fan favorite Tara? Take my money, Audible. And they did. I saw a three-star review of this story that started with “I never watched Buffy but…” Let me go ahead […]



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