Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

“She’d played so many parts she hardly knew which one was her. She was an onion made of only skins with nothing at the centre.”

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

August 24, 2026 by Malin 1 Comment

Nowhere Book Bingo 26: Book rec from a friend (Ashley/Narfna loved this) Defeat the Goblin TBR: The Rogue Book – a book with politics/intrigue/sneakery involved (this book has all three and lots of it) CBR18 Bingo: Left (All of my fiction books are alphabetised by author, so Abercrombie comes to the very top left of the bookshelf it’s placed on) A cowardly monk. A mercenary. A vampire. A werewolf (who used to be a viking warrior). An elf. A necromancer. A knight who cannot die. […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fantasy, History, Horror, Mystery, Religion Tagged With: alternate history, audiobook, cbr18, cbr18bingo, elves, funny, gory, Grimdark, historical fantasy, joe abercrombie, LGBTQIA, Malin, murder, quest, shapeshifters, Steven Pacey, The Devils, vampires, werewolves

Malin's CBR18 Review No:50 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fantasy, History, Horror, Mystery, Religion · Tags: alternate history, audiobook, cbr18, cbr18bingo, elves, funny, gory, Grimdark, historical fantasy, joe abercrombie, LGBTQIA, Malin, murder, quest, shapeshifters, Steven Pacey, The Devils, vampires, werewolves ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

Better than the first one

Bridget & Gabe Are Not Okay by Lex Croucher

August 24, 2026 by Malin Leave a Comment

CBR18 Bingo: And (literally in the title) Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. This book is on sale now. I don’t know if Croucher intends this to be an ongoing series, but readers should know that this is book two, and this review is probably going to contain some spoilers for book one, Gwen & Art Are Not in Love (which I read earlier this summer, but will not be reviewing because I’m already WAY too […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: alternate history, Anxiety, ARC, Arthurian, Bridget & Gabe Are Not Okay, cbr18, cbr18bingo, friendship, grief, historical fantasy, Lex Croucher, LGBTQIA, Malin, NetGalley, panic attacks, ptsd, road trip, The Camelot Disasters

Malin's CBR18 Review No:49 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: alternate history, Anxiety, ARC, Arthurian, Bridget & Gabe Are Not Okay, cbr18, cbr18bingo, friendship, grief, historical fantasy, Lex Croucher, LGBTQIA, Malin, NetGalley, panic attacks, ptsd, road trip, The Camelot Disasters ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Historian friends to lovers, a haunted mansion and a potentially explosive teaspoon

The Antiquarian's Object of Desire by India Holton

June 18, 2026 by Malin Leave a Comment

Amelia Tarrant and Caleb Stirling are both history professors at Oxford with a speciality in magical antiques. They have been best friends since childhood, but any hint of affection between them could be ruinous to Amelia’s reputation and the careers of both. As a result, they have to appear to be enemies and stage elaborate public fights every so often to make sure all their colleagues believe them to be bitter rivals. One such fight, involving a volatile magical teaspoon, causes a big enough explosion […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery, Romance Tagged With: alternate history, cbr18, friends to lovers, ghosts, Historians, historical fantasy, Howl's Moving Castle, India Holton, Love's Academic, magic, Malin, neurodivergence, paranormal romance, The Antiquarian's Object of Desire, Victorian

Malin's CBR18 Review No:41 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery, Romance · Tags: alternate history, cbr18, friends to lovers, ghosts, Historians, historical fantasy, Howl's Moving Castle, India Holton, Love's Academic, magic, Malin, neurodivergence, paranormal romance, The Antiquarian's Object of Desire, Victorian ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“You are the most fascinating thing in this beautiful house. I’d like to introduce my fists to whoever taught you to stop talking about the things that interest you.”

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

May 27, 2026 by Malin Leave a Comment

4.5 stars Sir Robert “Robin” Blyth ends up in a civil service position he is vastly unprepared for, as it turns out, he is supposed to be a liaison between the secret magical world and the more mundane regular world. Usually, the post is held by an individual from a magical family just unlucky enough not to have any magic of their own (seems like there are quite a few such “duds” in the magic-wielding families of society). Robin, on the other hand, is both […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery, Romance Tagged With: alternate history, Buzzwords 26, Buzzwords cover 26, cbr18, curse, edwardian, Freya Marske, historical fantasy, keyword 26, LGBTQIA, magic, Malin, Nowhere Bingo 26, paranormal romance

Malin's CBR18 Review No:33 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery, Romance · Tags: alternate history, Buzzwords 26, Buzzwords cover 26, cbr18, curse, edwardian, Freya Marske, historical fantasy, keyword 26, LGBTQIA, magic, Malin, Nowhere Bingo 26, paranormal romance ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“Writing gives you the power to shape your own world when the real one hurts too much”

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

May 14, 2026 by Malin Leave a Comment

Dark Corner Selection: March 2026 In a different version of 16th-century Spain, young Luzia Cortado works grudgingly as a scullery maid for the miserable and petty Doña Valentina. Luzia can use what she calls “small magics” to make her life easier. She can mend seams, multiply the groceries, unburn bread or reassemble broken things. She performs these little spells, learned from generations of her Jewish ancestors, by singing quietly. Luzia is a convert; she dutifully goes to Mass and hides any traces of her Jewish […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fantasy, History, Mystery Tagged With: 16th Century Spain, alternate history, audiobook, cbr18, feminism, historical fantasy, Lauren Fortgang, Leigh Bardugo, LGBTQIA, magic, Malin, religious persecution, the Dark Corner, The Familiar, The Inquisition

Malin's CBR18 Review No:28 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fantasy, History, Mystery · Tags: 16th Century Spain, alternate history, audiobook, cbr18, feminism, historical fantasy, Lauren Fortgang, Leigh Bardugo, LGBTQIA, magic, Malin, religious persecution, the Dark Corner, The Familiar, The Inquisition ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“She was a half-wild thing of ink and grass and sea breezes, raised by books and rabbits and fairy lore, and that was all she cared to be.”

The Magician's Daughter by H. G. Parry

May 10, 2026 by Malin Leave a Comment

Biddy lives on a small, magically isolated island off the coast of Ireland with her guardian/foster father, Rowan, and his familiar, the rabbit Hutchincroft. No one who doesn’t know that it’s there can find it. While Biddy has no magic of her own, she has grown up with it all around her. Yet magic is fading in the outside world, and far too often, Rowan has to leave Biddy to go to the mainland in bird form to find some small reserves of it. She […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery Tagged With: alternate history, cbr18, edwardian, family, h.g. parry, historical fantasy, magic, narfna, shapeshifters, The Magician's Daughter

Malin's CBR18 Review No:26 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery · Tags: alternate history, cbr18, edwardian, family, h.g. parry, historical fantasy, magic, narfna, shapeshifters, The Magician's Daughter ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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