Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Queer Abundance in a Time of Scarcity

Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian

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As soon as I saw the title “Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature” (by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian), I knew I wanted to read this book. It’s been all over the 2025 “best of” lists, from Time to Vanity Fair to Vulture, and it’s easy to see why this one is resonating so intensely given what the last year has meant to LGBTQ+ folks. The queer expansiveness and community-building of Kaishian’s book is an effective emotional antidote to all the anti-trans scare tactics and fake […]

Never Use the Metro Elevator

Just Emilia by Jennifer Oko

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Warning: Spoilers Just Emilia by Jennifer Oko is a story about a middle aged woman who gets stuck in a Washington, DC metro elevator with her teenage self and her elderly self. As a teen, Emilia’s mom, a popular news anchor, dies in a horrible car accident. Emilia blames herself and this guilt follow her into adulthood, affecting all of her relationships. On the anniversary of their mother’s death, each woman takes a decision which brings her to the elevator. The three women must learn […]

Prolonging my time in the Cold Magic world with short stories and essays

The World Begins in Ice by Kate Elliott

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I first learned about Kate Elliott’s Cold Magic series while reading John Scalzi’s website.  In the Big Idea section Elliott described what The History of the World Begins in Ice is all about.  It is a collection of short stories written in the “Spiritwalker Trilogy” as well as essays about the characters and aspects of the world.  The trilogy sounded fascinating, to quote Kate: When I began writing Cold Magic, my primary goal (besides making it shorter than Traitors’ Gate) was to tell a story that would […]

“Books are a weapon against lonliness. Putting them in the right hands lets people see one another. It makes us…better to one another”.

Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree

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Brigands and Breadknives returns us to Travis Baldree’s cozy fantasy world.  While the first book, Legends and Lattes, and the second published book (that’s actually a prequel), Bookshops and Bonedust, are able to be read on their own, Breadknives and Brigands requires you to have read Bookshops and Bonedust, and it’s helpful if you’ve read Legends and Lattes. Foul mouthed rattkin bookseller, Fern, has been adrift in her own life.  Running her bookstore in Murk is no longer giving her the satisfaction it once did.  A change of […]

A classical story that has a far too modern feel

I, Medusa: A Novel by Ayana Gray

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Trigger warning for grooming and rape NTE was kind enough to send this requested book to me as part of the holiday book exchange. I was very interested in reading it because first of all, I love a retelling of a classic story from a different perspective, and second of all, I am VERY interested in the story of Medusa. If you are familiar with Medusa, perhaps it is from the story of the “hero” Perseus who killed her with help from the gods/goddesses. Medusa […]

Strong start to CBR18!

The Raven Scholar: Eternal Path Trilogy Book 1 by Antonia Hodgson

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The Raven Scholar got a lot of great reviews in CBR17 so I downloaded it before the holidays and spent a COVID-filled Christmas reading it — one bright note in a somewhat icky season for my family. I already knew that my CBR18 was going to be filled with fantasy lit due to my new Robin Hobb obsession, but now I can add Antonia Hodgson’s trilogy to the list. I can’t wait to read book 2, whenever that comes out. The world where The Raven […]



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