Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

I knew pets were trouble!

Game of Pets Book 1: The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Aaron Blabey

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While I can’t say Game of Pets Book 1: The Boy Who Knew Too Much LEFT our main character hanging off the wheel of the giant monster truck (which he actually was at one point) it does leave you hanging as the cliffhanger ending ends with a police chase and the fate of the world in the hands of a kid, a talking (arm and legless) axolotl, and a crazy pet shop/monster truck owner. Aaron Blabey, you are one weird person. An AXOLOTL? Pets as […]

When Lovecraft Meets The Home Office.

The Annihilation Score by Charles Stross

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Very blatant spoilers for the previous books in the series here—be warned. Has there ever been a book that you’ve really changed your mind about on re-read? The Annihilation Score is one of these. The Annihilation Score was a Laundry Files entry that was always going to face an uphill battle; not only was the first one to pivot away for Bob’s point of view, it also dealt with a a subject that perhaps does not gel terribly well with the subject of Eldritch horrors—superheroes. […]

Hobb-a-thon Part II

Dragon Keeper: The Rain Wilds Chronicles Book 1 by Robin Hobb

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cbr18bingo – One I have been holding off on starting this part of Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings series. The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy and The Tawny Man Trilogy were all fantastic, but when I looked at Dragon Keeper, the first of the four novels in The Rain Wilds Chronicles, I was a little bummed out. It looked like the characters I knew and loved from her previous novels weren’t going to get much page time and a whole new set of […]

Ferrante did it better

The Book of Goose: A Novel by Yiyun Li

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Cbr18bingo – Bird Almost as soon as I started reading The Book of Goose, I was reminded of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels. Both Ferrante’s series and Li’s The Book of Goose feature impoverished girls living in post-WWII Europe. Both feature a friendship that can be competitive and dysfunctional. And both focus on the creative process of writing as well as the strains on childhood friendships when people grow up and apart. I loved Ferrante’s series. I liked this novel, but I might have liked it […]

CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge Begins

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Welcome to the 2026 Book Bingo Reading Challenge! Now is the time to dig through those books you read but didn’t review, or pick up that book you’ve been thinking about. Bingo is about vibes and creative interpretations. Most importantly, it’s about fun. The words (or numbers) in the circles are meant to be inspiration. They can be a word in the title, an image on the cover, or spark an idea. I’ve listed some possibilities below, but if I’ve learned anything from Bingo, it’s […]

CBR Diversion – Bingo – “One”

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The Cannonball Read Book Bingo Reading Challenge is a beloved annual tradition. You can get the complete information on this year’s Bingo here. This year I’d like to help with your bingo board by providing assistance in finding books to meet a particular bingo circle. Where better to begin than with “One”. One – the first book in a series; the author’s first book; a standalone; one star rating; the one book you would recommend. Lots of fun ways to go with this – think […]



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