Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


A cute fairy tale retelling

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

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3.5 stars Isabelle (her friends call her Izzy) was so elated when she got a job as an assistant editor for a big publishing company. It was like a dream come true. Several years later, when she’s overworked, underappreciated and still living with her parents at twenty-five, without even getting a promotion, she is starting to wonder if she should change careers. After having her own attempts at writing a book politely criticised by one of her more senior colleagues, that’s another dream she’s shelved, […]

“I never stopped trying to save you, so don’t you fucking dare stop trying to save yourself.”

A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1) by Alix E. Harrow

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A Spindle Splintered is a queer retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale, playing on the variations that exist and adding one of its own. The basic story has been around for almost seven hundred years and has flown through the hands of Basile, Perrault, and Grimm, and that’s before we get into the hundreds of adaptations so what’s another? Harrow brings her own lens to this, and imbues her lead, Zinnia Grey, with a wonderfully clear voice. It is so realistic that I initially thought […]

I did not see that coming

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

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CBR Bingo: Book Club (Cannon Book Club selection) In 1989, I was 7 years old. I wasn’t the kind of little girl who loved princesses, but like almost any other kid my age, I loved The Little Mermaid. I have no idea how many times I’ve seen it, but I know most of it by heart. I remember learning to play “Under the Sea” in 7th grade band (I also learned Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” in American Sign Language in 5th grade choir, but that’s a […]

a mermaid’s tail made of donkey skin (a dual cbr13bingo and #cannonbookclub adventure!)

Deerskin by Robin McKinley

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

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well, not exactly. What we have here are two retellings of classic fairy tales: Charles Perrault’s deeply upsetting Donkeyskin (recently reviewed by our very own BlackRaven) and Hans Christian Andersen’s  also unsettling The Little Mermaid. Both of these entries are picks for our upcoming #cannonbookclub event- and I’ll be discussing Deerskin further during our Zoom- but in the meantime, let these two help you choose your pick(s)! Also- both of these tales of girls on the cusp of womanhood have been reclaimed and retold by women. […]

CannonBookClub Fairy Tales & Adaptations Announcement

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Discussion posts are live, see below. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden Deerskin by Robin McKinley Sea Witch by Sarah Henning Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson Book Club Details Continuing our feel-good goals with #CannonBookClub in 2021 we’ve landed on Fairy Tales and Adaptations as our theme for our September meeting. With that in mind our Book Club team has decided on a shortlist of four books to choose from, highlighting different genres and original tales. September 17-18, 2021 Book Choices […]

My Little Pony meets Gulliver’s Travels

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

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I think that Across the Green Grass Fields, the sixth Wayward Children novella, might be the first fully stand-alone story set in the same world as the previous six. This had so much potential and the world that Regan wanders into is fascinating. Problem is that there is so little plot, not much world or character development, and the whole thing feels kind of rushed. The basic premise is still there; not long after a major personal trauma the protagonist finds a door to a […]



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