Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Not Murderbot, but still good

Witch King by Martha Wells

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I was first introduced to Martha Wells through the reviews of Emmalita – it still took me too long to get there, but once I started the series, I read each book in very quick succession. So, when I was travelling for work and ran out of book, I was so pleased to see Wells’ Witch King at my favourite bookstore. It was on sale! Hardcover! Reasonably sized for carry on! Our protagonist is Kaiiesteron, known as Kai, a demon whose spirit/soul lives in the […]

A haunting story on many levels

Anita de Monte Laughs Last: A Novel by Xochitl Gonzalez

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I read this novel as an e-book purchased through Bookshop.org. If you, like me, have been relying on Kindle e-books for a while and want to stop supporting that dickhead Bezos, check out Bookshop. They have a selection of e-books that is somewhat limited but they are very good offerings nonetheless. Moreover, when you make a purchase, Bookshop will donate a percentage of the sale to the independent bookstore of your choice. Buying books has never felt more virtuous! Anita de Monte Laughs Last is, […]

I devoured this whole trilogy twice in 12 nonconsecutive days

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

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I received Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries in our family Winter Solstice book exchange but didn’t start it until the end of January.  It was so engaging I blitzed through it in two days.  Having enjoyed it so much it was immediately re-read.  The re-read took only two days as well.  This same pattern was repeated when reading Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands and Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales.  Fortunately, I discovered this series at the perfect time.  Books one and two were already […]

A complicated mix of a story

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

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Black Cake is a novel that I’ve seen favorably reviewed over the past few years, and according to its cover, has been made into a Hulu series. I can understand why Hulu would be drawn to this story. Black Cake involves colonialism, racism, generational misunderstanding and trauma, and resilience. The novel itself is set up with alternating points of view, the most compelling being that of Eleanor Bennett. She has died and left behind for her children a recording in which she reveals astounding secrets […]

I bet this will be a pretty good movie.

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

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SPOILERS KINDA SORTA I went into this ready to love it, and mostly did. Grace is a sad and lonely woman whose son and husband have died. She’s convinced herself she’s undeserving of love, or fun, or of much of a life at all. She’s retreated into math (she’s a teacher) and is kinda just waiting for it to be over. Then she gets some crazy news regarding an inheritance, specifically of a small house on Ibiza, left to her by a former colleague she […]

Book 2: Villains be villainous.

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

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Book 2 of ??? in this year’s Robin Hobb journey! I liked this one. I didn’t like it as much as the first one, but it’s still a solid 4 stars. The Pace of Assassin’s Apprentice  felt like slow and deliberate because we were getting to know Fitz, setting up the other characters, laying groundwork for other pieces of the narrative, getting to know the lay of the land, literally. Royal Assassin felt, weirdly, a little slower to me, in a more frustrating way. Like […]



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