Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Goddamn magicians and cats! (Cat photos included)

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

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CBR18 BINGO: Refuge, because Agnes runs a private cat shelter, which is the best kind of refuge Whoever designed the cover of Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter deserves a medal. I’m not entirely sure what the crossover is between fantasy lovers and cat lovers, but it must be substantial, and I don’t see how anyone who falls in that space could look at that cover and not pick it up. All those cats, doing cat things, sitting in nooks, stretching, sleeping–it’s irresistible! I’m happy to […]

Sometimes, a book cover promises cats and lies. This book, on the other hand, delivers in spades. SO many cats, guys.

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

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4.5 stars Nowhere Book Bingo 26: A book involving animals Monthly Keyword Challenge 26: Cat Official plot summary, because I finished this back in February, and my perimenopausal brain isn’t exactly helping here: Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life, and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for stray cats. Now it’s the shelter that needs a new home. And the only landlord who will rent a […]

Les Amis Des Chats

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

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How could I resist that title and that gorgeous cover?!? I couldn’t. I didn’t even try. Cats and magic, only the best for les amis des chats. Agnes runs a charity shelter finding forever homes for the street cats of 1920’s Montreal. Unfortunately a sorcerous duel on her street blasted a hole in one of the shelter’s walls, necessitating a quick move before winter soon sets in. High rents and landlords who aren’t as interested in rescuing cats force Agnes towards the shop everyone is […]

Come for the cats, stay for … also the cats

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

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Like many other Cannonballers, I was familiar with Heather Fawcett because of the Emily Wilde novels, so when I saw her next novel was going to involve a magical cat shelter, I was in, even though I hadn’t enjoyed the third Emily Wilde novel as much. Overall, I had a really fun time with this but it really was primarily due to the cats and the cat shelter, and I actually would have enjoyed even more cats, and day to day life at the shelter. […]

Judging some books by their covers

Shady Hollow by Juneau Black

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

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A few months ago on vacation, my niece and I stopped in a bookstore to browse. We saw the Shady Hollow series display at the same time and both said, “Ooooh.” These books have the most charming covers, so I downloaded the first one from my library to read on the flight home. Naturally, my hope was that the story would be just as charming so I could justify buying them all to hoard like a dragon. Sadly, ’twas not to be. Shady Hollow, a cozy mystery […]

a delightful re-read that led to a re-rating

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

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Re-read March 15 2025: I really enjoyed this quite a bit more on the second go-around, which might be a lesson on how I read things a bit…speedily, and therefore don’t always fully grasp what it is I’m reading? Or I do, but in my rush to read for the next plot I’m not always luxuriating? Or maybe it’s just that now I appreciate all the parts to come–all the little jokes and references that do actually pay off. And, more relevantly, the little nuances […]



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