Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Retelling of an Epic Hindu Poem

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

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I found this retelling of the epic Hindu poem The Ramayana quite engaging. Vaishnavi Patel is trying to explore what led to the actions Kaikeyi took in that poem by adding nuance and a feminist flair, with varying degrees of success. While I haven’t read the original, I looked up enough to know that Kaikeyi plays an important role but not a large one in the original story. In this version, we witness her childhood as the neglected princess among several princes who are more […]

Anti-colonial historical fantasy

Aicha by Soraya Bouazzaoui

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I had such high hopes for Aicha because I love angry women, mythology, and historical fiction, so this sounded like it’d be exactly my jam. Unfortunately all those expectations fell flat. I wouldn’t say this is a bad book, and there were elements I enjoyed, I just don’t know that I’d say I enjoyed the book as a whole. Aicha is about the youngest daughter of a weapons smith, who is also a rebel, and how she also fights for her people’s liberation. But inside […]

“In-Yo would say that the war was won by silenced and nameless women, and it would be hard to argue with her.”

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

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Nowhere Bingo 26: Novella Dark Corner Selection: January 2026 Chih is a young cleric from the Singing Hills monastery who travels around the country searching for stories and history. At the shores of Lake Scarlet, Chih finds the abandoned dwelling where the former Empress In-Yo (the titular Empress of Salt and Fortune) spent her many years in exile. Chih encounters the elderly Rabbit, one of the Empress’s former handmaidens, who tells Chih stories of her own past and how it intertwined with that of the […]

Dense But Worth the Read

Thousand Autumns Volume One by Meng Xi Shi

Thousand Autumns Volume Two by Meng Xi Shi

Thousand Autumns Volume Three by Meng Xi Shi

Thousand Autumns Volume Four by Meng Xi Shi

Thousand Autumns Volume Five by Meng Xi Shi

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Yan Wushi is a cynic as well as a master cultivator and leader of a demonic sect.  When the head of a Daoist sect, Shen Qiao, loses a duel and is badly injured, Yan Wushi decides to take the injured man in and see if he can corrupt him.  Their clashing philosophies towards the world put them on separate paths, but while each sees the world in different ways, they do live in the same world.  As their paths continue to meet and separate over […]

Once upon a time, there was a seemingly ugly cygnet (of sorts) and a probably utterly doomed prince

The Swan's Daughter by Roshani Chokshi

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4.5 stars Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Demelza is the seventh and youngest daughter of Araminta, a legendary veritas swan (extremely beautiful women who have the power to turn into swans, and whose voices compel anyone who hears it to tell the truth) and Prava, a centuries-old, very ambitious, and some would say, evil wizard. However, when veritas swans fall in love, the person they love gains control over them through a magical necklace […]

No homo for Brad Pitt

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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Nowhere Book Bingo 25: Reimagining or retelling of a classic CBR17 Pie Chart Challenge: History   Patroclus is exiled from his father’s kingdom after he accidentally kills a boy and is sent into fosterage with King Peleus. Here is where he meets Achilles, whose mother is the sea nymph Thetis. Achilles is supposed to become the greatest warrior who ever lived, and trains diligently to achieve this goal. While they are vastly different, Patroclus and Achilles become sworn companions, and Patroclus accompanies Achilles to train […]



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