Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Viking Romance and Fierce Heroines

The Bone King and the Starling by Elizabeth Stephens

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The Bone King and the Starling fulfills the “B” square of CBR17 Bingo. I enjoyed Elizabeth Stephens’ Xiveri Mates series and recently loved All Superheroes Need PR, though I’ve been hesitant to give The Bone King and the Starling a try based on the content notes (which can be found on the author’s website, and definitely encourage checking them before checking this book). I finally succumbed to curiosity. I read through several reviews, and the thing that stood out is there is supposed to be an extended sex […]

This was a disappointment

The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzales

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Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Rua remembers nothing from before she woke up in a muddy hole in upstate New York. Her maid and everyone around her claims that she’s Emma Harrington, missing for two days, but Rua while Rua may look just like her, she is certain there is nothing of Emma in her. Emma’s wealthy parents are determined to try bury the scandal of Emma’s behaviour, which isn’t made easier when Rua […]

“Have you not shaken a kingdom to its foundations, found a door to a distant otherland, overthrown a queen? Hand you the right storybook, and you are capable of anything.”

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

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Nowhere Books Bingo 2025: A fantasy book by a female author Buzzword Cover Challenge 2025: Contains books Spoiler warning! This is book 3 in the series and not the best place to start reading. This book will contain spoilers for the previous books in the series. Start at the beginning, with Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries. Intrepid professor of dryadology (faerie scholar) Emily Wilde is facing her most challenging adventure yet – reclaiming the rather terrifying faerie kingdom of Silva Lupi, where her former academic […]

“At Gatsby’s, the clock stood at just five shy of midnight the moment you arrived.”

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

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The Chosen and the Beautiful is a retelling of The Great Gatsby, which is told from Jordan Baker’s point of view. Except in this version, Jordan is Vietnamese and has been adopted into the Baker family (via a Missionary member of the family who adopted her in her travels). And oh yes, there is magic—lots and lots of magic. Full disclosure, I have read The Great Gatsby all of once, seen the Baz Luhrmann movie once, and listened to the Broadway Cast recording of the […]

“Happy wedding”, Evemer said. “I got you this door.” (Bingo)

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

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CBR16 Bingo: Golden Gold in the title and gold as a pivotal part of the plot. Also pretty much all of the central characters are solid gold. Kadou is the younger brother of the sultan of Arasht, and is delighted that she’s just given birth to a healthy baby, putting him further down the line of succession. Unfortunately, the baby’s father, a powerful ambassador at court, believes Kadou to be jealous and a threat to both his baby niece and his sister. Nothing could be […]

“Sometimes it didn’t matter if you broke. You kept going. You weren’t given a choice.” (Bingo)

When a Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

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4.5 stars CBR16 Bingo: Dun Dun (From pretty much the first chapter, where Cordelia is “made obedient” there is a creeping sense of dread all the way through this novel) Cordelia knows her mother isn’t like other mothers. Other mothers can’t take over your limbs and puppet you, or force you to stay still and motionless for hours or days on end. Other mothers permit doors that can be closed in the house and let their daughters have friends. Other mothers don’t have a magical […]



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