Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Three Heads Are Better Than One

The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell

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In this cozy-ish fantasy, cynical three-headed wild dragon Garrodigh pretends to be a downed “tamed” war dragon from Kardosa so he can get food and medical attention. This results in his acquiring the eternally cheerful rider Rania. Garrodigh is not a fan of humanity, primarily because he was formerly a four-headed dragon until human wars took the head named Lefty. The remaining heads are dealing with that trauma in different ways, with Centerhead being the POV character. The first half of the book was a […]

Eat the Rich

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

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I did not have “give 5 stars to a horror book” on my BINGO card for this year, even if it is considered a “cozy” horror (a descriptor that I disagree with). But I really loved everything about this: the characters, the humor, the themes. The main character is Shesheshen, an amorphous goopy monster who is rudely awoken from hibernation when monster hunters enter her lair. She is injured while fleeing in a shapeshifted human form and rescued by Homily. Shesheshen realizes she needs to […]

“All Shesheshen could do for Homily was be patient with her, and make space for her, and eventually, one day behind her back, eat her mother.”

Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell

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  Shesheshen is an amorphous lump who lives at the bottom of a pool in an abandoned house, hibernates during the winter, and occasionally shapeshifts into something vaguely  humanoid, wanders down to the village, and eats people. Only apparently bad people, but I guess you can’t make the carnivorous monster who is the lead of your book unsympathetic by having them eat an orphan or an old lady or a kitten or a puppy or something like that. All goes well until the day hunters […]

Sometimes the Real Treasure is the Monsters We Made Friends With Along the Way

Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell

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Heracles may be the son of Zeus, but he does all his deeds in the name of Hera, the goddess of families. When he is struck with madness by a mysterious god and kills his children, he’s sure Hera will return that devotion and help him gain revenge on whoever it was that did it – not realizing that she has hated him all along. Greek mythology retellings have been in vogue in the last few years, following heroes and villains alike and reinterpreting their […]

A new favorite book that could not fit better into this BINGO square if it tried. CBRBINGO – Bananas

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

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This is a ridiculous book that I loved very much. Also, because I have low spoons at the moment and also because I couldn’t do better, here is the blurb: Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she’s fallen in love. Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain […]



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