Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


The Epilogue is the best part

The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman

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Bingo 21: Pandemic Since the purpose of this square is “whatever I want”, I figured I’d go with the latest (released a while ago) installment of one of my favorite ongoing series’. I like the Invisible Library series overall, although admittedly some installments have been stronger than others. The Dark Archive (#7) adds some good stuff to the overall story, but as a novel itself isn’t the strongest in the series by a good bit. I think the problems for me are that one of […]

Fantastic Fantasy Fun

The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman

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Bingo 24 (I love this) The Invisible Library series is just plain fun fantasy, with a sprinkle of literary humor. The basic premise is an extra-dimensional library where rare books from all over the various worlds and realms are kept. The Librarians who work there often go to great lengths to acquire new titles or versions, including theft and adventure of various sorts. The Library is supposed to keep balance in the universe, especially between the forces of Chaos (the Fey) and natural Order (the […]

Apologies to whoever sat next to me while I read this

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

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The Library at Mount Char is a strange book. Sometimes it’s really interesting and suspenseful; other times, it’s horrific (as in horror literature, not general quality). The thing is, at least for me, is that the two don’t quite mesh together. The general story follows Caroline and Steve, who apparently has some kind of criminal past but now lives a quiet life as a plumber. He meets Caroline who seems a little off but who offers him an unusual amount of money to help her […]

Beginning of the end, in which a series redeems itself

Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Legends by Lydia Sherrer

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I’ve almost got my ‘started before 2019 began’ pile cleared out. This is the first of the final four: Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Legends. This book was a bit of a surprise in a few ways, most of them good. This was book 4 in a series I was starting to get annoyed with. Some structural patterns and a seriously pet-peeving plot development cliché seemed to be developing. I was ready to give up. I’ve mentioned the structure in reviews of previous volumes, but […]

Book Centered Indiana Jones and a Dragon with Too Many Threads

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While this is part of one of my favorite ongoing series, this installation was a little meh; 3.75 stars. The problem I think was that this story was focused on too many potential threats, as opposed to one big one. There’s internal problems in the Library (politics and doctrinal differences mostly, but also some likely hidden agenda from an unknown in the upper echelons), Alberich is back (Librarian gone bad final boss type), Irene is still on probation and getting unpleasant job assignments, something’s wrong […]

Taking a Trip Down Memory Lane

The Stopping Place by Marden Dahlstedt

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How many books have you hung on to since childhood? As the daughter of a librarian, my answer is, “not many.” I did hang on to my Scholastic Book Club copy of Marden Dahlstedt’s The Stopping Place, from fifth grade though. I recently came across my slim paperback story of a girl from Brooklyn forced to move to New Jersey’s Pine Barrens when her hippie family relocates. (The horror!) I saved a few books from my childhood, but most of my favorites came from the library. I still […]



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