Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“Lying is like farming, or draining marshland, or terracing a hillside or planting a grove of peach trees. It’s an attempt to control your environment and make it better.”

Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead by K.J. Parker

Saevus Corax Captures the Castle by K.J. Parker

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Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead – 3.25 stars Saevus Corax just wants to be left in peace to operate his battlefield salvage company, but when his past comes calling, he must admit to possession of his former name, and deal with all the troubles that are still brewing in that prior life. Saevus Corax is an interesting character, a fast-talking rogue with a talent for survival and a desire to keep eking his living without getting embroiled in major geopolitical issues which is, unfortunately, […]

“Travelling Through Thick Woods With a Troop of Goblins Is Not Unlike a Nature Hike With a Group of Grumpy Toddlers With Weapons”

Nine Goblins by T Kingfisher

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I’ve been reading some pretty heavy books recently, and have been writing some rather hefty reviews to match. So I’ve decided to tackle something a little bit lighter this time, and T Kingfisher has provided.  Nine Goblins is basically the story of two people trying to do their very best: Sergeant Nessilka, leader to her goblin cohort, and Sings-to-Trees the elven veterinarian. The goblins have been at war with the humans for quite awhile; pushed out of their own lands with nowhere else to go, […]

Boys only want love if it’s torture.

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

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Reciprocity was a thing you had to learn. Someone had to tell you, first, that you deserved to be treated well, before you knew it for yourself. ― Alexandra Rowland, A Taste of Gold and Iron CBR17 Bingo: Family Family because the sultan loves her brother, Kadou, but she must remain emotionally distant from him and his drama so she can deal with raising her infant daughter, who is the heir to the throne. I don’t remember when I read this book. Maybe it was […]

A Fantasy That Hits Close to Home

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis

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You may recognize Caitlin Rozakis as the author of Dreadful, which I had such a good time with last year. While this upcoming new release isn’t as overtly funny, it does still bring the humor and is relatively lighthearted, while being more emotionally resonant and grounded in reality. It’s told from the third person POV of Vivian, who moves with her husband Daniel and 5-year-old daughter Aria to a hidden magical town after Aria is turned by a werewolf. Prior to this, the family was “mundane” […]

The way these characters can understand what isn’t being said, while being delightfully snarky is just the best.

And They Lived Happily Ever After by Therese Beharrie

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Representation on the page matters, and while finding representation that feels exactly like you can be some of the most affirming experiences out there, finding representation that speaks to a component of your life that isn’t exactly how you experience it is also incredibly important. Beharrie includes in her acknowledgements that a lot of what we see on the page in And They Lived Happily Ever After draws from her own experiences with Anxiety, and as usual, when an author so very obviously writes from […]

“If this is the last decision I can ever make, at least it is my decision. Let me go, Alyosha. I am not afraid.”

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

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One of our #CannonBookClub prompts asked if there’s any special power in taking a known story and envisioning it in a new way, and for me the answer is a resounding yes. Whether its something along the lines of Longbourn where characters who are merely set dressing in the original tale are given the limelight or something like The Bear and the Nightingale where history and folktales are put into a blender, metaphorically, and something new arrives there is more often than not an engaging […]



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