Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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A Tale of Two Nearly Identical Books, Or Cozy Witch Com Books By The Numbers

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak Magic by Breanne Randall

Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vazquez Gilliand

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I started with one of these books because I just needed a cozy witchy book with some small town and some herbs and some love story that ends in HEA or maybe not, maybe the romance is the B Plot, maybe they just bat eyelashes and it ends with hope. Then I ditched that book 50% of the way in because, Dear Reader, it was upsetting and whatever the opposite of charming is. I had the other on deck and, based solely on the cover and a quick […]

Bloody Magic Books and the Future Reread

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs

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You know it’ a good read when you start thinking about re-reading a book as soon as you finish it for the first time. Ink Blood Sister Scribe is the first book like that for me in a pretty long while. In some ways the premise is familiar but it still works: Esther and Joanna are half sisters from a family who guards a collection of magic books, but they’ve been separated for years for reasons neither of them fully understands; they need to reunite […]

The Amazing John “The Kid” Constantine will pull a magic trick out of his sleeve, or destroy the world. Whichever comes first.

The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel by Ryan North

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Do you like DC comics for the pre-teen to teen level? Then you might like The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel by Ryan North, with Derek Charm as the illustrator. It is a fun story with a few magical twists, and how middle school/boarding school can be a real killer. This is a superhero story with an overconfident protagonist, and with a lot of magic. We follow John “The Kid” Constantine, as a middle school student, who gets into some trouble […]

It’s magic, you know, never believe it’s not so!

Spell Bound by F. T. Lukens

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Spell Bound by F. T. Lukens was recommended to me by a YA librarian friend. ( I read this as a passport book – recommended by a friend.) The story is told in alternating chapters by two magician’s apprentices: Rook and Sun. Rook, who was raised by his magician grandmother, is deemed unmagical. After her death, he is sentenced by the Magical Consortium to move away from his home and live in the city without magic. He is a genius (he keeps telling us that) […]

A Russia I Never Knew

The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

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I believe there is a certain amount of fate and luck when it comes to reading. Picking up the right book at the right time is crucial for a mood reader and there have been many times when I found a book I wanted to read but just couldn’t slide into for whatever reason. Sometimes I’m able to set it aside and come back, sometimes they never get their time to shine. Luckily, this book and I finally clicked on the third attempt and I’m […]

A Cozy Story that Won’t Stress You Out

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

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I must have felt like I needed a book hug, since I chose this one, which was described as a cozy read. I’ve heard of cozy mysteries and have been curious about the quaint worlds they inhabit. To be clear this is not a cozy mystery, it’s a cozy story – a gateway drug of sorts into cozy mysteries. This is a story about Mika, a witch who lives in England. Mike meets with other witches, in a sort of bi-monthly support group, but members […]



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