Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search this Site

| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Instagram
  3. Follow us on Bluesky
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • Getting Started in CBR18
    • Rules of Respect
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
    • About Cannonball Read
  • Our Team
    • The CBR Team
    • Leaderboard
    • Recent Comments
    • Participant Interviews
    • Cannonballer Location Maps
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
    • Star Ratings
    • Featured Review Archive
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • Donate
    • CBR Merchandise
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • 2026 Registration
    • Suggest a Review
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Social Media

Magical Girls Grown Up

The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

November 1, 2025 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

Bingo 24: Swap Free Space for Diaspora Free Space invoked because I don’t have anything specific in mind for the Diaspora square and time is not on my side. I picked up The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry for the title. No other reason. Turns out this is actually book 2 in a series, but that doesn’t actually matter, as this story is pretty stand alone as far as I could tell. A lot is classic fantasy and romance tropes getting mixed up. Sometimes there’s […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: #fantasy, Addiction, C.M. Waggoner, cbr17bingo, CM Waggoner, drugs, magic, quest, revenge, romantasy, sapphic romance, The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry

CoffeeShopReader's CBR17 Review No:58 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: #fantasy, Addiction, C.M. Waggoner, cbr17bingo, CM Waggoner, drugs, magic, quest, revenge, romantasy, sapphic romance, The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“Lies are as dangerous as a sword. They can cut to the bone.”

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

October 27, 2025 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

I am so torn about the rating of The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. Part of me was won over by the interesting world Clayton created where people are born alike, with red eyes and grey skin, and hair the texture of straw. What is considered “beauty” – a variety of skin tones, hair colors and types, and body shapes – does not come naturally unless they are a Belle. The Belles have the ability through their arcana (think natural magic ability) to change people’s appearances, but not their own. All varieties are considered various degrees of beautiful, but of course like […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: cbr17bingo, Dhonielle Clayton, magic, read harder challenge, Review, The Belles, we need diverse books

faintingviolet's CBR17 Review No:48 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: cbr17bingo, Dhonielle Clayton, magic, read harder challenge, Review, The Belles, we need diverse books ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
The Familiar

Black Cover and Maybe Some Black Hearts or not so Black

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

October 20, 2025 by CoffeeShopReader 3 Comments

Bingo 19: Black Leigh Bardugo’s The Familiar has a cover almost entirely in the proper color. Mostly, this is a story about people who want things they think they either cannot or should not have. Luiza is part Jewish (dangerous during the Inquisition) and has some minor household magic; her milagritos are things like she can make the bread unburnt. She wants to be something more than the scullery maid; she wants better, more money, more comfort, just more. There’s also her boss Valentina who […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Featured, History, Speculative Fiction Tagged With: cbr17bingo, historical fiction, Inquisition, Leigh Bardugo, magic, Romance, Speculative Fiction, The Familiar

CoffeeShopReader's CBR17 Review No:52 · Genres: Fantasy, Featured, History, Speculative Fiction · Tags: cbr17bingo, historical fiction, Inquisition, Leigh Bardugo, magic, Romance, Speculative Fiction, The Familiar ·
Rating:
· 3 Comments

Dead gods, decapitated corpses and dastardly ex-husbands

Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

September 26, 2025 by Malin 1 Comment

CBR17 Bingo: Purple (most of the cover, barring the cover image, is a lovely lavender purple) Stephen is one of the paladins of the Saint of Steel (who was a god, despite the name), who died very suddenly and unexpectedly a few years back. No one thought gods could die, and a lot of his paladins killed themselves and caused massive amounts of damage when it happened. Now, Stephen and the six other paladins who remain are housed at the Temple of the White Rat […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery, Romance Tagged With: cbr17, cbr17 bingo, friendship, grief, historical fantasy, magic, Malin, mystery, Paladin's Grace, paladins, perfume, purple, Romance, spies, t kingfisher, The Saint of Steel

Malin's CBR17 Review No:55 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery, Romance · Tags: cbr17, cbr17 bingo, friendship, grief, historical fantasy, magic, Malin, mystery, Paladin's Grace, paladins, perfume, purple, Romance, spies, t kingfisher, The Saint of Steel ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

You don’t want to be treated like family by THIS family

Cry Out Loud by Tara O’Connor

September 18, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Tara O’Connor has four authored and illustrated titles to her name, plus several others she is the illustrator of. Cry Out Loud is one of those titles she is the complete creator. I have read three of her works (the fourth is being searched for…). Each one is a little different from the others, yet they all have a similar tone. However, one of the interesting things is that I would say each book is for a different audience. Their memoir Roots, is for the […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Horror Tagged With: family, family secrets, ghosts, LGBTQ, magic, mothers, paranormal, Social Themes, Tara O’Connor., time travel

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:412 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Horror · Tags: family, family secrets, ghosts, LGBTQ, magic, mothers, paranormal, Social Themes, Tara O’Connor., time travel ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Not that I need it, but I have a subscription to Silver Sprocket comics/books…..

Witch Hazel: Variety Hour by Colton Fox and Beige Blum

September 18, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I have a subscription to Silver Sprocket books. I need to pause and/or cancel as I have so many books from them and I just cannot keep up! But I did get a chance to read Witch Hazel: Variety Hour by Colton Fox and Beige Blum. When I opened the package, stickers and a few postcard items fell out. There was a Witch Hazel poster and another book. I was amused at the fact that the book was in a comic book style, but was […]

Filed Under: Comedy/Humor, Cooking/Food, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Mystery, Romance, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Beige Blum, Colton Fox, Colton Fox and Beige Blum, friendship, magic, Silver Sprocket, Social Themes, witches, women

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:408 · Genres: Comedy/Humor, Cooking/Food, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Mystery, Romance, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Beige Blum, Colton Fox, Colton Fox and Beige Blum, friendship, magic, Silver Sprocket, Social Themes, witches, women ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • …
  • 108
  • Next Page »


Recent Comments

  • beereadsbooks
    on A family can be two sisters, one of those sister’s descendants, two other sisters, a magic whale, a sentient island, an omnipotent museum, and academic papers
    Sounds weird! Looks beautiful! On to the TBR it goes!
  • beereadsbooks
    on Les Amis Des Chats
    As a long-time nonprofit professional, I'm intrigued at the mixing of fantasy and fundraising. Plus, what a gorgeous cover!
  • Emmalita
    on What if Cinderella was a handsome Jewish man and the prince was a determined and beautiful heiress?
    I remember enjoying this one. And you’ve reminded me that I have an arc for the third book.
  • Jen K
    on “What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.”
    I haven’t read this one but I got sucked into vampires early, probably around 2nd grade with a kids series...
  • ElCicco
    on “What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.”
    Yes! My first of his and I appreciate the rec since I would like to read more of his work...
See More Recent Comments »

Support Our Mission

  • Support Our Mission, Donate Today!
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo

The reviews and comments posted on this site reflect the opinions of individual posters and do not reflect the views of Cannonball Read.

© 2026 Cannonball Read Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) | Log in