Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Magical Realism Dumplings

Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau

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Time loop stories are not my favorite genre so when Jackie Lau announced last year that Time Loops & Meet Cutes would be the title of her next book published by Atria Books, I took note but hadn’t planned on prioritizing it in my reading. Then I was sent an ARC and my curiosity and trust in Lau pushed me to accept it and get reading.   When we meet Noelle Tom, she is an overworked, underpaid, chronically in her own head person who doesn’t have […]

Suffers from classic sophomore novel syndrome

The Sirens by Emilia Hart

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Weyward was one of my favorite reads last year so I was excited when I saw that Emilia Hart had a new novel releasing this year. It’s always hard, though, to follow up a hugely successful novel because of the expectations it creates. I know it’s about the journey, not the destination, and as someone that reads a lot, I can often foresee where certain plot points might go. In fact, I think Emilia Hart expects that her readers see exactly how some things are […]

A Historical Fantasy, A “Neon-Noir” Horror, and Litfic with Magical Realism

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

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Emily’s Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales I loved being back in the world of Emily Wilde, so I had such a warm feeling reading this book, even though the stakes in this book are higher in some ways compared to the first two in the trilogy. In this one, Emily and Wendell go to Wendell’s home realm in Faerie to reclaim the throne and are met with some challenges along the way. Just as we did in the first two books, we get occasional reminders […]

You Cannot be Unchosen

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

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It’s been a while since I’ve had so much difficulty writing a book review. This has nothing to do with my current work load, or even with the book being bad—far from it, the book is absolutely brilliant. You can see why it won a Nebula. It’s just surreal And a little opaque. But in a very impressive way. Especially when you consider that this is the author’s debut novel.  The Saint of Bright Doors is the story of a young man named Fetter, who […]

Entertaining but a Little Too Confusing

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

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I read this as a buddy read, which is always a fun way to approach a book, and this allowed me to be confused with someone else, instead of just on my own. Yay! While I liked the story, the time travel component was confusing in a way that might have just been me, but might have also been that it wasn’t well-explained. So basically, I don’t know if the problem was the book or me. We start in present day, where June Farrow has […]

I should read more Susanna Kearsley

The King's Messenger by Susanna Kearsley

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StoryGraph Easy Reading Challenge 2025: All Alone – Read a stand-alone book Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC. My opinions are my own. It is 1613 and Prince Henry, James I’s eldest son and heir has tragically died. Rumours whisper that it might not have been by natural causes. Queen Anna is distraught, and King James is determined to punish the guilty. Andrew Logan is one of the king’s messengers and he’s tasked with going to Scotland to apprehend Sir David Moray, […]



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