Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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A captivating tale based on a myth

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

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Special thanks to NTE for gifting me this book in the last holiday book exchange! I had mentioned enjoying retold myths, and Daughter of the Moon Goddess is one of NTE’s favorite such stories. It is based on the Chinese myth of Chang’e, the Moon Goddess. This was a myth I was completely unfamiliar with, but I loved learning about this tale. Sue Lynn Tan takes the reader into a colorful, enchanting and dangerous world where immortals engage in subterfuge and violence to promote their […]

Told in English and Chinese

Grandpa’s Magic Mask: A Story of Growth and Bravery in English and Chinese by Siping Wu

A House Just for Mommy: A Bedtime Story Told in English and Chinese by Dayong Gan

The Boy, the Deer, and the King: A Legend Retold in English and Chinese by Xiaochun Tang

Little Malan’s Debut: A Story of Courage Told in English and Chinese by Lumin Qian

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I do not speak a second language. As an adult, I regret not working harder on that, but I take solace in the fact that there are bilingual books out there and I can read the English part and admire the second language. Usually this is French or Spanish, but I have noticed that Chinese is taking its place. I’m not sure if the Chinese in these four books is Mandarin or Cantonese, so please let me know if you know! All will be available […]

Get your Dragon on

City of Dragons V01 The Awakening Storm by Jaimal Yogis

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I read City of Dragons V01 The Awakening Storm by Jaimal Yogis right after finishing Messy Roots. I was afraid that they would be too similar and ruin the experience of this second title. Thankfully, their differences made both a delightful reading experience. Now, Yogis does write for the younger crowd (at least 8-9 but probably more 10 to 14), but that older reader of Messy Roots could get lost in the excitement, magical, and even the silly adventures. In City of Dragons, we have […]

A Goddess Rewoven

Circe by Madeline Miller

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CBR Bingo – Mythic I bought Madeline Miller’s Circe in hardback, which I almost never do. I didn’t even know much about the book, except it was a bestseller, which doesn’t always count for much. But I was happy to discover that the book’s success was well-deserved. It even made me happy that so many had read and enjoyed it—it is that magical. Circe is a compulsively readable novel about the life of the goddess Circe. I read a lot of myths when I was […]

snapshot of a sculpture

Galatea by Madeline Miller

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We’ve heard his story countless times; it’s been a well-trod myth since Ancient Greece. We read Metamorphoses, we studied Pygmalion, we sung along to My Fair Lady, and we mourned the short life of (the terribly named but very good) Selfie. With Madeline Miller, Pygmalion strikes again. He strikes the marble into a statue, the statue becomes a woman, Galatea strikes out on her own, and Pygmalion strikes her down. Galatea is convalescing (read: held captive) in a hospital by the sea. She is cut off from her daughter, […]

A new version of a classic short story from Neil Gaiman

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

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I admit it, I am a Neil Gaiman fanboy. There are two shelves in my library devoted to his works and this short story, Snow Glass, Apples, sits among the greatest pieces he has created. So what is it about? Take the story of Snow White, keep all of the elements of the story we are familiar with (the stepmother, the dwarves, the stepmother’s attempt to kill Snow White, the Forest, etc.), then invert some, distort others and create a whole new perspective on a […]



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