Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Dreamy but Derivative (also CANNONBALL!)

And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories & Other Revenges by Amber Sparks

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These stories have been told before. Most are fairly clever fairy tales retold, some are veiled retellings of myth and history, and a few are sparkling new. They have been told before in the sense that they are retellings, but they have also been told before in the sense that other authors have done these before, and done them better. It was difficult to find the author’s voice; reading the collection felt less like one author’s work and more like an anthology of the who’s […]

Adapting to Graphic Novel puts a new spin on things

The Lost Hero: Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan

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I had a big spell where trying to concentrate on reading anything more challenging than push or pull the door recently. I took a break from reading and got myself sorted out a little and finally finished The Lost Hero: The Graphic Novel. Adapted from the novel by Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti’s story is the “other side” of the Greek/Roman mythology of his famous series Percy Jackson. Knowing that series can help. Even having read the original novel could help. But there are still a […]

Humanizing a Goddess

Circe by Madeline Miller

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I bought Circe last year after it won a few awards. I finally read it because a friend from work read it and recommended it to me. We were both changing jobs so I wanted to read it while we still worked together so that we could discuss it. It was fantastic. It reminded me, thematically, of Grendel by John Gardner in that the premise is the book is the POV from a character that is considered an antagonist in a different, famous story. Like […]

“It is visceral, it is personal, it is gleeful, and it is triumphant”

Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel M. Lavery

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While explaining to a group of medievalists his feelings on reading pieces that are older than a hundred years old, Daniel states ‘ I feel a profound sense of triumph and superiority over the author’ I said, ‘because they are foolish enough to be dead, while I am young and gloriously alive. Not because I think their ideas are outdated or anything like that. It has nothing to do with how they think, or how we see the world differently. It is visceral, it is […]

Supernatural warriors need love too

The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston

The Unyielding by Shelly Laurenston

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The Unleashing is a raunchy paranormal romance with a healthy dash of Viking mythology and Malibu soap opera. It was such an easy read, I thought I’d give the full Call of Crows trilogy a whirl. All the books follow a different female warrior in Los Angeles who has been resurrected by the goddess Skuld. These fighters are called Crows. Their clan is notorious for being vicious due to their vengeful roots. The other clans and even most of the gods don’t like to mess […]

“I am the bringer of beef and the singer of sweet suppertime! Mine is the chicken and the gravy forever, nom nom!”

Shattered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #7) by Kevin Hearne

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This was my favorite of the series so far, but the ending makes me nervous for how the series is going to wrap up. Spoilers for the previous six books in the series. Shattered picks up right where we left off. Atticus’s archdruid Owen has been pulled from the Time Islands, his language and mentality still stuck in the time before Jesus Christ was born. Atticus quickly has to bring him up to speed so he doesn’t get himself in trouble, all while still trying […]



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