Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic

Please read Jessica Lewis!

Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic by Jessica Lewis

February 8, 2026 by LB Leave a Comment

I’ve loved Jessica Lewis’s books since her debut, Bad Witch Burning, and each new release just further cements how much I love her books and stories. After Nav’s book last year, I knew I needed to and could not wait to get my hands on Hallie’s book, and this was so good!! Hallie feels like she’s a failure and not good enough, especially after a few of her exes have treated her poorly or denigrated her, plus the pressure from her parents to be The […]

Filed Under: Featured, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: academic summer camp, bisexual, Black romance, friendship, Jessica Lewis, lesbian, queer lit, Romance, romcom

LB's CBR18 Review No:3 · Genres: Featured, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: academic summer camp, bisexual, Black romance, friendship, Jessica Lewis, lesbian, queer lit, Romance, romcom ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
The Disaster Gay Detective Agency

Disasters indeed!

The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by Lev A.C. Rosen

January 11, 2026 by LB 1 Comment

I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes; this in no way influences my review. I’ve loved Lev AC Rosen’s books for a while now, and seeing he had a new contemporary mystery I knew I needed to get my hands on it. And this does not disappoint! It’s such a delightful, chaotic mess of a book, and I love the main characters so much. Brandon is a gay Jewish man living in New York and working for a hotel […]

Filed Under: Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Mystery Tagged With: achillean, friendship, Lev A.C. Rosen, Lev AC Rosen, messy gay friends, murder mystery, mystery, queer, queer lit, sapphic

LB's CBR18 Review No:1 · Genres: Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Mystery · Tags: achillean, friendship, Lev A.C. Rosen, Lev AC Rosen, messy gay friends, murder mystery, mystery, queer, queer lit, sapphic ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment
Cover of Beasts of Carnaval by Rosália Rodrigo

Surviving is an act of resistance!

Beasts of Carnaval by Rosália Rodrigo

July 31, 2025 by LB Leave a Comment

This book fulfills the “border” square on CBR17 bingo; Sofia exists on the border of conquered and conqueror, and explores the complexities of her mixed heritage. As soon as I saw the cover for Beasts of Carnaval, I knew I wanted to read it, and the synopsis just cemented it for me. I love stories that are about resistance and revolution and proving that the colonizers and oppressors won’t be the last ones standing. And this delivers so beautifully! Sofia’s twin brother, Sol, vanished to […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: beasts of Carnaval, cbr17bingo, colonization, enslavement, historical fantasy, no romance, puerto rico, queer lit, queer secondary characters, revolution, Rosalia rodrigo

LB's CBR17 Review No:18 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: beasts of Carnaval, cbr17bingo, colonization, enslavement, historical fantasy, no romance, puerto rico, queer lit, queer secondary characters, revolution, Rosalia rodrigo ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Multigenerational missing girls and ripple effects

Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan

July 19, 2025 by LB Leave a Comment

Salt Bones fulfills the “family” square on CBR17 Bingo. Actual rating: 4.5 stars Salt Bones is a story of myth, which missing girls matter, and cycles of generational pain. I was really excited to read this based on the premise of Persephone and Demeter story through a Mexicali perspective, and this was great. There are so many different mother-daughter dynamics explored, and all of them dealing with different kinds of trauma. The Veracruz family seems to be cursed because twenty years ago Mal’s younger sister, […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Horror, Mystery Tagged With: abuse cw, cbr17bingo, Demeter, family secrets, folklore, Jennifer Givhan, La Siguanaba, Mexicali, missing daughters, Multigenerational, persephone, Persephone and Demeter, queer lit, sapphic, suicide cw

LB's CBR17 Review No:15 · Genres: Fiction, Horror, Mystery · Tags: abuse cw, cbr17bingo, Demeter, family secrets, folklore, Jennifer Givhan, La Siguanaba, Mexicali, missing daughters, Multigenerational, persephone, Persephone and Demeter, queer lit, sapphic, suicide cw ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Diabetes and demon summoning, oh my!

Mixing Magics by Clare Edge

June 10, 2025 by LB 1 Comment

I was semi-recently diagnosed as T2 diabetic, so as soon as I saw Ber’s story I knew I needed to get my hands on it, even as my experiences are different from hers (and not just because she accidentally summons demons with her finger sticks lol), and I loved Accidental Demons so much. I’m so glad I was able to read Mixing Magics early and now have the opportunity to scream at everyone to pick it up. Mixing Magics picks up about a month after […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: accidental demons, Clare edge, demons, Diabetes, friendship, middle grade, mixing magics, mystery, queer lit, queer secondary characters

LB's CBR17 Review No:8 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: accidental demons, Clare edge, demons, Diabetes, friendship, middle grade, mixing magics, mystery, queer lit, queer secondary characters ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

Mythology in a Modern World

The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie

November 26, 2024 by LB Leave a Comment

I first tried to read The Wicked + The Divine in September 2017, and got through the first five volumes, but felt the series was weird and confusing. Earlier this month, I scrolled through my library’s entire adult graphic novel collection, and saw that the series was now completed, so figured this was as good a time as any to give the series another chance. And I’m so glad I did! The core premise of WicDiv and the phrase that gets repeated as a central […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books Tagged With: achillean, contemporary, contemporary mythology, Graphic Novel, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, mythology, queer, queer lit, sapphic, series review, the wicked and the divine, WicDiv, wicked + divine

LB's CBR16 Review No:17 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books · Tags: achillean, contemporary, contemporary mythology, Graphic Novel, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, mythology, queer, queer lit, sapphic, series review, the wicked and the divine, WicDiv, wicked + divine ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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Recent Comments

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    I hadn't heard the phrase, but knew that it seemed to be a popular way to end a relationship (dude/dudettes...
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