Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“I would shiver the whole night through”

Knife River (2024) by Justine Champine

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When it comes to mysteries, I find the plot to be almost the least interesting thing–as long as it’s not too lazy or derivative or actively insulting to the reader, and fits into the vibes of the story. What I do care about, then, are the vibes–if the vibes are there, if the texture of the story is something I can snag myself on, I don’t really worry about clues or reveals (which I’m bad at predicting anyway). The vibes are pretty immaculate in Knife […]

The splash of my tongue melting you like a sugar cube

Crush by Richard Siken

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I learned about Richard Siken through Pinterest of all things. For those of you who frequent Pinterest, especially those dedicated to romantic pairings from books, the boards are littered with snippets of poetry rendered in retro fonts. Bits of Siken’s poem Little Beast kept showing up in my feed. However, finding a copy of his Yale Series of Younger Poets poetry collection was challenging and I had to special-order it from the UK. Since it is only sixty-two pages plus a forward, I thought I […]

Queer fantasy novella feat. shape-shifting, mammoths.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

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This was a delightful novella, surprisingly rich for its 100 pages! Here’s the summary: Cleric Chih is a cleric in an order whose mission is to record history accurately. They are traveling via mammoth (!) with a guide, Si-yu, but are attacked and trapped en route by three wild – and hungry – tiger sisters who are also shape-shifters (!) To stall their captors, they propose to tell the human version of the story about the tiger Ho Thi Tao and the human scholar Dieu. […]

New Cool Book Alert: The Thorn Key

The Thorn Key by Jeana Jorgensen

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The very cool Jeana Jorgensen – folklorist, professor, dancer, and sex educator – has published a gorgeous collection of her fairy tale themed poetry in her new book The Thorn Key! I love Jeana’s academic work. Her books Fairy Tales 101 and Folklore 101 are amazing introductions to both studies, teaching its readers a TON in a way that is fun and conversational. I should have reviewed those here LOL! If you have been interested in learning more about the history and study of fairy […]

A warm squishy hug!

Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love by Jessica Lewis

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[Nav’s Foolproof Guide releases April 29, 2025] I’ve been following Jessica Lewis’ books since her debut, and I was so excited to see what she’d do with a romance. Suffice to say I was not disappointed! Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love feels like a warm squishy hug and builds the tension between Nav and Gia so wonderfully. Nav doesn’t believe in love, especially not anything lasting after her mom left “for space” three years earlier, but her best friend Hallie loves to fall […]

“But perhaps that’s the point: the trials and tribulations of life weigh heavily upon us, but we find people to help lighten the load.”

Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles #2) by TJ Klune

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THIS IS IT. I’M DOING IT. MY 52ND BOOK REVIEW OF 2024 BABYYYYYYYYY. And what a delightful tome to end it on!  I have been eager to read the 2nd in this series since it came out, but of course the holds list at the library is five-ever deep. And then, I walk in two weeks ago and TAH DAH it’s on the hot picks shelf, where they put out 1 or 2 copies of new books that you can check out, for one less […]



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