Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Here There Be Dragons (it’s Steve)

The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst

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At this point I think it’s just safe to assume that all bed and breakfasts have some weird magical shenanigans going on. I’ve got my eyes on you Vermont, so quaint and charming. Sixteen year old Calisa is heading to Vermont for the summer to help out at her aunt’s bed and breakfast. She’s nursing her first real heartbreak and hoping a change of scenery will help heal that wound. But what she finds when she gets there is not the cozy inn she barely […]

Loner Gardener and Extroverted (former) Librarian Get Feelings. That’s mostly it.

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

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The Enchanted Greenhouse has made me wonder whether cozy romantasy is mostly just about at least a couple of characters working through their issues together is a somewhat healthy way, and catching feelings along with way. No plot necessary. Which might be why The Enchanted Greenhouse barely has one, a plot that is. The central figure is Terlu Perna who spent The Spellshop being mentioned briefly as Caz the sentient spider-plant’s creator who got turned into a statue for illegal magic use. Somehow Terlu gets […]

Great Potential, Lacking in Execution

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

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This book should have been right up my alley. A cozy fantasy with an introverted librarian and a sentient spider plant assistant? Sign me up! But it failed to live up to my expectations and ended up being kind of “meh.” For me, the problems started almost right at the beginning. Main character Kiela and the spider plant Caz flee the Great Library of Alyssium when rebels set fire to it, and they head to Caltrey, the island where Kiela was born and lived for […]

Hooray for Magical Talking Plants

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

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What do you call a bee that’s been put under a spell? Bee-witched! Be kind, you can’t expect a magical talking rose who just woke up from a long enchanted sleep to be instantly ready for a comedy special. In which we get to meet Caz’s mom! Once upon a time a lonely little librarian named Terlu Perna cast a forbidden magic spell to create a friend (Caz the spider plant whose story was told in The Spellshop). Her punishment was to be permanently transformed […]

But could I have some of the cake?

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

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Bingo Square: Purple (maybe I am colorblind but it feels like there is purple filter overlaying this or something) This was fine. Sometimes I can’t tell whether it’s my mood specifically when it comes to cozy fantasy or if it is the book but it’s a bit of a hit or miss genre for me. It’s hard to find that right balance between creating a world that feels cozy but also has just enough of a hook or plot to keep the reader engaged. This […]

The Pine Cone (Coven) Society

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

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I accidentally picked up the fat free half & half at the grocery store so I was sorely in need of a cozy comfort read to make up for that tragedy. Librarian Kiela and her trusty assistant Caz firmly believe all books are useful. But when those books are spellbooks rescued from the Great Library in the middle of a revolution in a land where magic is outlawed for the common folk but desperately needed… they are both useful and extremely dangerous. Kiela and Caz […]



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