Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“In the daylight, his hair was a riot: a true, bright copper. It looked as though he’d sat in front of a mirror with a curling iron and painstakingly coaxed small pieces of it to curl in different directions. Or else he’d crawled out from a pile of pillows and not bothered to run a comb through it, and gravity had been so amused at the sight that it hadn’t interfered.”

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske

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Mattinesh Jay (Matti to almost everyone), dutiful heir to his family’s struggling wool business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. His fiance Sofia Cooper, heir to a thriving wine business, is the object of obsession love for one Adrean Vane.  (Who also happens to be, awkwardly, the son of the Jay family business’s senior agent.) A successful Sword-challenge at the ceremony would destroy any hope of restoring his family’s wealth (and keeping their reputation), something that […]

Justice for Wrongs Done

Soul Machine by Jordana Globerman

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There are bumps in the actual story arc of Soul Machine by Jordana Globerman. It feels as if this was book two or there was some sort of introduction in a previous book. We are never truly told what The Soul is (outside of assuming it is one’s “spiritual” soul), what the machine our cast of character use actually does, who are the customers of the company (outside of people, but why do they need them is not explained) and the characters, especially their backgrounds, […]

Neshama would make a good name for a perfume

Neshama by Marcella Pixley

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Marcella Pixley’s poetic prose novel, Neshama, is one of those books I would have loved as a kid and good for the 10 and up crowd. However, as an adult, there were a few bumps. The themes are good: being yourself, standing up for yourself and forgiveness, but first, I’ve read several middle grade readers and a lot of books with the theme so it was a bit repetitive. That is why if you’re new/newish to the middle grade coming-of-age story it works perfectly. As […]

Breaking up is hard to do

Change of Plans by Sarah Dessen

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. This book is out on May 5th, 2026. Finley is graduating from high school, and is worried about several weeks away from her charismatic boyfriend, Colin, their friend group and her entire social circle. Most of all, she would have wanted to join Colin and his family on a Disney cruise, but her distant mother, Catherine (her father has custody and she only sees her Mum a few times […]

Be careful what you wish for

Ghoul by Kasey Iris

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After finishing my online reader copy of Ghoul by Kasey Iris (sent to me via an email from the publisher; due May 2026) I was not sure if I liked it or not. I know I didn’t dislike it, but I’m not sure how much I liked it. And, in this case, that is not a bad thing. This is a thoughtful and interesting story on grief, family and pain. Each character is dealing with secrets, heartache, and lack of understanding. The characters are seemingly […]

If you read this book – definitely opt for the audiobook version!

Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson

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I have a microphone on my desk at home that I use for meetings when I’m working from home. When I first got it my old boss used to tease me that I looked like a radio host, and then I’d do my cheesy radio voice. This book has nothing to do with that, but I’m guessing there’s a cool microphone involved in the audiobook and the podcast it’s about. This is one of those books that you should ABSOLUTELY listen to the audiobook version […]



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