Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Song of the Lioness: I will always love Alanna

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce

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I began reading The Song of the Lioness quartet from Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series as bedtime reads after reading Lord of the Rings before bed in 2025. I’ve read them so many times before, so I know I can put them down and go to sleep whenever I feel drowsy. I have loved these books since I was in 7th grade – about 25 years – and I will always love them, but damn has it become clear how much I and the world have […]

Houyhnhnms and Dragons

Moonbound by Robin Sloan

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I’ve had Moonbound on my TBR shelf physically for a while. It’s also been long enough that I don’t remember hardly anything about Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (first big hit, by this author). I remember that I really enjoyed both Mr. Penumbra and the follow-up, but not direct sequel, Sourdough. I vaguely remember both of the earlier books as vaguely magical realism, and overall entertaining but Moonbound seems to be something a little different. The power of story and narrative is major theme, and it […]

Berzerker Barb and Porkchop to save the day, but first… Sausages!

Barb the Last Berzerker by Dan & Jason

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According to the publisher content (with a little edit from me), my first review is if: She-Ra/He-Man met Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man. And while I won’t disagree, I do think it is a little less as shall we say, clueless than Dog Man can be. Barb is a young Berzerker who wants in on the action, but the others feel she is too young. But when she is the last one standing, this Dan (Abdo) and Jason (Patterson) graphic novel, she is their only hope […]

The Greatest Library that Never Was

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

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I was a huge fan of the Night Circus, so I was ecstatic when the lovely faintingviolet shared her copy of the Starless Sea with me. To give too much of the plot away takes all the joy out of reading this story, but the baseline is that there’s a magical library hidden underground accessible by doorways above. The nature through which patrons find these doors varies to fate, and in recent years, someone’s been closing all the doors. At least until a grad student named Zachery stumbles […]

The Right Words Can Change the World

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This book is about taking the broken pieces of yourself and arranging them into something resembling a thinking and feeling person again. It’s about facing your deepest, most painful secrets and being able to exist with them and because of them. It’s about owning and honoring all the parts of you that scare you; whether those parts are wretched or wonderful. And it’s also about people with magical abilities who can defy gravity, change their appearance, heal instantly and fight with long, magical swords. Brandon […]

“Well, are you alive or are you dead?”

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In my last review, I mentioned that sometimes I avoid big pop culture touchstones for no readily apparent reason. Just like I had never read Harry Potter until this summer, I had never read The Hobbit. One of my very good friends has been talking Tolkein for a month, so I decided to take the Middle-Earth plunge. Just as I enjoyed Harry Potter for the amazing world that the author built, I enjoyed The Hobbit because of the amazing world that Tolkein built. For those […]



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