Cannonball Read 11

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Beginning of the end, in which a series redeems itself

Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Legends by Lydia Sherrer

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I’ve almost got my ‘started before 2019 began’ pile cleared out. This is the first of the final four: Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Legends. This book was a bit of a surprise in a few ways, most of them good. This was book 4 in a series I was starting to get annoyed with. Some structural patterns and a seriously pet-peeving plot development cliché seemed to be developing. I was ready to give up. I’ve mentioned the structure in reviews of previous volumes, but basically there was part 1 of main thread with central pair together, side story interlude […]

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2/25/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:11 |

Family Matters and Magic

Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Revelations (AND) Allies by Lydia Sherrer

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This is effectively one review for two books because really, it should be one book, not two. Let it be known I find these entertaining easy reads, but there are some structural and character problems that are really starting to annoy me. 3.5 stars combined. The continuation of gradually revealing more about the world really develops in Revelations, along with what is pretty obviously the main conflict of the series: villainous wizard want to discover ‘wizarding’ gene and use this information to find and wake up Morgan LeFay (yes, that Morgan) and ensure that wizards will rule humanity. What bothers […]

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8/5/2018 's CBR10 Review No:48 |

My favorite not my favorite

Dragons at Crumbling Castle and other stories by Terry Pratchett

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Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite authors of all time. I’ve read the Discworld series in its entirety and several of Pratchett’s other works as well. When he passed away in March 2015, the literary world lost one of the contemporary greats, but it seems he left a lot of unpublished things or just works in progress or to be collected. I was looking forward to Dragon’s at Crumbling Castle and Other Stories, which is a collection of juvenalia fiction. Some of the stories did not disappoint, showing the sparks of what Pratchett would eventually become. Others worked less […]

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1/29/2017 's CBR9 Review No:6 |

Yet another reason CBR was the best New Year’s resolution I ever made.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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(Kinda spoilers throughout but I feel like everyone here has already read this.) I made a deal with myself while reading everyone’s CBR reviews last year that if I was persuaded by a review, I’d add it to my Goodreads list and give it a shot even if I later couldn’t imagine why I’d wanted to read it. I did this because I was reading a lot of reviews for things way outside my usual genres and I knew I’d get around to them and think “Why in the world is this here?” and remove it. Carry On is a […]

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8/21/2016 's CBR8 Review No:30 |

Bad Harry Potter goes to Narnia Hell Makes for Creepy Dirty Bad Reading

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

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I was intrigued by the first third of The Magicians, hated the second third, and the final third was weird and I’m not sure it was enough to redeem the book from the middle part. The first part is dark Harry Potter, the second is existential and dirty in a creepy-bad way, and the last is Narnia gone to hell. Overall, The Magicians reminded me of The Secret History (which I liked parts of but overall didn’t like for many of the same reasons I had trouble with The Magicians). At first the basic plot is simple enough. Quentin is […]

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2/14/2016 's CBR8 Review No:7 |

Not everything can be “Attachments”

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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This is going to be one of those reviews where even giving it four stars feels like I may as well be panning it, because I didn’t instantly want to elope forever with Carry On unlike, it seems, freaking everyone else. And because everyone has already expounded at length as to why they love it, I can’t really add anything new to that end. So here we are — a four-star review full of gripes. Mea culpa. But really, this book was really good! And it was really good despite — admittedly — lowered expectations, because the Simon Snow parts […]

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12/3/2015 's CBR7 Review No:109 |

Mugglicious Definition Make Them Wizards Crazy

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

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In a semi-intentional act of cultural heresy*, I have largely avoided the Harry Potter craze. I have never read any of the books, visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, taken online quizzes to see which house I would be in, or watched all of the movies. I am, by all accounts, a muggle. But, since I was able to pick up the book for free, I decided it was time to see what all the buzz was about. I am happy to report that after reading Harry Potter #1, I get it. There is a lot to like in […]

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8/13/2015 's CBR7 Review No:26 |

Even Her Bicycle Was Evil

The Mammoth Book of Sorcerers' Tales by Edited by Mike Ashley

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The Mammoth Book of Sorcerer’s Tales edited by Mike Ashley (2004) – I read this anthology immediately after I read Isaac Asimov’s Wizards compiled in 1983, so I thought there would be more differences as times have changed. There were some new ideas and new technology; however, not much had changed. I was surprised to see how few women writers were included after twenty years. The percentage in 1983 – 14%. 2004? 15%. As Geena Davis says about women in films, at this rate women should reach parady in 2515. As usual, I’ll mention a bit about each tale to […]

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4/10/2015 's CBR7 Review No:25 |


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