Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

It’s hard trying to look at something unfiltered by the vast acclaim of its author

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

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I think I’m a well-intentioned person. But we all do, I suppose. I try to read more books written by women. But I often don’t. Since I started reviewing books for CBR, I’ve reviewed 91 stories written by women, which is a hair over 20% of everything I’ve read. CBR07: 2 (7%) CBR08: 32 (29%) CBR09: 20 (26%) CBR10: 6 (11%) CBR11: 5 (18%) CBR12: 16 (26%) CBR13: 9 (18%) CBR14: 1 (8%) That’s abysmal. There’s no two ways about it. And that’s after some […]

Love in the time of magic and war

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

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Song of Blood and Stone is the first novel in the Earthsinger Chronicles by L. Penelope. We meet a bunch of magical kingdoms, but there are two major powers. Elsira and Lagrimar are divided by a magical barrier called The Mantle. We learn through flashbacks they used to be one. The founders received magical gifts and used them to enrich the land. Some people have magic and it gets passed down by generation. That’s until one generation causes a split and epically long war. A brother […]

“There are three stages in scientific discovery. First, people deny that it is true, then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.”

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

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When I was looking at the 2022 Read Harder Challenge for the first time and saw #9: “Read the book that’s been on your TBR the longest”, I knew without looking what that book would be, even though I haven’t looked at the beginning of my list in years. And that’s because I’ve been avoiding this book for as long as I’ve wanted to read it. Just one word for you: supervolcano. In Bryson’s signature breezy, humorous, yet intelligent style, he will explain to you […]

Paige Shelton fueling my love for cozy mysteries and title puns

To Helvetica and Back (Dangerous Type Mystery #1) by Paige Shelton

The Cracked Spine (Scottish Bookshop Mystery #1) by Paige Shelton

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To Helvetica and Back was my first introduction to Paige Shelton. The idea of a murder mystery set in a typewriter store was enough to catch my attention. Also, how cute is the store name: Rescued Word?! We’re in Star City, Utah, a sleepy town known for skiing. Clare learned everything about repairing typewriters from her grandfather, Chester. He opened the shop years ago and loves that his granddaughter has taken up the family business. Murder is rare in this town, so when Clare learns […]

Can I live in Thistle Grove?

Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper

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Lana Harper’s Payback’s a Witch introduces us to the magical small town of Thistle Grove. Four families of witches founded the place. They compete in The Gauntlet every few years. The winning family is bestowed with good fortune. The wealthy and pretentious Blackmoore family has won for decades. The Arbiter of the competition is the Harlow family. Emmy Harlow left town after high school and never wanted to come back. Her breakup with Gareth Blackmoore soured her on the place. She also was sick of […]

Hooked on the Alpha & Omega series

Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

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The natural progression of reading the Mercy Thompson novels was diving into the Alpha & Omega series. Anna is an omega wolf, which is very rare to find. She mates with Charles, the stoic Native American werewolf enforcer for the entire US territory. He is who you call upon when alpha wolves get out of line. He is the son of Bran, the Marrock. He is the ruler of the US werewolves and helped raise Mercy. Charles is sort of a brother to Mercy in […]



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