Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I did not consent to your presence,” she said peevishly. “Please depart, and attempt your political assassination on someone else’s property.”

Ashes of Honor (Toby Daye #6) by Seanan McGuire

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It’s been a year since the events of One Salt Sea, Toby Daye is throwing herself into danger and figuring out an exit plan as she goes, and her friends and allies are worried that she’s going to get herself killed one of these days; so honestly, nothing has really changed from the first five books. So when Etienne, her liege’s seneschal, shows up asking for her help, Toby figures this is one more cliff to throw herself off of, and (unfortunately, quoting Cassandra Clare […]

hot take exactly the book I needed, despite having literally no context or appreciation for the in-universe joke

Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon

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BINGO: Red, what a fantastic dress our female hero’s got on What a funny book, I knew it was something something but I didn’t bother to look too closely before picking it up — while I’ve found her Hurricane Wars series a bit uneven, Guanzon’s earlier fannish work remains some of my all time faves. I’ve grown out of the descriptions of clothes for sure, but she’s got a deft touch for dialogue and scene setting…and a very good touch when it comes to frick […]

hot take the vibe was good, but the magic system (or witchcraft, or what have you) suffered from some floppiness that ruins the tension

Weyward by Emilia Hart

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BINGO: “Green” — so much of the book is about the Weyward relationship t to nature, and while it’s more about animals than trees it still feels green to me It’s a classic issue: if there’s magic, there needs to be flaws which prevent our characters from just MacGuffin-ing their way to a happy resolution. Call it the Kryptonite Conundrum, wherein Superman is required to have a rather odd, easily transported weakness lest he turn up at every fight, punchy punchy stare-y stare-y and everyone […]

“A safe fairyland is untrue to all worlds.”

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

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It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.   By now, I think practically everyone has either read the book or seen the movies, hopefully both. (Full disclosure: I will judge heavily anyone who has only seen the movies; why would you do that to yourself?) The book, as is frequently the case, is loads better. No unnecessary romantic subplots, no characters who are dead making appearances, no characters showing up far too many years […]

Quite a Grab Bag

Waiting for the Fear by Oguz Atay

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cbr17bingo Black A collection of stories from an unusual author, a Turkish writer who lived from 1934 to 1977.  Some of them are fables, some are mystical, and a few are more realistic.  For me, some resonated, and some were impenetrable.  And a few had a sly sense of humor. Like Not Yes Not No, which cracked me up.  A young man gets a job answering letters to a paper asking for personal advice (think Dear Abby).  M.C. writes in to state he has written […]

Expansion of Serpent Lore

Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

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cbr17bingo: green  This book took me on an emotional ride that was worth every moment. We continue to spend time with the same characters as the first book—the Vestrit and Haven families, Kennit, and Brashen—plus one of the Rain Wilders and a Companion of the Satrap. We also get more time with Amber and Paragon, which I loved. The characters are adjusting to the new and evolving situations in which they find themselves. Malta remained intensely frustrating for a large chunk of the book, as […]



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