Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Do not mistake this kindness. I simply want to be the one who breaks you.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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His heart has a draft. It lets in light. It lets in storms. It lets in everything. ― V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Ever feel like running away from your life and forming an everlasting pact with a hot demon you meet in the woods on the day of your wedding? Addie didn’t feel like it either but that’s what happened. It’s 1729 in rural France. Addie is twenty-three, single, a dreamer, an artist, and has zero interest in succumbing to the […]

there need to be about a million more Death books than there are

Mort by Terry Pratchett

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Hot take: Death is the best, but he’s the bestest best when he’s paired off with a human who can observe and call out the weirdness of his life Actual review: Having read Hogfather last Christmas for Book Group, I thought I’d start over again and read all of the DEATH series as I very much enjoyed Death’s characterization. And even though I already know part of how Death will turn out–e.g., we know about Susan and obviously Death still exists as Death etc–it’s still fascinating how […]

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein

Grimm's Fairy Tales Illustrated by Arthur Rackham by various, illustrations by Arthur Rackham

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This book is what it says on the tin; a collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, illustrated by Arthur Rackham. You have, of course, your old standbys; Rapunzel, Hansel and Grethel, The Bremen Town Musicians, Briar Rose, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Fisherman and his Wife, The Goosegirl, The Valiant Tailor, Red Riding Hood, The Robber Bridegroom, Tom Thumb, Rumpelstiltskin, Ashenputtel (aka Cinderella), The Elves and the Shoemaker, Snowdrop (also known as Snow White) and The Golden Goose. And some rarer ones: The Youth Who Could […]

“As cynical as I can be, there’s always a part of me that believes in love and the fairy tale.”

Fairy Tales From Many Lands by various, illustrations by Arthur Rackham

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As the titles says, this book contains assorted stories from several countries; eleven in fact. Each country gets one story, except for Japan which gets three. They are: England: Jack the Giant-Killer. The reasonably well known “killed three with one blow: story that even Mickey Mouse covered, only a little bloodier. Scotland: The Battle of the Birds. Which you would think would be about a fight between birds, but it’s a rather strange tale about a king’s son and the adventures he has finding, losing, […]

“Come away, O, human child! To the woods and waters wild, With a fairy hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.”

Irish Fairy Tales by D.L. Ashliman

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It’s nice to have a collection of tales you don’t get to read that often. There are forty-six tales divided into four different categories: Romance & Tragedy, Heroes & Giants, Fairies & Sea-Folk, and Supernatural Forces. These cover four of the six main genres of Irish Folk Tales: Myths, Legends, Magic Tales, and Literary Fairy Tales. They say Magic Tales instead of Fairy Tales, because not every story that has magic in it also includes a fairy which I think is a bit hoity-toity, but […]

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

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I thought this was a great collection. I thought the first story was great with a  sci-fi/speculative fiction bent, and the rest were interesting/great, but I think the one story entitled “Stag Dance” just went on a bit too long. It dragged down the rest of the collection. Be warned that there’s a graphic depiction of animal death in “The Chaser.” “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones” (5 stars)-This was a great start to the collection. We hear about something called The Rift Wars where […]



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