Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Back to “Normal” Until the Next Major Life Change

Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire

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Bingo Square: Favorite (new entry from a favorite series and author) – Bingo 7/4th row While I thought it would be funny to put The Favorites in my “Favorite” square, once we got to the end of September and I hadn’t filled my Bingo card, there was only one answer for this square – the newest October Daye novel! After releasing two Toby novels in 2023, Seanan McGuire switched publishers, leading to a two year break between novels. This one starts off about four months […]

A Solid Conclusion to the Daevabad Trilogy.

The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty

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(possible spoilers for the previous 2 books) I loved this one. It was a great conclusion to the Daevabad trilogy. We’re sticking with the same three POVs but exploring other parts of the world, namely Cairo and Ta Ntry as Nahri and Ali try to figure out a way to get back to and help Daevabad. Meanwhile Dara and Manizheh are trying to consolidate power in Daevabad. One of the things I really loved about this was the expansion of marid lore. We learn a lot […]

The review I date myself by my pop culture references or Scooby Doo and the Not so Masked Villains

Toxic Summer by Derek Charm

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The cover of Toxic Summer by Derek Charm looks like it would be a fun, summer romance romp. Maybe it would have some misadventures or possibly a monster that is a masked one, or even one that has a “is it or isn’t it?” thought. But instead, it turned out to be a bit cartoonish and not always in a fun way.  Still, if you like over-the-top antics, a bit of humor, and somewhat queer romance, this is the book for you. Of course, you […]

More Christmas and Yule please

The Legend of the Christmas Witch by Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza

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With the book, The Legend of the Christmas Witch, I wanted more about Christmas and less, well, witch. I understand that Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza wanted to build up to the climax, but it made no real sense to me why things were called Christmas. First, she practices Yule celebrations. Second, we only see her being impatient, spoiled and naive. We do find Christmas with a Santa character, who is the witch’s beloved twin brother who turns out to be a bit of a […]

When fear makes you small, friendship makes you tall

Shrinking Violet by Laurel Snyder and LeUyen Pham

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The book, Shrinking Violet by Laurel Snyder and illustrated by LeUyen Pham is a fun and sweet story dealing with the common themes of fear and bravery. We also have friendship and how that ties into overcoming the fear to be brave. While the themes are not new, the presentation gives things a fresh and clever take. The colors and details are rich, but not “too much” and allow focus on the story. The only real issue I had (since I read this due late […]

“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.”

Iron Flame (The Empyrean Saga #2) by Rebecca Yarros

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Well, I’ve hit Book Two, and it’s almost as good as the first, which I’ll take as a rare yet wonderous thing; I have read too many series where the first book is fantastic, and then we hit Disney’s Tower of Terror for the rest. There have been some changes in my opinions of the characters, some good, some bad. Dain, Mira, and Lilith (Violet’s mother) all grew on me over the book; I actually finished it not really wanting any of them to die. […]



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