Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The first sign that Felix was nearing his destination came when a line of skulls suddenly burst into flames directly ahead of him.

Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

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I loved this book. It has a grumpy witch queen who just wants to be left alone to do her magic experiments. It has a sweet poet, who is actually an escaped Archduke masquerading as a dark wizard/librarian. There are crow friends, wicked queen friends, and not human people friends. This layer cake of a book has kindness in every slice. Just because someone is a wicked queen with a bone crown and flaming skulls lighting the path to her castle doesn’t mean she isn’t […]

I wondered briefly how I might compose a paper on the subject—disappearing islands are a motif in the folklore of many countries.

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

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I am always going to be here for Emily Wilde figuring out the unsolvable through scholarship and observation. Having poisoned Wendell’s step-mother, Queen Arna, deposed her, and found the door to Wendell’s kingdom, Emily and Wendell are ready to claim his throne. And that’s just the start of the adventure. On her way out of the Silvia Lupi, Queen Arna has laid a curse on the kingdom that’s triggered by Wendell claiming the throne. In addition to trying to make herself into a queen the […]

Fear is a valuable commodity. It’s common sense compressed into its purest form.

The Liar's Key: The Red Queen's War #2 by Mark Lawrence

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It’s hard to play the enigmatic prince of romance when the object of your affections gets to watch you shit into the sea twice a day. ― Mark Lawrence, The Liar’s Key After finishing the first book, Prince of Fools, over Christmas, I figured I’d be done with the trilogy by the end of January. Even though the first book meandered a bit, I was invested enough in Jalan and Snorri to push through and see what awaited them on the black ice. The second […]

Dark magic

Muted: Volume 1 by Miranda Mundt

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I almost skipped reading Muted: Volume 1 by Miranda Mundt. It looks too “girly” and maybe even a bit too graphic in the “thriller/horror” elements. And before I go much farther into the review: TRIGGERS include, but are not limited to: bullying, child death, parent death, fire, death, blood, a form of self-harm, form of racism towards other classes of witches, fantasy elements and mental abuse. And even though the cover made me iffy about reading things, I did finally “pick up” the online reader.  […]

Charles Addams, Shel Silverstein, AA Milne and Edward Gorey had a baby this would be its cousin.

The Boy Who Lived in a Shell: Snippets for Wandering Minds by John Himmelman

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If Charles Addams, Shel Silverstein, AA Milne and Edward Gorey had a baby this would be its cousin. The Boy Who Lived in a Shell: Snippets for Wandering Minds by John Himmelman is not necessarily spooky or kooky like Addams or Gorey; or rhyming like Silverstein and does not have the sweetness or innocence of Milne, but a mixture that is all its own. Due mid-March 2025, I read via an online reader’s copy. The stories the boy talks about, or actually writes, are on […]

The Game Might Be Changing but not the Characters

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! v.9 by Satoru Yamaguchi, Nami Hidaka

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I have been a little desperate for the cozy; not only is the world (you know, gestures at the state of things), but there’s been some other unfortunately timed drama beyond my control in my life as well. Cozy mindless manga to the rescue! My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Is definitely cozy. The friendship angle always wins, and nothing bad lasts for more than a few pages. In volume 9 of the manga, Katarina is happily awaiting the end […]



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