Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The very human connection between a young woman and an alien

Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis

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The year is 2007. Fergie’s latest single is playing on the radio and Bush is president. I wasn’t expecting so many cultural references in Axiom’s End, but the first chapter along sent me spiraling back to my 17 self in junior year of high school. Thankfully, the cultural references stop there, lest this book turn into a derivative of Ready Player One. Cora is just trying to make it in LA. She helps raise her two younger siblings with her mom. Their dad, Nils, complicates […]

cbr12bingo – I Wish

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

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I can’t read “I Wish” and not be immediately thrown into Into the Woods. I was tempted to start with “unrelated, but”…but it is related! It’s summertime, and PC Peter Grant has taken to the countryside, where all sorts of fairy-tale creatures are up to no good. “Anything can happen in the woods”, after all. Out of London and into the country! The National Trust is attempting to manage the wood, families are hiding secrets, a retired wizard lives in a tower full of bees, […]

And I think Nimmo the cat knows more than they are letting on

Lightfall: The Girl and the Galdurian by Tim Probert

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cbr12bingo Fresh Start I am not usually not a fan of huge open endings of first books in a series, but even with an open ending, Lightfall: The Girl and the Galdurian is a complete story of Bea and her new friend Cad. Tim Probert put fantasy staples throughout, with modern themes, hints of classic tales and wrapped it up all in a sparsely texted story that is beautifully done. This is a charming graphic novel. This fast-paced story is great for the 10 to […]

Being a teenager is hard enough without the threat of total annihilation looming on the horizon.

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi

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Jesse, Cate, and Adeem are all just trying to survive- even before they catch wind of an alien planet’s message to earth: you will all be destroyed in seven days. Our main trio holds a treasure trove of teen torments between them: absent parents, the desire to be loved, the inability to accept care, the need to be anywhere other than where they are. Everyone is attempting to find someone who does not necessarily want to be found, and I was worried that we’d being […]

I will begrudgingly be grateful that I learned the word ‘pseudopodinously’

Preternatural by Margaret Wander Bonanno

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When an author who likes to do cheeky asides uses a big word and tells the reader “Look it up,” which is more insulting: when you DO know the word, or when you DON’T? I cogitated on that during the whole book, and couldn’t decide. I do know that when the cheeky asides tell you “Now pay attention here,” it is pretty much always insulting. This book was a clever idea, nearly drowned by an author who got too preoccupied with the idea of being […]

Fierce heroine, creative aliens, and space adventure with bonus review from Ysakitty!

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

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When I finished reading Skyward,I did not intend on getting the sequel right away, as there were already books in the house waiting to be read.  However, once I was done with the book my 6th grader tore through it and then my husband followed quickly thereafter.  So the next time I went to the bookstore, the sequel, Starsight, came home with me.  (Note: this was written before lock down happened in California)  It is an excellent follow up to Skyward but one thing annoyed me, Starsight is […]



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