Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A new spin on an old idea

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia

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Moreno Garcia does an amazing job setting the right mood in this newer gothic tale. Set in Mexico in the 1950’s, you forget that the world is more modern than what Noemi Taboada experiences. Having grown up in Mexico City to an affluent family, Noemi’s life is more about finding a worthy suitor and getting married than education or developing skills to join the workforce. Despite this, Noemi is a confident, charming, smart woman who would like to study at the University. While she enjoys […]

They Grow Up So Fast

Longshadow by Olivia Atwater

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The third novel in Atwater’s regency faerie tale trilogy is a sweet and sapphic delight perfect for Pride.  We had first met young Abigail in the novel Half A Soul– she is the adopted daughter of the Lord Sorcier Elias Wilder and his wife Theodora. The workhouse child has now grown into a mostly proper young lady who just wants to use her unusual magic. She sees the perfect opportunity to investigate the sudden deaths of several of her aristocratic peers. The most likely suspect […]

“The greatest happiness…is to sneeze when you want to.”

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery

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Rebellion flared up in her soul as the dark hours passed by — not because she had no future but because she had no past. Valancy has spent all her life following the expectations of her judgmental family: suppressing all negative opinions and emotions, avoiding any “improper” activities or pursuits, and putting up with endless teasing about her “old maid” status. Her only reprieve is the “Blue Castle” she visits in her daydreams. When she gets the news that she has a terminal heart condition […]

A Historical Fantasy, A “Neon-Noir” Horror, and Litfic with Magical Realism

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

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Emily’s Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales I loved being back in the world of Emily Wilde, so I had such a warm feeling reading this book, even though the stakes in this book are higher in some ways compared to the first two in the trilogy. In this one, Emily and Wendell go to Wendell’s home realm in Faerie to reclaim the throne and are met with some challenges along the way. Just as we did in the first two books, we get occasional reminders […]

Always The Fireplaces

Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater

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This second novel in Atwater’s Regency Faerie Tales series is just as charming and delightful as the first. We’re heading downstairs in this one but it’s still full of faerie shenanigans! Housemaid Euphemia Reeves has fallen in love with a man far above her humble station. The youngest son of The Family, he is generally pleasant to the servants and is aware enough to take his muddy boots off at the door to save them some work. Obviously this makes him a perfect though improbable […]

Gee, are you socially awkward?

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

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Emily Wilde, Cambridge professor, needs to travel to the small village of Hrafnsvik in Iceland to compile additional folk legends to present at the Folklorist Conference soon to be happening in Paris. This is incredibly difficult for her, as she prefers her books and the company of her dog, Shadow, to actually interacting with anyone. The situation is worsened upon the arrival of her colleague/friend/rival Wendell Bambleby, whose easy charm with the locals threatens her chance to show him up once and for all. However, […]



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