Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“A metaphor is a kind o’ lie to help people understand what’s true.”

Wintersmith: A Tiffany Aching Adventure by Terry Pratchett

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Wintermsith is the third book book in the Tiffany Aching series, which is set in the Discworld universe, but is geared towards children. Tiffany is a witch in training who has caught the attention of the Wintersmith, the personification of winter, which you can kind of tell from the name. But don’t imagine some older, mature fellow; he’s more like if Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians had no idea how to be human. So on top of learning to be a witch, dealing […]

Cornwall – the unchanging landscape

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper

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Many years ago I wrote a review for The Dark is Rising which is the 2nd book in the sequence of the same name by Susan Cooper. This book is the first in the sequence but as I recommended then often better to be read second. I reread this on a recent holiday to Cornwall because in visiting the Cornish fishing villages/towns I immediately felt that sense of place I have with this book. If The Dark is Rising is a book that takes you […]

Ms. Was told me this book was a gem and, by gum, she was right!

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

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As a book lover, nothing delights me more than when a friend recommends a book to me and, after reading it, I’m able to go back and tell her that I unequivocally loved it. For a few years now, Ms. Was has been singing the praises of The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, and now I’m finally able to say, “Thank you for introducing me to this gem.” Brangwain Spurge is an elf entrusted with an important mission: Enter the land of the goblins and deliver […]

Family Drama

The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones

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In my 2022 quest to read Diana Wynne Jones’ full body of work, I’m running down the Chrestomanci books first. After completing The Lives of Christopher Chant and Charmed Life last year, I’ve moved on to The Pinhoe Egg. Picking up about a year after Charmed Life ends, The Pinhoe Egg focuses on a huge family of Dwimmers, or nature-magical mages, who are trying their best to keep their magical abilities away from what they believe is the oppressive oversight of Chrestomanci. Things have gone fine for years, with them […]

“I can’t excuse what he did next except by saying that he was very sorry for it afterward (and so were a good many other people).”

The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia, #1) by C.S. Lewis

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So before I discovered Harry Potter (sigh) this used to be my very favorite fantasy series. I read and re-read several of them endlessly, including this one. But I haven’t revisited it in years and years. I don’t even remember the last time I read it. Maybe when one of the movies came out? (The movies never captured the magic for me.) Anyway, I’ve been comfort re-reading favorite fantasy books over the past year and I had the hankering to pick this one back up […]

Wasn’t expecting a cliffhanger!

Shadow Weaver by MarcyKate Connolly

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CBR12 BINGO: Violet BINGO (4 corners and center square): Red, Music, Violet, Money, Yellow While searching online for a book to fill the violet category, I was drawn to the lovely illustration of a girl and her violet shadow on the cover of Shadow Weaver. I only wish I’d done a little research first and learned that there is a part 2 to this story, because part 1 leaves the reader with many unanswered questions. Shadow Weaver starts with an original and rather charming premise: […]



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