Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Pablo probably wishes he was the one stuffed in his locker

Monster Locker Volume 1 by Jorge Aguirre

by Leave a Comment

Currently available (but I read via an online reader copy), Monster Locker Volume 1 is a fun book that is a bit predictable for adults, but for at least 8 and up (more 10 to 13 perhaps) this is going to be a neat adventure. A mostly diverse cast of characters allows us to see a family following traditions but also forgetting its past. Then magic happens (cue a magic cell phone, a typical kid, and some ancient goddesses) and chaos happens. This is all […]

Fairy tale villains and loving sisters

Into the Goblin Market by Vikki VanSickle

by Leave a Comment

Recently I located a list of books that were recommended by other booksellers across the country. I found the picture book section and said, “Online reading here I come.” And I was able to read most of them (I have one in physical form so I passed and I have two more to read), but one that really stuck out to me was Into the Goblin Market by Vikki VanSickle and Jensine Eckwall as the illustrator.  It is a contemporary folktale or fairy tale that […]

Fairy Tales: a genre by and for “we the people”

Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book by Angela Carter

by Leave a Comment

I picked up this fairy tale collection in Tim’s Books, a tiny off-the-path used bookstore in Provincetown, because it had Angela Carter’s name on it, and I’ve been dedicating my book-buying to hoarding collections by the best fairy tale scholars, especially the feminist ones. It has, as you can see, a delightfully dated cover, but its ideas are very radical and timeless. The book is a selection of fairy tales and folktales chosen by Carter (author of the brilliant The Bloody Chamber), highlighting some of the […]

Radicalize your reading through fairy tales

The Castle of Truth and Other Revolutionary Tales by Hermynia Zur Mühlen, Jack Zipes

Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men: Political Fairy Tales of Édouard Laboulaye by Édouard Laboulaye, Jack Zipes

The Dragon Daughter and Other Lin Lan Fairy Tales by Juwen Zhang

by Leave a Comment

If you ask me “What’s the best thing about fairy tales?” my brain will combust. But in this very moment, I’ll say one of the best things is that there are so many forgotten or “undiscovered” tales to enjoy. In an effort to bring some forgotten folklorists to the forefront, fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes (my nerdiest old man crush) and Princeton University Press came together for a new-ish series called Oddly Modern Fairy Tales. Each volume concentrates on a writer or movement in fairy […]

Napoleonic Europe Weren’t No Fairy Tale

The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

by Leave a Comment

The Wild Girl is a fictionalized narrative of the life-long relationship between Dortchen Wild and the Brothers Grimm.  Kate Forsyth has pieced together her version of events from the actual documents of the Grimms and the Wilds, filling in the blanks with inspiration from the Brothers Grimm collection of fairy tales.  We know that the Wilds and the Grimms were neighbors, that Dortchen was the source for many of the Grimm’s most famous fairy tales, and that she and Wilhelm married, but unconventionally late in their […]

Probably the way I found this book was more interesting to me than the book

Marigold and Rose by Louise Gluck

by Leave a Comment

Honestly, I am not really sure what I read.  Marigold and Rose by Louise Gluck is not in my usual wheelhouse. First it is an adult book, not a kids book and second, it is a mixture of unusual prose poetry and a regular novel. Go ahead and call me unsophisticated if you wish. I’m good with that. Not every book is meant for everyone and not everyone is meant for every book. I would say that the book has two main layers to it. […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo