Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Do you need an adventure filled with laughter and some pathos? Do I have the book for you!

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

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My husband received  Dungeon Crawler Carl in our family Winter Solstice book exchange.  From the moment he started the book, he was chuckling, and sometimes outright cackling, every several pages.  Before finishing he insisted it be my next read.  Folks, this book is laugh out loud  funny.  Do you like fantasy, adventure, video games, Dungeons and Dragons, The Hunger Games, Running Man or cats?  Does a reference to the anime/manga/movie Battle Royale peak your interest? Are you intrigued by the idea of an AI with a foot […]

Time loops that feel like fairyland.

The Last Hour at the End of the World (The Echo Archive, #1) by Melissa Caruso

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Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Orbit for the ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. Firstly, this is way more fantasy than it is sci-fi, for those who want the proper expectations. There are time loops and parallel universes, but they function on what feels like magic much more than science. And this is a book with a fantasy heart. Feeling blah right now, so here’s the (truncated) blurb: Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn . . […]

A fantasy zoo that is a love letter to the importance of conservation

The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean

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First and very importantly, Thank You CoffeeShopReader!  I thoroughly enjoyed The Phoenix Keeper.  It was a perfect book to close out a year that required lighter reading due to life challenges.  Also there was an added layer of fun as the zoo and location were clearly inspired by San Diego and our world famous zoo. As phoenix keeper at the magical San Tamculo Zoo, Aila is close to achieving a lifelong dream.  Overseeing a breeding pair of critically endangered Silimalo phoenixes and helping to bring them […]

“…and in the old days they did things for a reason. And if you don’t understand why—well, you might end up opening a few doors better left closed. “

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand

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A story about Windhollow Faire a fictional British folk band, who in the 1970’s England,  rented an ancient and super creepy country house so they could lock themselves down and record an album.  And oh, the text lets us know what an album Wylding Hall (named naturally after the home they were recording in) was, it was the one that made the band capital F famous.  But it came at quite the cost, as the groups lead singer vanishes into the house and is just […]

The Almost Perfect Last Book to Review for a Last Review of the Year

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

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The Last Hour Between Worlds might just be the perfect New Years read; it’s almost cozy, it’s fantasy, it’s got a touch of romance, it takes place during a New Year’s Eve party, the characters are pretty interesting, the world is interesting, and it’s mostly just a fun read. The Last Hour Between Worlds features a new mom at a New Year’s Eve party trying to relax her totally exhausted self, but she gets pulled into trouble that happens to fit her profession (but she’s […]

“I am the servant of the sword,” he said. “I obey the will of the—great god, woman, put on some clothes!”

Swordheart by T Kingfisher

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In my review of A Sorceress Comes to Call, I mentioned that T Kingfisher has a number of books that have slightly older women as protagonists. Halla in Swordheart might be a little younger than Hester in A Sorceress, but she’s not an ingenue.  Halla is in her mid thirties and a widow. The passing of her husband has not freed her from the clutches of her in laws though. This is both a blessing and a curse in some ways; thanks to her basically […]



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