Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

‘Geoffrey’s mum told us “If you take a hen’s egg from under her and she just looks at you and doesn’t do anything, put that egg back.” Peace and quiet is a sign that something’s wrong. Peace and quiet is like a broken response, a sign of people in pieces.’

The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi

by Leave a Comment

Helen Oyeyemi is a story teller. Her work is steeped in religion, folklore, and mythology. Her characters breathe prayer and power. She will grab your attention quick, and send your spiraling through your own identity. Her stories whip in and out of the fantastic; one moment a character is studying for an exam, and the next they are overcome by the power of an ancient healer. She is one of my favorite authors. She’s absolute magic. I picked up What is Not Yours is Not Yours when […]

Splashing into the Rivers of London

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

by 2 Comments

I’d seen this author and series pop up from time to time in CBR, and my curiosity finally overcame my aversion to jumping into a series. How could I continue to ignore the siren call of that terrific cover?! I am ever-so-glad that I went ahead and judged a book by its cover, because I thoroughly enjoyed this police-procedural-gone-off-the-rails. It had all of the inner workings of the police bureaucracy that I, for some reason  find strangely enthralling. The officers had all of the spark […]

Where did my reading time go?

The Book of Ballads and Sagas by Charles Vess

by 5 Comments

I actually read this weeks ago, but working in healthcare during a pandemic has meant that all of the free time that others are desperately trying to fill during isolation has gone up in smoke for me and has also rid my brain of any remotely intelligible thoughts, but I’ll give it a whirl. The Book of Ballads and Sagas is a collaboration between Charles Vess and numerous other writers, such as Neil Gaiman, Jeff Smith, Sharyn McCrumb, Jane Yolen and others. Each writer takes […]

Family vacations, saving the world and talking cats

Pandora’s Legacy by Kara Leopard

by Leave a Comment

Pandora’s Legacy was one of those books that I judged by the cover. I know! One should not do that, but sometimes (especially with graphic novels) I figured I had an idea of the fantasy, realism and levels of scary vs. thriller. I do not like SCARY. Thriller on the other hand, I am a fan of. I like intellectual thrills Kara Leopard has a fun story taking on Greek myths. She might not follow the story a hundred percent (or at least how I […]

“The fairy silver brought you a monster of fire for a husband, and me a monster of ice.” (Bingo)

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

by Leave a Comment

#CBR11 Bingo: Listicle (on a bunch of best of 2018 lists, including NPR, Bustle and Bookbub). Would also work for “Award Winner”, as it’s won a Locus Award, and ALA Award and an Audie, or “Remix”, as it’s a fairy tale retelling. Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of Jewish moneylenders, but her father is a dreadful one, who doesn’t have the heart to actually claim back the debts that the villagers owe, even when his daughter is starving and the long, cold winters are making his wife sicker and […]

A lovely middle grade fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

by Leave a Comment

#CBR11 Bingo: Far and Away (book set in fantasy version of historical China) Official book description: In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life’s questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo