Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Fairy tale villains and loving sisters

Into the Goblin Market by Vikki VanSickle

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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 […]

Mythic Alphabet Murders and Staying Normal

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

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Bingo 2: Part 2 I’m going a tad bit literal here as The Sinister Booksellers of Bath is a sequel. Once again, it’s in 1980s London, Bath, and nearby areas, with some excursions into locations/times folkloric or supernatural. Susan, Merlin, Vivien, and the rest of the booksellers and associates are all back as well. There are essentially two mysteries on hand, both involving Susan: there’s the disappearances and murders in a realm out of time and sort of space, and then there’s Susan’s growing sense […]

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

Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book by Angela Carter

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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 […]

It could be (at least somewhat) my own fault this one isn’t my favorite

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

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It has been a long while since I read the first two books in Freya Marske’s Last Binding Trilogy, which may account for some of my complaints about A Power Unbound. I remember Adelaide being a part of the first but not the second story, and when she comes back in the third, I couldn’t remember much about her personality or backstory-wise. As a result, her parts (small but in one or two spots, important) felt underdeveloped and like I was missing something. She’s a […]

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

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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 […]

Navigating grief and mermaids in the Caribbean

A Comb of Wishes by Lisa Stringfellow

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Kela and her father have been pretty lost on their Caribbean island of St. Rita since Kela’s mother died. Her father spends his days manning his shop while Kela avoids friends, collecting sea glass for her jewelry projects. One day, she finds a mysterious looking antique comb in a coral reef. She is drawn to it. What she doesn’t realize is that she has stolen a mermaid’s comb, and its owner Ophidia is crushed by its loss. Her grudge against humans doesn’t leave Ophidia feeling […]



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