Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Power of a Beautiful Woman Against a Kingdom

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang

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Before starting A Song to Drown Rivers, I wasn’t familiar with the Four Great Beauties of China beyond a vague recollection of the phrase. As I started, I did a quick google of Xishi and her story, which has two possible endings – one where the king she served has her assassinated for fear the skills she used to topple the Wu kingdom may be turned on him, and another where she and Fanli are able to live out in freedom and happiness. The execution […]

An Interesting Middle to a Trilogy

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

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In the aftermath of Mortmain’s attack on the Institute, Tessa and her allies find themselves in a race to find him before factions within the Clave remove Charlotte and Henry as Heads of the Institute.  However, even as they learn more about both Mortmain his plans, he appears to be one step ahead of them, and attacks from within threaten their attempts to stop him.  If they wish to defeat their enemy, first they must figure out who has betrayed them. Once again, I think […]

An Interesting Addition to Vampire Canon

This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings

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This was a highly anticipated release between the premise and the setting, but after finishing it I’m sitting here unsure how I feel about it. Layla Quinn and Elise Saint were best friends until several years ago with Layla’s parents were killed and she was turned into a reaper. She especially blames the Saints and most especially Elise, because Elise betrayed her trust by telling her father, Tobias Saint, about Layla’s parents’ plan to help the reapers and meet with the Harlem clan. Because of […]

My favourite book growing up

Ronja Rövardotter (Ronia the Robber's Daughter) by Astrid Lindgren

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CBR16 Sweet Books: Cozy (this was my absolutely most favourite book as a child) Nowhere Books Bingo: Has been adapted into a movie or a TV show CBR16 Bingo: Horses (the back cover has a picture of the horses that Ronja and Birk tame during their stay in the forest) Ronja is the only daughter of the chief of a robber band. She’s born during a particularly stormy night when a lightning strike creates a giant gorge in the stone fortress where she grows up. […]

I Might Be a Little Jaded About YA

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

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Tessa Gray has traveled to London from New York at the behest of her brother who, now that their aunt has died, is her only living relative.  But immediately upon arrival, Tessa is taken by the Dark Sisters who claim that her brother has sent them.  Forced to hone a magical talent that she had no idea she possessed for some mysterious purpose, Tessa is glad for a rescue from a young man who is a Shadowhunter.  However, Tessa now finds herself caught up in […]

“She would build herself a life of plenty. She would force her world to bloom as she’d made the pomegranate tree grow, and Santángel would help her do it. Even if blood watered the soil.”

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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The Familiar is an atmospheric historical fantasy set in the late 1500s Spain, when the Inquisition was up and running at full power. Our heroine is Luzia Cotado, a scullion in the house of a poor noble family who uses small ancestral magics taught to her by her secretly Jewish family to get through the day: unburning burnt bread, multiplying the potatoes when there wasn’t enough coin at market, heating water, fixing a seam. The plot kicks off when Luzia’s mistress, Doña Valentina, catches her at […]



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