Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“And just as she was about to leave the mircophone, she said ‘And to anyone tempted to kiss the TV tonight, please don’t chip your tooth.”

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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When journalist Monique is chosen by the reclusive actress Evelyn Hugo to be her biographer, she has no clue why she was the one chosen – or about the tragic intersection of their lives. I feel like Contrary Mary here to say that I thought a generally universally acclaimed book was just fine, but I’m going to be brave and go ahead and say it: It was fine. Maybe I had too high expectations after reading the rest of the Reidverse books and all those […]

“Clean hearts and clean minds, cleanliness at all times! Nothing dirty, nothing bad, always happy, never sad!”

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

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Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the mysterious children’s program Mister Magic, the five remaining cast members are brought back together in a strange house in the desert, where they begin to realize their childhood is not exactly how they remembered it to be. Sometimes it’s fun to write one star reviews, because the story is not at all what was said on the tin and then I’m annoyed to have spent time with it. Other times, it’s tough to write […]

Rediscovering Her Muse

A Liaison with Her Leading Lady by Lotte R. James

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Desperate to save her beloved father’s theatre, actress Ruth seeks out famed dramatist Artemis in an attempt to coax her out of her self-imposed exile from the English stage. This is a delightful and unusual historical romance, following as it does two women who live on the fringes of respectable society in Regency England. The author has worked in theatre herself, and her experience and understanding of stagecraft shines through during the whole story, aided by plenty of research into the changing theatre scene at […]

Fantastic premise; so-so execution

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

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Amina Al-Sirafi is not just a pirate. She’s a female pirate. She’s a female Muslim pirate. Hell yeah, I can get on board with this book, whose premise promises to deliver adventure with an under-represented perspective. And in that regard, I was satisfied. In the introductory pages, we’re told what to expect–the story of an older woman who continues to defy convention. “Ah yes, a certain degree of rebelliousness is expected from youth. It is why we have stories of treasure-seeking princesses and warrior women […]

Cat Transformations and Found Family

Spell Bound by FT Lukens

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Rook has a secret – he’s non-magical, yet a powerful sorcerer has taken him on as her apprentice. But when the Magical Consortium comes down on them for breaking the law, he ends up going on the run with Sun, the apprentice of a rival sorcerer. I  read FT Lukens’s So This is Ever After last year, which I gave an A for the romance but found the other aspects of the story less impressive. But I’ll try most things twice, and intrigued by the […]

What Is “The Apocalypse” Anyway But Another Series of Bad Days, Or Same As It Ever Was, Or It’s Irrelevant

You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor & Janina Matthewson

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I can’t really explain it, but You Feel It Just Below the Ribs is a near five star book. I rated it 4.5 stars on Storygraph and I’m not quite sure why I didn’t rate it a 5. I want to… there’s something… but I want to. But I won’t. Because there’s something on the tip of my tongue or on the cusp of catchable thoughts that maybe I can’t articulate. Or maybe I’m just that much of a hard ass. There are a few things […]



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