Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This book hijacked my TBR, no regrets

Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince - vol. 1 by V.E. Schwab (author), Andrea Olimpieri (artist)

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When I shared my review of Vengeful on FaceBook, a friend chimed in asking if I knew about Schwab’s graphic novel series.  I had not and was intrigued.  Then my favorite independent celebrated its grand reopening, after moving locations, so I treated myself and picked up The Steel Prince.  The cover is eye catching and it instantly grabbed my attention. At the time, I was behind in review writing and had intended to read Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik, once the reviews were written.  After just […]

The fluff that almost, almost got interesting

Mooncakes by Wendy Xu, Suzanne Walker

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Mooncakes is a fluffy light read, but it could have been so much more. Like a lot of the graphic novels I tend to pick up, this one features a fairly YA story about 2 queer characters probably in their late teens who have something supernatural about them, and they must face some sort of supernatural problem while dealing with their mutual attraction to each other. Nova is a witch in training, and Tam is her werewolf childhood friend/possibly something more who moved away but […]

And so the Lightbringer saga comes to an end (spoiler free review on my thoughts of the series as a whole).

The Burning White: Book Five of the Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks

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Several years ago, I asked my husband to find me a new author and surprise me with a book for my birthday.  Usually I give him a list of books, or at least authors, and he selects from there.  While I always get something I want, I’m never surprised.  Armed with the names of some of my favorite authors, he went to our local independent and asked for help from the excellent staff.  They suggested The Black Prism by Brent Weeks, first book in the Lightbringer […]

A Beautiful Modern Fairy Tale from Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

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I decided to re-read this short novel when I saw a video of Neil dedicating the actual lane referenced in this story in his hometown in England & I am so glad I did because I loved it much more the second time through. Let me get some minor quibbles out of the way first: are there aspects of this book that are a bit repetitive from Neil’s earlier works? Yes. Fans of Sandman or Anansi Boys can pick out scenes, characters and themes that […]

Love triangles, magic, and murder

Grave Visions by Kalayna Price

Grave Ransom by Kalayna Price

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It’s official. I’m totally hooked on Kalayna Price’s Alex Craft series. This was a given after I reviewed books 1-3. The follow-ups, Grave Visions, and Grave Ransom did not disappoint. Alex Craft is a grave witch. Her magic skill allows her to interact with the plane of the dead. She can see talk to ghosts and shades, which are manifestations of a dead person’s memory. Talking to the dead is quite handy if they’ve been murdered. Alex opens a private detective firm with her best friend […]

familiar fables

Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue

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Familiar stories are passed, one by one, from one storyteller to another. There are thirteen tales in Kissing the Witch; some will be immediately recognizable, some will require you to dust off your mental library, and some are fantastically new- conjured from collective memory and superstition but new none the less. Each tale is handed off from teller to teller; frequently the perceived villain will be the heroine of the following story. Most are, to quote Emmylou Harris, “full of heartbreak and desire”. She sings that […]



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