Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

That disappointment when combining 2 great things makes them less good

Breath of the Dragon by Fonda Lee

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I really liked Fonda Lee’s Green Bone Saga – there was a lot going on so it took a second to get into them but once I was hooked, I couldn’t stop being impressed by what she did: it was an Asian influenced fantasy in a modern day setting with Mafia vibes, and felt very much like The Godfather movies as far as the span of the story. The series starts at a time where old and new are colliding and ends in a world […]

The Fox Warrior in us all

The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha

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I started The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha as an online reader. However, it was only a sample of about half of the graphic novel. I was both “OH! Now what????” and  “Eh…I get the idea…do I go on?” I decided to go on and asked at my local library for a copy. It took a bit, but it was mostly worth the wait. Ha is the delightful author of Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir. And though The Fox Maidens is fiction, I expected […]

Before he rumbled in the Bronx, wore a tuxedo and voiced a monkey

The Rise (and Falls) of Jackie Chan by Kristen Mai Giang

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The Rise (and Falls) of Jackie Chan is one of my favorite picture books that I have read, or at least, read this year. Kristen Mai Giang’s picture book highlights the life of the actor Jackie Chan. It is humorous, informative, and inspirational. From a poor child living in an ambassador’s home, but was limited to a small room and forced to share a bed with his parents, to international martial arts and move star, Chan’s life unfolds. Due to the poverty his family faced, […]

“The clan is my blood and the Pillar it’s master. On my honour, on my life, on my jade”

Jade City by Fonda Lee

Jade War by Fonda Lee

Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee

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  Wow Have you ever read through a new series that was so good, so engrossing, that you feel like you’re waking up the night after downing a six-pack? Like, you literally have a reading hangover? This is me with Fonda Lee’s Green Bone Saga. I don’t understand how this series managed to miss me personally; my first introduction was to the series was very late last year, around the release of the third book. Which turned out to be very very convenient for me, […]

So, Do You Like Knives?

The Martial Arts of Indonesia: A Guide to Pencak Silat, Kuntao and Traditional Weapons by Donn F. Draeger

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  Yes, I am really amusing myself here for picking a ‘sportsball’ book where balls don’t really feature in the sports of focus. To make up for that though—as I discovered—nearly everything else that you could think of has been used as a weapon in an Indonesian martial art at some point. This includes knives, more knives, swords, shields, sticks, more knives, whips, chains, and teeth. And the knives? More knives than spam in Monty Python. Some of these people folks really love their knives. […]

A Disappointing Story but one with interesting ideas

Unsouled by Will Wight

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I hate writing reviews on books I did not like, but it is necessary. I go to a lot of websites and on one of them, cannot remember which one, this series was suggested as a different take on fantasy. And it is. Unfortunately, it also does not apply a consistent set of rules to the world that is described and has a main character that is unlikable. The story is a basic Campbell-esque hero saga one where a young man, who has a difficulty […]



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