Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Pirate Gal meets Damsel in a Beauty and Beast remake

The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl  by Emily Riesbeck and Nora J. Barna

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The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl by Emily Riesbeck and Nora J. Barna is a mixture of the novel Legends & Lattes by Baldree, a bit of Vox Machina, a smidgen of Guardians of the Galaxy (think Yondu) and “that other thing I can’t remember off the top of my head.”  There are mature themes (pirates, GLBTQ romance, disowning by family, religion, revenge), but the humor and a little mystery are combined to take the edge off of things. This story is familiar, as it is a “be […]

CBRBINGO – ADULTHOOD: “For this scribe has read a great many of these accounts and taken away another lesson: that to be a woman is to have your story misremembered.”

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

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I loved this! I’m so glad I loved it, also, because I own two copies of it and I don’t want to get rid of either one. They are PRETTY. The American cover I love so much, I want a poster-sized print of it for my wall. And my other edition has a beautiful gilded map on the endpapers with Amina and Payasam on either end, and little ships and sea beasts sprayed on the edges. I would have CRIED had I not loved this […]

“So this is merely romance,” she frowned disapprovingly. “I was hoping for an epic adventure, or a gothic mystery at the very least.” Ned laughed. “Darling, don’t worry, the story has just begun.”

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

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Official book description, because I finished this book two months ago, and the plot is rather convoluted: Cecilia Bassingwaite is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up. Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is […]

ARRRgust Reads

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller

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Daughter of the Pirate King:       Alosa is only seventeen, but is one of the most feared pirates in the world. The only one more feared is her father, the notorious Pirate King. He has a third of a map to the legendary siren’s treasure, and sends Alosa to pretend to be captured by rival pirates so she can search their ship for another piece. She has a handy trick up her sleeve. Her mother was a siren, so she has the powers […]

“Bones is what they are now.”

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

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Family and friends recently took a trip down to the coast. I’ve always heard of beach reads, but I’ve never actually read anything while sitting on the beach. This was my chance! I loaded up my waterproof Kobo with some appropriate reading. Enter, Treasure Island. Somehow, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and I had always passed one another, like…TWO SHIPS IN THE NIGHT. But even though I missed this book in my childhood, it certainly had all of the danger and wonder that make a […]

The Childhood We All Wish We Had

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

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I have heard this book, the first of a series, referred to in discussions of classical British children’s lit for years, but had never read it.  I assumed it would be something along the lines of Enid Blyton’s Five series, which I adored as a child, but was surprised to find it predates that by a good fifteen years, written in 1930.  Well, I may be a little late to the party, but I am absolutely ready to dive in. The protagonists are four siblings, […]



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