Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“She’s very proud of her crime scene; it must surely be the most pleasant crime scene the cops have ever been to.”

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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“You don’t describe your job like that,” Vera scolds. “Is a small job, hah! Can you see men saying that? No, men will talk it up with bullshit, that is why they get even bigger job next time. There is no such thing as ‘small job.’ And don’t say in that silly tone, oh so apologetic, I am just silly woman having a small job. No!” Her index finger shoots up and points at Julia’s face like a sword. “You go and do this job […]

Plant Mind Control

This is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan

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Bingo 1: Edibles I think the only other thing I’ve read of Michael Pollan’s was Food Rules, which was as it sounds, a general rules list with brief discussion per rule. They were pretty common sense, and I generally agreed with them. I know he’s actually a bit more controversial than that, but it’s only now I know why. I’ve had This is Your Mind on Plants on my TBR shelf for a while. Now I’ve read it. While the subject isn’t edibles in the […]

Magical Tea Mystery

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

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I like the story, the characters, and the loose historical basis, but I don’t quite get how the magic fits into things in A Magic Steeped in Poison. Working with tea and medicinal plants certainly can involve the potential for poison, but I wish there was more detail about how the magic that can allow for tea to be used for emotions, healing, or telling the future worked. I’d settled for a little more about the historical aspect of traditional Chinese medicine; there’s an index […]

A tea based magic system in an ancient Chinese inspired setting, yes please. (Bingo #2!!)

A Magic Steeped in Poison: The Book of Tea vol. 1 by Judy I. Lin

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CBR14 Bingo: “Gaslight” – In a setting influenced by ancient China, there is no electricity, all lights are flame based. A Magic Steeped in Poison was featured by Mysterious Galaxy earlier this year.  As a self-described tea snob, I was instantly interested.  I got the audiobook to listen during my health stomps.  While listening, I appreciated hearing the correct pronunciations of the Chinese (or Chinese inspired) names.  However, sitting down to try and write the review I’m hampered by not knowing how  names are spelled.  […]

I would like to join the Tea Dragon Society

The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill

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Dome’Loki introduced me to Kay O’Neill’s The Tea Dragon Society through her Cannonball Read review. The adorable cover won me over immediately. I was so taken with it that I impulsively supported the Chamomile plush Kickstarter campaign without ever reading the books. I couldn’t decide which dragon I wanted, so I simply ordered all of them with the first book. After several months, they finally arrived and made my day! This children’s book is the first in a series. It introduces us to Greta who […]

“Old people, young people. Everybody needed a cup of tea sometimes. Just an hour or two to sit and do something nice, and then they could get back to whatever it was.”

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

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I had just finished A Closed and Common Orbit and was eager to read another book by Becky Chambers.  Fortunately, my family gave me A Psalm for the Wild-Built for my birthday, so another one was on hand to be immediately dived into.  In A Closed and Common Orbit, Chambers dwells on purpose.  In a APftWB, she dives deeper into understanding what it means to have a purpose, why even have a purpose at all, and to not have a purpose, as well.  I had been delightfully […]



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