Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Journey From Lawyer to Redeemed Ghost

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

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I’m not sure why I delayed reading this for so long, aside from some preconceived expectations about how the book might end, but I’m glad I finally gave it a shot. Our protagonist, lawyer Wallace Price, is not a very good person. The negative thoughts or stereotypes you may have had about lawyers pretty much apply here. He’s a workaholic who cares about little more than winning cases. When he unexpectedly dies from a heart attack, only 6 people attend his funeral, and that includes […]

“There must be no greater feeling in the world than to know that this isn’t forever.”

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

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TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea was the sort of whimsical, heartfelt novel that felt like an instant classic. It is perhaps no small coincidence that it’s publication coincided with the early day of Lockdown in March of 2020. What I (we?) were looking for at that time were books that provided a soft landing. The House in the Cerulean Sea offered what so little in the world could offer at that time – a sense of home and comfort. The characters were […]

A Gentle, Heartwarming Story of Magic and Humanity

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

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TJ Klune manages to weave the mundane and fantastical together in this heartwarming novel. Linus Baker is a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY), which registers and tracks magical children (and later adults with the Department in Charge of Magical Adults – DICOMA). He visits orphanages of magical children to make sure they are being well-run, and when he’s not out on field assignments, he’s one of hundreds of drudges toiling away at desks in DICOMY. He has no life to […]

“How do we even begin to understand that there’s more than what we can see?”

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

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I had high hopes for this one, based on my love of The House in the Cerulean Sea. That book was so pure and good, much like a Becky Chambers novel. It was sweet and funny and romantic, with plot that moved at a perfect pace. The love story at the heart of that novel felt so true, it was impossible not to root for. Those charming children, so inventive, earned each of their character arcs. It was wholesome without being syrupy. This is the genius […]

“Sometimes, death is a blessing, even if we don’t realize it right away.”

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

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I was gifted Under the Whispering Door Winter Solstice, 2021.  Narfna described it as a ‘warm hug’ in her review and I wanted to save it for when such a book was needed.  Somehow almost a year has passed and it sat on the shelf.  When looking for my next read I swear I could hear the book say, “You should read me before you get more books for this year’s Winter Solstice book exchange”.  The book had a point so I picked it up and […]

Whimsey in the Face of the Mundane

The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune

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This was a gift from last year’s book exchange, and while I finished it a while back, I think I put off reviewing it because I prioritised all the Hugo works for Bingo instead; I had a harder time fitting this into my scorecard calculus! What this did mean though is that I had some extra time to read through a second time around. And would you believe it was even more wonderful the second time? At the start of The House in the Cerulean […]



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