Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Comedy is laughter in the face of death”

Wyrd Sisters (1988) by Terry Pratchett

Witches Abroad (1991) by Terry Pratchett

Lords and Ladies (1992) by Terry Pratchett

Carpe Jugulum (1998) by Terry Pratchett

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These are re-reads, these are beloved, these are–I suggest–suitable for the fanfic square because they are riotous and revelrous games with Shakespeare plays and fairy stories and Dracula and witch traditions, even while they question the logics behind them. For example, as Pratchett points out, witches would probably not be dancing around nude during their eldritch rites because it would get quite chilly. Wyrd Sisters (1988) Autocorrect keeps trying to make wyrd into ‘word’, which is fitting, because this is a book partly about the […]

Mission Be Funny While Stopping Duncan’s Murder

Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Weird Sisters by Olga Wojtas

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Bingo 3: Fanfic Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Weird Sisters is a re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth; it’s definitely fanfic, both in that it’s a self-insertion into an established world/story and that it’s loaded with basically Easter Eggs that only a fan of the original would appreciate. The premise is that Shona McMonagle is a middle-aged librarian who is somehow capable of time-travel. The time travel thing is not really explained, and it doesn’t really matter as that’s not the point. When Shona was younger, she […]

This was disappointing

The Witches of Vardø by Anya Bergman

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In 1662, a former mistress of the king of Denmark-Norway (Norway was a Danish colony for about 400 years, for those not big into their history trivia), Anna Rhodius is sent into exile to a fortress in Vardø in the very north of Norway. She convinces herself that she has been sent there to help root out witchcraft, and if she does a good job, she will be welcomed back by the king with open arms. Zigri is the young widow of a fisherman, who […]

Rather hip witches

Wacky Witches and Their Peculiar Familiars by April Suddendorf

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cbr16bingo Celestial  When I hear the word celestial I don’t think of Space or Stars, I think more spiritual, lofty, and Sun. The spiritual does lead to some religious aspects, but also more magical things. Like earth, and mother, and witches. The female theme comes together in a book for young readers/listeners. And while I think of myself as a feminist, I think we can “overdo” that sentiment. This  time, we are not getting it pushed too “hard” but it is not lacking. It does […]

Lovers to Enemies to Lovers

Not Your Ex’s Hexes by April Asher

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This is an adorable little supernatural romantic comedy in which two people have a one night stand and then part ways never to see each other again but remember the other fondly… Just kidding, this one also goes exactly as you’d expect. Rose Maxwell had been training all her life to represent the witches on the Supernatural Council. As her sister Violet discovered her magic in the last book and now has to take her rightful spot as the Prima, Rose has been a bit […]

Fantastic witchy YA!

How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy

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I got an arc of Aislinn Brophy’s upcoming <u>Spells to Forget Us</u> so being me, I decided to read her debut first, and this was phenomenal. Shay is in her junior year and burning the candle at both ends in the hopes of wining the Brockton scholarship, a scholarship for her school that would pay for college tuition and basically ensures she’d be able to go to a licensing college. There is so much good commentary on access and privilege and the American dream through […]



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