Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil, damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness . . . . . . which could obviously be redeemed only by passing through the fiery, cleansing inferno of a wizardly digestive tract.”

Skin Game (The Dresden Files #15) by James Butcher

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In one word: Fun Cannonball Read Bingo: Gaslight I took a mini-hiatus from my Dresden Files read because Butcher’s casual sexism was grating on my nerves, and I wasn’t having much fun.  (When reading becomes a chore, you know it’s time to move on or take a break). I knew I’d be back though because I’m already too deep into the series but more importantly, I don’t know how to quit James Marsters on audio. (Swoon). Disclaimer: it’s increasingly harder to talk about this series […]

Don’t mess with an angry gingerbread cookie!

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

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I really adored A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. This charming young adult fantasy novel was so much fun to read. A shout out to the YA librarian who mentioned how much she had loved this book. Mona is a 14 year old baker who has some limited magic capabilities. She can do things like make gingerbread cookies dance. One day, she finds a dead girl in the bakery and it turns out all magickers in her town are being targeted and […]

“The impossible we do immediately. The unimaginable takes a little while.”

Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) by Jim Butcher

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In one word: Busy I finished reading this over a month ago and am now clawing my way through a backlog of tardy reviews on this snowy Midwestern APRIL day. Snowy. APRIL. DAY. In what we are calling Spring I guess? Ruuuuude. But I digress. When I dig into the recesses of my mind about this book, not much is surfacing, which isn’t a great sign. This book was reminiscent of an SNL Stefon skit. Bear with me here. For the unfamiliar, Stefon is an […]

A teenage wizard girl and her somewhat sentient cookie and sourdough do big stuff

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

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I was a little late to the A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, but I’m glad I finally got it; this one is both fun and a little inventive. The basic story is plucky heroine with limited resources faces off against unknown and then known end-of-the-world kind of badness, and triumphs with the help of some friends. Said heroine is 14-year-old Mona, who lives as a magic user in a world mostly suspicious of magic. Mona’s magic only works on baked goods, which is just […]

“There are two kinds of people in the universe, Molly,” I said. “Star Trek fans and Star Wars fans. This is shocking.” She sniffed. “This is the post-nerd-closet world, Harry. It’s okay to like both.”

Ghost Story (Dresden Files #13) by Jim Butcher

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In one word: Surprising All right people. I’m here again with more thoughts on Jim Butcher and The Dresden Files, with book 13. In case you haven’t read my reviews of the previous 12 novels, here are my general impressions: 1. This series is like the Suki Stackhouse Tru Blood books; you just replace a clairvoyant vampire-loving waitress with a wizard half-vampire-loving detective. Silly, sexy, warring, magical fun times abound. 2. I am 60% here for this series because James Marsters, aka, Spike from Buffy […]

Berzerker Barb and Porkchop to save the day, but first… Sausages!

Barb the Last Berzerker by Dan & Jason

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According to the publisher content (with a little edit from me), my first review is if: She-Ra/He-Man met Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man. And while I won’t disagree, I do think it is a little less as shall we say, clueless than Dog Man can be. Barb is a young Berzerker who wants in on the action, but the others feel she is too young. But when she is the last one standing, this Dan (Abdo) and Jason (Patterson) graphic novel, she is their only hope […]



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