Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“In a conquered land, the only way to win was to survive.”

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (Song of the Last Kingdom, #1) by Amélie Wen Zhao

by Leave a Comment

30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 3 Book 13/30 This one surprised me! There has really been a lot of authors the past several years who have rescued YA fantasy for me, and Amélie Wen Zhao is now one of them. This book was very well-written, had intense and interesting worldbuilding, a strong main arc and a strong conflict to guide it, and the characters often made decisions that while sometimes frustrating on a personal level for me, always made the story more interesting. There […]

“It’s hard to stop being afraid when the whole world is literally full of monsters.”

City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer

by Leave a Comment

Look, when the book’s blurb starts out with “ever since her sister became a man-eating spider”, how in the world could I not pick up this book? And while I was initially put off by the cover (seriously, it doesn’t not match the book at all), I’m so glad I picked this up. It’s a quirky story but one I very much enjoyed. For over a hundred years, people have been afraid of Nightmares. If you dream, you have a chance of turning into a […]

Horror Month 2023: #4

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

by Leave a Comment

The other Grady Hendrix book was the one I really wanted to like. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires had its moments and its subtext was a clever metaphorical look at societal exploitation. But I couldn’t connect with the characters the way Hendrix wanted  me to and I felt like he got too caught up in the concept to execute well. That’s not the case here. While both are 4-star reads in their own ways, this felt like a more realized book. Because while the […]

CBR15 Bingo: Queer Lives (Bingo)

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

by Leave a Comment

CBR15 Bingo: Queer Lives In July, the Forever Young Adult Reading Challenge prompt was Banned Books. Since All Boys Aren’t Blue was the second most banned book in America during the 2021-2022 school year, only beaten by Gender Queer, and I’d had the book on my digital bookshelf for a while, it felt like a suitable book to choose. This book was also one of the book club selections last year for the Cannonball book club, when we did banned books (this year we did […]

When you think you’ve joined the good guys but you’ve really just joined a cult

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

by Leave a Comment

CBR15Bingo: Relation “ship” (cargo ships and relationships) Bingo: (left to right: Dwelling to On the Air) Will Kempen is on the run and on a mission: find the man who had his mother murdered and take him down. Unfortunately, his mission leads him directly into the hands of those who want him dead. After being rescued off of a sinking ship by Violet, the two of them are taken back to the hall of the Stewards (protectors of the light and fighters against the Dark […]

Do you remember the 21st night of September?

See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon

by 1 Comment

“See You Yesterday” by Rachel Lynn Solomon is a fun, original take on the classic “Groundhog Day” narrative. The story follows Barrett Bloom, a college freshman who’s looking for a fresh start after an intense high school experience. However, things take a wild turn when she finds herself trapped in a time loop on the first day of school. Together with Miles, a fellow time-loop victim, she sets out to find a way out of the loop while navigating the ups and downs of their […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo