We are coming up on the most wonderful time of the year—Cannonball Read Holiday Book Exchange—when Cannonballers sign up to be matched with other Cannonballers and send books to each other (completely volutarily). I’ve participated a few times. My favorite part is picking books for my giftee, and my other favorite part is getting books from my gifter. This year, because of supply chain issues and shipping delays, Book Exchange sign up is going to start earlier than usual. Keep an eye out for […]
CBR Diversions – Unbanned Fiction
Did you hear about the students and parents in Pennsylvania who banded together to pressure a school board into overturning a ban on books, most of which were written by Black and Brown authors? I looked over the very long list, and then I read the rationale behind the ban. The board believes that the fundamental purpose of school is that of core academics, objective education without indoctrination from any political or social agenda… The racism really jumps out. One thing that struck me, among […]
CBR Diversions: Most Memorable Books of the Summer
The other day my Facebook memories was flooded with “10 Most Memorable Books” lists from 7 years ago. Of the 10 books on my list, I would probably still include 3 today. Which got me thinking about the books I’ve read this summer, and which ones I think I will remember, revisit, or recommend as the years go by. I think my most memorable books of the summer are going to be: Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild Built*. It hit me in exactly […]
CBR Diversions – Fairy Tales, Fairy Tales, and More Fairy Tales
If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.–Albert Einstein, maybe. Even if the Library of Congress can’t find the exact attribution of this quote, from our modern perspective it makes sense that an emphasis on creative thinking would come from such a great scientist. To those of us with an eye on the book world, it’s no surprise to read articles that fairy tale retellings have become a […]
CBR Diversions – Show Off Your Pride!
While talking about books to celebrate Pride Month, andtheIToldYouSos brought up discovering Becky Chambers last year during Cannon Book Club’s The Future is Queer event. “That was a huge game changer- as a reader, queer person, and a disillusioned Harry Potter fan. Rowling was at her worst, and CBR gave me Chambers at their BEST.” Personally, I love recommending books that show all kinds of people, and especially queer people, finding joy and happily ever afters. I have a huge list, but right now I […]
CBR Diversions – April is a Poetry Rage
I will confess that I have a mild aversion to poetry. I am wary that any poetry event could turn into a Vogon Poetry reading*. I was reminded that April is National Poetry Month, so I went looking for Cannonballer’s reviews about poetry. When I read Siege’s review of A Book of Luminous Things by Czesław Miłosz, I was intrigued by what poem could have motivated her to read a whole anthology of poetry. Maybe she will tell us, or maybe she doesn’t want to […]
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