Behind the scenes a bunch of the CBR volunteers have been talking about fun things we can do to provide diversions from the stress of these very strange and weird times. Graphics maven yesknopemaybe came up with the brilliant and delightful #cbrbookgram challenge on Instagram, which wrapped up yesterday. Even if you don’t have an Instagram account, you can peruse the posts of people sharing their books. Inspired by the fun we had with the Instagram challenge, we will periodically post discussion posts, games, and other distractions here and on our social media platforms.
Today’s question: What books have you read, or are you reading now because of CBR? Is there a book you wouldn’t normally have considered if a review hadn’t intrigued you? Let us know and feel free to share a link to the review that intrigued you or a link to your own review. You do not have to have reviewed the book to participate.
If you have an idea for a discussion post or game, drop MsWas an email.
I would say that fully a third of the books I’ve read are because of a CBR recommendation. Most recently, it was ctkat1’s review of Heated Rivalry. https://cannonballread.com/2019/06/heated-rivalry-ctkat1/
Yes! So many books I am finally reading thanks to recommendations from this group! In the past two weeks I finished the first Murderbot and Sandman Slim books — and would never have even known about these if not for your reviews.
I have been reading a ton…reviews have been few and far between.
Yay! Those are two of my favorite series.
I definitely picked both of those series up due to CBR enthusiasm, mostly yours!! Thank you!
The final (I think) Sandman Slim is coming out in August. I think it comes out within the window in which we could reasonably call it a birthday gift to us.
So many. I am the kind of reader that sticks to authors in genres I like and don’t branch out much, so this has opened up a whole world of new books and authors! I read Rainbow Rowell because of all of you, and Sherry Thomas. I’ve definitely picked up books I would not have otherwise.
I still haven’t picked up Sherry Thomas, but she is on my list.
I also learned about Rainbow Rowell from CBR. And probably a lot of other authors and titles that are on my TBR list.
I wanted to participate in the Instagram thing but I got overwhelmed and never made a post. I hope we do something like that again!
I have picked up so many books because of this site. I put things on my TBR all the time, and also I’ll have something already on my TBR and then somebody will review it and their review will be so good I’ll have to bump it up immediately. That’s happened a lot.
YES- I also let things “skip in line” if someone reviews them here- then I HAVE to read them ASAP
badkittyuno’s review of The Royal Art of Poison introduced me to the book that I have been obsessing over since reading it- I learned so much and now my friends and family are forced to hear about the fun and gross things I learned. Hooray!
https://cannonballread.com/2020/02/the-royal-art-of-poison-filthy-palaces-fatal-cosmetics-deadly-medicine-and-murder-most-foul-badkittyuno/
Oooo, that one is on my list.
it’s gross and wonderful, and tied into SO MANY other things that I read this year- coincidence abounds!
I can’t point to a specific review because there were JUST SO MANY, but all of your reviews of Bad Blood by John Carreyrou made me pick up this tale of the kuh-razy bloodwork start-up in Silicon Valley.
https://cannonballread.com/tag/john-carreyrou/
Same!
Someone recommended Seraphina (I think actually it was in the FB discussion group) and I’m so glad they did, it’s now one of my favorite books. I also read Daniel O’Malley‘s books, the Saga graphic novels, and the Inspector Gamache books because someone here gave them a positive review!
I think MsWas posted the first Inspector Gemache review. She doesn’t review often, but when she does it’s because she really likes a book.
This is hard because there are many, but I discovered two of my current favorite authors, Anthony Horowitz and Emily St. John Mandel, from this site. Also, CBR BINGO has been great for getting me to branch out into different genres, not to mention hit up the library more frequently.
Bingo will be coming back this Summer. I’m thinking about ways to make it more flexible as we face an unpredictable year.
Yes, I will be sad if my library isn’t open in time for BINGO. 🙁
Y’all, its probably fully three quarters or more of the things I read are directly related back to CBR. Part of the fun or committing to reading most reviews that get published is that I’ve learned over the years whose opinions align with mine and whose don’t – which is great both ways since a scathing review from someone who has opposite taste to me might mean a book I really like, depending on what their problems were.
I have read so many books because of CBR, but I think one of the ones I’ve then turned around and recommended the most was The Anomaly: https://cannonballread.com/2019/02/the-anomaly-shmecky87/
And so many that I would never have picked up, but I got them for the Book Exchange and fell madly in love. I’m sending Gideon the Ninth to my mom with her Mother’s Day present – I got it in last year’s Book Exchange and it was so fun. So the Cannonball ripples of recommendations keep carrying on!
I’ve bought a ton of things due to CBR. I love when I start reading something or finish one and I can see Cannonball readers on Goodreads pop up all the time. The Dresden FIles was one of the first series I really read due to CBR back in the day. Before I even started reviewing. A recent on was The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston.
I haven’t read Laurenston yet, but I bought one of her books solely because of CBR reviews and conversations.
Cannonballers convinced me to pick up Rainbow Rowell and Sarah J. Maas. After hearing so much about Carry On and Wayward Son in reviews, when I finished Fangirl a week or so ago, I ordered those two books and am impatiently waiting for them. While I found Maas’s “A Court of…” series enjoyable, I think I need to read more to determine whether she will become a favorite. Receiving two books by Leigh Bardugo in the 2018 Cannonball book exchange has made me an ardent fan.
Want to give a shout out to Cannonball Bingo as it has been a fun way to explore books I otherwise wouldn’t have.
I’ve been Cannonballing solidly for eleven of the twelve years, I’ve lost count of the many books and authors I discovered here. I think two of my most memorable “how could I not have read these before?” remain Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson and Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (loong before it was a hit TV drama). So many positive reviews for both of these books and for some reason, I just didn’t think the books would appeal to me. I was so very very wrong.
I have read so many books because of you. #BlameMalin
Yes, #BlameMalin!
We always #BlameMalin for so many good recs
When I am feeling particularly sad and inconsequential, I should remind myself that I have my own hashtag and that my book recommendations have reached many people and hopefully brought some joy. 🥰
Yes you really should.
My Horizontal Life by Chandler and Between the Bridge and the River by Ferguson are for certain two books I would have NEVER read if they had not been on lists we could use for Bingo. And things I picked for Not My Wheelhouse in Bingo, too. In other words, Bingo has played a large role in my reading choices. Also, I like to read reviews of books I have read to see what others have gotten out of them and their likes/dislikes. That makes me think about the books and if a recommendation comes across that might interest me, I know if we have similar tastes.
Bingo will definitely be back this Summer. I’m thinking hard about how to make Bingo doable in a time when access to libraries is unpredictable and income is down for a lot of people.
One block could be a book that has the word The in the title. Of course a TBR book. An author in your collection that last name (or first) starts with your First Name/Last Name letter……. um…… that’s all I got
Thank you!
I #BlameMalin for A Wicked Kind of Husband, a book I’d have never looked past the absurd cover of, and would have missed out otherwise.
I also just finished Luck of the Draw on FaintingViolet’s recommendation and my brain is broken now.
Some of the absolute best books I’ve read this year have come from right here.
I never would have read My Favorite Thing is Monsters if it weren’t for CBR Bingo (though I never got around to reviewing it). It was the “not my wheelhouse” square, and I considered using the “floating” square to read something else; that’s how much I had never wanted to read a graphic novel, probably because I had only ever associated them with comic books. But then I reminded myself that for me part of the purpose of Bingo was to expand my horizons, push myself, and read things I might not have otherwise read or even heard of. And I’m glad I did because it was a great book; I just wish I had known that it was only part 1.