Cannonball Read (CBR) is an online, memorial book challenge to read and review 52 books in a year (or 26 or 13) with a mission to donate profits to the American Cancer Society. We’re essentially a virtual book club where participants read what they want and write what they want, all while shouting to the world, “F— Cancer!”
CBR honors Amanda “AlabamaPink” Amos, our fierce warrior queen who lost her battle with cancer in 2009. She was a true Pajiban (see Pajiba), filled with eloquence and sass. Cannonballers since that time have read over 20,000 books in her memory and have donated over $3,000 in her name.
Our History
CBR got its start in September 2008 on the pop culture website, Pajiba, as a battle royale between AlabamaPink and Prisco (aka Brian Prisco). The race was on to see who could read 100 books first within a year’s time. Other ‘Jibans wanted in, so they opened the competition to all who were willing to take up the challenge. Sadly, our Warrior Queen left us before she could complete the race, but Prisco and other participants forged on.
In the fall of 2009, a second Cannonball Read was organized. This time, over 100 ‘Jibans wanted in. Probably helped by the fact that the number of books to be read was made a bit more attainable, 52 in a year, though this year, reviews of books read were required. Thirteen participants made it to the the end; reading and reviewing 52 books between November 1, 2009 & October 31, 2010. For all of those who completed the challenge and to honor Miss Pink, a donation was made by Pajiba to the college fund for her son, Lil A.
Cannonball Read 3 began on January 1, 2011. Over 150 Pajibans participated, and their reviews counted in the thousands. This third race saw the advent of a group blog, where all participants posted reviews or links to reviews on their own blogs. During this race, Cannonballers could select a fraction of the whole 52, but donations still only counted for those completing the whole. 25 people made it to 52 books, 17 to half (26) and 15 to a quarter cannonball (13).
Cannonball Read 4 ran for the year of 2012. 243 people, including four junior Cannonballers read and reviewed, a grand total of 3,163 books! 32 people made it to 52 books, 18 to half (26) and 19 to a quarter cannonball (13), and two people who did a double Cannonball of 104 books! Get all the details here.
Cannonball Read 5 was held in 2013. 333 people read and reviewed 3,720 books , and three people completed a double Cannonball of 104 or more. Find out who they were and read the wrap-up.
Cannonball Read 6 in 2014 began a new incarnation with this dedicated website, where we solidified our mission to to fight cancer. All book links to amazon.com included our affiliate link, we enabled ads on all pages, and set up a new Paypal fund.
Cannonball Read 7 kicked off in 2015, and for the seventh read we made sure to pay website fees first, and then all following proceeds from donations and links were donated to the American Cancer Society.
Cannonball Read 8 was held in 2016. Participants reviewed 3,415 books, read over 1,000,000 pages, and raised $1,275 for the American Cancer Society.
Cannonball Read 9 ran through 2017. 4,146 books reviewed, and total pages Read: 1,285,000+ CBR9 donated $860 to the American Cancer Society.
Cannonball Read 10 in 2018 was the tenth anniversary of the first Read. New offerings that year included the CBR10 Book Bingo Reading Challenge. 38 players, 31 had at least one bingo and 9 people blacked out their bingo card. Bingo resulted in 578 reviews over 4 months. An extremely successful Giving Tuesday on November 28 helped generate our largest donations in a year to the American Cancer society of $1,625. That brought our total amount donated in AlabamaPink’s memory to $4,625!
Cannonball Read 11 started on January 1 of 2019. The Book Bingo Reading Challenge returned, along with three book clubs and a ton of great reviews.
Just by being here, you’re adding to the coffer. You don’t even have to be signed up this year to help – just click through this link to amazon.com before you do any shopping on the site, and a percentage of your order will go directly to fight cancer. No additional fees are added to your order. Just make sure you click the link before you shop. If you’d like to kick in to help us*, hit us up on Paypal and make your contribution via “Send funds to friends and family” to mswas@cannonballread.com or visit our page on venmo.com to send funds.
CBR Wrap Up Articles on Pajiba.com
- CBR11- first to 52: vel veeter January 25, 2019
- CBR10 – first to 52: vel veeter February 25, 2018
- CBR9 – first to 52: Classic February 9, 2017
- CBR8 – first to 52: badkittyuno March 17, 2016
- CBR7 – first to 52: Janniethestrange March 25, 2015
- CBR6 – first to 52: Travis J Smith January 31, 2014
- CBR5 – first to 52: Jen K May 3, 2013
- CBR4 – first to 52: Malin May 15, 2012
- CBR3
- CBR2
- The First Cannonball Read