Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About Ale

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I'm adjuncting in creative writing, and I'm in the midst of editing my first novel. Along with CBR, I have book reviews published with "The Literary Review," short essay with "Fiction Southeast" and a forthcoming publication with "The Book Smuggler's Den." CBR has definitely helped my writing skills since now I know what readers are looking for for in their works. So, thank you, CBR! Hopefully someday, we'll be able to review my novel on this blog. :)

Ale's Reviews:

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BINGO! Finally

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

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Any time I don’t know what to read, I revert to Pratchett. There’s something comforting about the characters and the setting, of knowing you’re going back to a place that will both make you laugh and make you think. So I knew as soon as I saw the “old series” square, that it would have to be a Pratchett. I read Unseen Academicals  for the first time back in 2012. I had not yet returned to the shining ivory tower of professional academia, but I […]

The Swamp Will Eat You

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

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Since reading Russell’s short story collection, I’ve had her novel on my to-read. As always, bingo is a great time to knock a bunch of books off the TBR pile, so I finally made space for Swamplandia!. Sadly, I was underwhelmed. Russell’s writing is beautiful and there’s a ton of descriptive gems throughout the story, but plot wise, this book felt all over the place. Swamplandia! is an alligator themed adventure park run by the Bigtree family where they wrestle alligators and do stunts above the gator […]

A House in Pieces

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

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While a classic, I’ve never gotten around to reading The House on Mango Street, but my mentor wants to add it to our class reading list and has asked me to teach it. I blew through it in about six hours, and I don’t know why I’ve avoided this book for such a long time. Like many classics, I’d heard the title bandied about in conversation, but never any details about the plot, and my idea of what this books was about (a house in a […]

Steamy and Cute

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

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Faintingviolet turned me into a Rainbow Rowell superfan a few years ago, so I was very excited to get a beautiful special edition hardcopy of Any Way the Wind Blows for my birthday this year. The third and final chapter of the Simon Snow trilogy (which apparently wasn’t ever supposed to be a trilogy), follows our favorite cast of characters back to England where a whole bunch of new “Chosen Ones” are cropping up. Baz finds out his step-mother’s joined one of the Chosen One […]

We’ve Always Been Vain

M'lady's Book of Household Secrets: Recipes, Remedies & Essential Etiquette by the Hon. Sarah MacPherson

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My boss brought me this book back from one of his trips to England. I’m not sure where he found it since he traveled, the pandemic happened, and I didn’t see him for two years. But he plopped it on my desk a few weeks ago along with some fancy tea. My boss is the best. M’lady’s Book of Household Secrets was written by the Hon. Sarah MacPherson, and is a collection of handwritten recipes, notes, and diary entries from the household books of Lady […]



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