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. :)

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Open Your Eyes and Then Open Them Again

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

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I will forever and always love Terry Pratchett and everything he ever wrote. The fact that we will never get a new Pratchett novel still makes me sad, and I’ve stayed away from any rereads of his books for a while since they just make me miss him. But my awesome CBR book exchange partner sent me The Wee Free Men for book exchange, and after the year we all had, I both wanted to reread something I knew I’d love, and comfort myself with […]

Reading Austen Is Really Just a British Travel Guide

Persuasion by Jane Austen

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Any time I read Austen, I find myself much more interested in the settings than the actual story. This may be because I’m not a fan of romance, and at their core, most of Austen’s work revolve around character’s getting together. But her ability to place me so specifically in her settings is one of my favorite parts of the Austen novels. In Persuasion, we move from the English countryside to the shore town of Lyme, and lastly to Bath. Until reading this, I’d never heard […]

The Voices of the Ignored

The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg's Forgotten History, Immigrants, women, & African Americans in the Civil War's Defining Battle by Margaret S. Creighton

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Until I joined a reenactment group about 6 years ago, I’d never had any interest in the Civil War since its most popular focus is white men shooting each other. Now, this isn’t to say that the experiences of the white, male soldiers consumed by the jaws of war aren’t important, it just means I don’t particularly care what Gen. So-&-So did at noon on July 2nd, 1863. And unfortunately, at least at Gettysburg, ninety-nine percent of the focus is what white men did in […]

The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories by Ken Liu

All the Flavors by Ken Liu

The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu

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Always on the lookout for speculative short fiction, I came across Ken Liu on an internet list somewhere. The little bio said he’d won the Hugo and the Nebula for his short stories and translations, and as I’m ashamed to say I’ve read very little by Chinese-American authors, I immediately ran to the library. They had his short story collection, The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories, and even though I knew he was award winning, I was not prepared for just how life-changing this collection would […]

https://cannonballread.com/2020/12/the-paper-menagerie-other-stories-and-all-the-flavors-and-the-man-who-ended-history-a-documentary-ale/

Jude Continues to Be Awesome

The Wicked King by Holly Black

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

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The last two books in Holly Black’s “Folk of the Air” trilogy were just as amazing, engaging, and sensually pleasurable as The Cruel Prince. In her quest for power, Jude Duarte is upping the ante as the right-hand to the high king of Faerie in book two, and then breaking her exile on pain of death in book three. There’s plotting, spying, backstabbing (both literal and figural), and Jude’s struggle to balance playing Faerie’s game without completely becoming the thing she hates. Jude continues to be […]



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