Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About denesteak

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CBR17 Participant

(Learn more about this Cannonballer: denesteak's Quick Questions interview.)

denesteak's Reviews:

Thank you to Rachel Reid/Jacob Tierney for helping me hit my Cannonball Read goal

Tough Guy by Rachel Reid

Common Goal by Rachel Reid

Role Model by Rachel Reid

The Long Game by Rachel Reid

December 29, 2025 by denesteak 9 Comments

Heated Rivalry (the TV show) has become an absolute obsession for me. Between the fourth and fifth episode, I finished Game Changer and Heated Rivalry because I wanted to know what’s up. And then I realized The Long Game was book six in the series… and because I’m a completionist, I couldn’t just jump to that. I had to — had to! — read the entire series in order. If only I was that dedicated to other aspects of my life, perhaps I’d be able […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance Tagged With: Common Goal, Fiction, Game Changers series, LGBTQ, Rachel Reid, Role Model, Romance, The Long Game, Tough Guy

denesteak's CBR17 Review No:16 · Genres: Fiction, Romance · Tags: Common Goal, Fiction, Game Changers series, LGBTQ, Rachel Reid, Role Model, Romance, The Long Game, Tough Guy ·
Rating:
· 9 Comments

The cake is full of rum… and yummy secrets

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

December 20, 2025 by denesteak 4 Comments

It took me a while to finish reading “Black Cake”, not because it wasn’t good, but because my life feels — as always — like it’s in flux. I feel like I’m always playing catch-up, always trying to check the to-do boxes on my list, always trying to wait until I’m calm enough to sit down with a book. Here’s a (not well-kept) secret: I’m not sure I know what calm means. My mind is always running. But Black Cake is extremely readable. The chapters […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Charmaine Wilkerson

denesteak's CBR17 Review No:12 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Charmaine Wilkerson ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments

Wherein I start the gay hockey series because I wanna know what’s next for Heated Rivalry

Game Changer by Rachel Reid

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

December 16, 2025 by denesteak 5 Comments

I watched the first four episodes of “Heated Rivalry” on HBO and got so invested in Scott Hunter and Kip’s arc that I downloaded Game Changer. Call me a walking cliche, fine — or am I someone who just really want to see folks end up with a happy ending? And did I zoom through Game Changer like a closeted hockey star zoned in on hitting the fuck? Sorry, I mean the puck! And did I say, “Hey you know, what’s going on with Shane […]

Filed Under: Romance Tagged With: Game Changer, hbo, Heated Rivalry, hockey, Rachel Reid

denesteak's CBR17 Review No:11 · Genres: Romance · Tags: Game Changer, hbo, Heated Rivalry, hockey, Rachel Reid ·
Rating:
· 5 Comments

An old man returns to his childhood home — a book review but also my earnest request for more Hollywood movies about Partition

The Persistence of Memory by Urvashi Butalia

December 6, 2025 by denesteak 2 Comments

In my search to learn more about the partition of India after it gained independence from the British, Urvashi Butalia was a writer recommended by a Pakistani journalist friend who had done some reporting on this issue. Ten minutes of Google and I was able to find The Persistence of Memory, which ended up being a quick and satisfying read. Butalia follows Bir Bahadur Singh as he travels to Pakistan in his 70s, eager to return to his home village Thoa Khalsa for a visit […]

Filed Under: History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: India, non fiction, Pakistan, partition, The Persistence of Memory, Urvashi Butalia

denesteak's CBR17 Review No:9 · Genres: History, Non-Fiction · Tags: India, non fiction, Pakistan, partition, The Persistence of Memory, Urvashi Butalia ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

I read a young adult book on India’s partition and felt like my heart was absolutely shredded

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

June 22, 2025 by denesteak 4 Comments

The world is burning at the moment, and we may be hyper focused on the US trying to gun for the “Most Likely to Revert to a Dictatorship” award or Israel’s decision to start double-fisting wars or (literally happened today) US’s decision to join the Iran-Israel conflict — but do you know that WWIII came very close to breaking out in May? India and Pakistan — both nuclear-armed, and both sworn enemies since the Brits left — started bombing each other over militant attacks in […]

Filed Under: Featured, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Fiction, India, Pakistan, partition, The Night Diary, Veera Hiranandani, Young Adult

denesteak's CBR17 Review No:8 · Genres: Featured, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Fiction, India, Pakistan, partition, The Night Diary, Veera Hiranandani, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments

A Flavia de Luce word jumble: puppets, weed, a 1950s pregnancy test, and pigeon droppings that save lives

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

May 10, 2025 by denesteak Leave a Comment

Years ago, when I was going through a reading drought because life was getting in the way, I desperately needed an escape and Alan Bradley’s first Flavia de Luce mystery nudged a little bit of lightness back into my life (I even wrote a review, which is quite out of character for me). Our recent CBR chat about mysteries reminded me how much I enjoyed sinking into Flavia’s wanderings about Bishop’s Lacey, the rural English town she lives in, so I decided it was time […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Mystery Tagged With: #cozymystery, alan bradley, Fiction, flavia de luce, mystery

denesteak's CBR17 Review No:7 · Genres: Fiction, Mystery · Tags: #cozymystery, alan bradley, Fiction, flavia de luce, mystery ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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