Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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About matt_thac

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White, man, feminist, Muslim, living in a country that's not where he's from, and constantly having to navigate his way in other languages and cultures. Any one and all of these at anytime and less confused that than appears.

matt_thac's Reviews:

Literature will/might/won’t Save the World. Maybe. I’m not sure the book ever told me.

The Heavens by Sandra Newman

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This book takes some really big swings and while it doesn’t miss, it does seemingly bunt the ball. Commenting on the War on Terror & its justifications in the early 2000s – Check. Historical drama featuring Shakespeare – Check. Questioning if Time Travel does actually happen or is just in the mind of the protagonist a la Twelve Monkeys – Check. I could go on. There’s so much happening here that I found myself skimming backwards in the book like it’s a Choose Your Own […]

Better to Have Loved and Lost And be Literary Apparently

Artful by Ali Smith

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I’m not sure the best way to come into this novel. I came in knowing nothing about, feeling confused by the end of chapter 1 and then diving into internet search to find out more. This a slow moving meditation on loss and love, how our lives enmesh with those around us and the imprints their leave on them when they go. It’s based on a series of 4 lectures Ali Smith gave; On Time, On From, On Edge, and On Offer and On Reflection. I say based […]

We can lose everything but our hope and dignity

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende

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  I appreciate the works of Isabel Allende and here her story-telling approach for showing the grand narrative of history through the story of a family across generations is brought to Trump’s 1st presidency. Like with her other books, this one weaves together the lives of 3 main characters, Samuel and his early life in Nazi Austria and then his adult life, Leticia originally from El Salvador but now living in the US, and Anita a little girl trapped in the asylum system during Trump’s […]

Our worlds can become so small if we don’t feel them shrinking

Unravelling by Preethi Nair

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This one moved me deeply. It’s the story of a Tanzanian-born, Indian heritage, Hindu, late middle-aged woman, Bhanu, coming to terms with how constricting her life has become and how each part of her identity both constricts and frees her. The story moves through her memories of growing up in Tanzania, to her adoptive family’s move to the UK and her marriage and her own family She’s a fierce protagonist, and draws other powerful characters to her; her adoptive grandmother, and various friends she makes […]

Fascinating Examination & Deconstruction of some Western Body Myths

Decolonising My Body by Afua Hirsch

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I appreciate the work of Afua Hirsch. Her work is usually reflective, involving a level of personal analysis of her own life and heritage alongside her commentary on various issues (race, gender, identity). This reflection is the main narrative through this book as she analyses various dominant Western (European?/Global cultural?) beliefs about the body, looking at beauty, sexuality, skin (tatoos), and even death. It feels like a more personal continuation of her previous work Brit(ish) focusing on her own journey to understand these as she enters […]

Was 2025 the Year Toxic Masculinity Became a Recognised Problem?

The Passenger Seat by Vijay Khurana

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  For a novel that has the hallmarks of a roadtrip, this story is very claustrophobic, seeing events through the thoughts of the two male leads (and a 3rd character towards the end) and their own self-made prison of emotional immaturity, seething insecurities, and toxic masculinity. The novel feels as though it seizes the zeitgeist discussions around the challenges faced by (young) men in learning to integrate into a world which is feeding their darker sides. To an extent, this book makes an interesting companion […]



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