Cannonball Read 10

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

CBR Facebook Page. Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Instagram. The CBR Tumblr CBR on Goodreads

Mrs Smith Reads

Gin-soaked, mildly democratic-socialist popinjay and avid curator of esoteric ephemera. I work in the future. US passport, Netherlands resident, global citizen. I mostly read non-fiction, though my goal this year is to read women authors and speculative fiction, with some political analysis thrown in. (Occasional cursing.)

CBR10 LevelsCBR10 participantCBR 7CBR 6CBR 5CBR 4CBR 3CBR 2

Mrs Smith Reads's Reviews:

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

by Leave a Comment

While I already knew of Alison Bechdel and had some idea of the what her first graphic novel is about, I genuinely wasn’t prepared for how much Fun Home would affect me emotionally. It was a roller coaster of feelings, beautifully told and illustrated. Bechdel is only slightly older than I am, so her memoir of growing up in the 70s and 80s had some very familiar echoes. Though our families were dysfunctional in completely different ways, the family dynamics, cultural and social norms which she describes in Fun Home very much reflect what growing up and coming of age was like for anyone who felt […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina"

10/9/2018 | 's CBR10 Review No:19 |

I would bet money that Stephen King has never been to North Carolina

Joyland by Stephen King

by 1 Comment

I can’t remember the last time I read a book by Stephen King. I was a huge fan in my teens and 20s, but it’s probably been at least 20 years since I picked up one of his books. Recently, my daughter has started reading King, so when Joyland showed up in our shared digital library suggestions, I though, “Sure, why not.” I wasn’t disappointed, which was a great relief to me. Joyland isn’t a horror story per se, and is really more of a ghost story than anything else. There are the usual King-universe elements, a youthful male protagonist (aka a King stand-in), […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase Joyland by Stephen King or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "I would bet money that Stephen King has never been to North Carolina"

9/6/2018 | 's CBR10 Review No:18 |

Journalist, born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada, now lives in Oregon, writes book about the Second US Civil War. Is Awesome.

American War by Omar El Akkad

by Leave a Comment

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.   — George Santayana If you were to guess what might cause a second US civil war, what would it be? Given the current political debate over the Trump administration, one might think it wouldn’t be so much a physical divide as an ideological one. Yet, in American War, by Omar El Akkad, the second civil war is imagined as erupting in 2074 over fossil fuels, because some southern states refuse to give them up, for both industrial manufacturing reasons and, just plain ornery stubbornness. As speculative fiction, El Akkad sets […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase American War by Omar El Akkad or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "Journalist, born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada, now lives in Oregon, writes book about the Second US Civil War. Is Awesome."

9/6/2018 | 's CBR10 Review No:17 |

Things are looking up.

Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism by David Nickel

by Leave a Comment

OK, I’m not really sure where to start with this. Eutopia by David Nickel* is genuinely one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read (in a good way). Thematically it’s about eugenics and creating a super race, but writing that out doesn’t at all capture the story in which those themes are explored. Because this story is just freaking crazy. In 1911, Jason Thistledown’s life is turned upside down when his hometown of Cracked Wheel, Montana is decimated by a nameless plague. Because it’s winter, he has to keep his dead mother’s body in their barn until the ground thaws, and he is unaware […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism by David Nickel or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "Things are looking up."

8/25/2018 | 's CBR10 Review No:16 |

I’m probably the only one.

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Daniel Mallory Ortberg

by 2 Comments

Y’all I spent so much time at The Toast! I loved, loved, loved it. Enough that I go back and read my favourite posts over and over again—especially the art history ones, like this one. So, I’m just gonna say it. I did not like The Merry Spinster very much. Oooof, that hurt. This book was on everyone’s radar, and every review has praised its inventiveness. I get it. But it was fine. It was just, fine. I didn’t finish it all that long ago, but I honestly can’t remember much about any of the stories. Cinderella? The Little Mermaid? Beauty and the Beast? Was there […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Daniel Mallory Ortberg or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "I’m probably the only one."

8/22/2018 | 's CBR10 Review No:15 |

When the illustrations for the article make you decide you have to read the book.

A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong

by 1 Comment

Sometime in 2016 I found a list of best long-form reporting stories of the past year. Deep into the list, I clicked on this story from ProPublica and The Marshall Project, about a young woman who reported being repeatedly raped over many hours by a masked man, in her apartment, and the nightmare scenario which unfolded as she was accused of making a false report, then arrested and forced to go before a judge to plead guilty for her “crime.” The story was embedded into my memory for many reasons, but the illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook (some of which appear in this review) so perfectly […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "When the illustrations for the article make you decide you have to read the book."

8/21/2018 | 's CBR10 Review No:14 |

No amount of redistribution or reorganisation of rotten meat will make a dead body more palatable.

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

by 4 Comments

Quarter Cannonball achievement unlocked! I am a huge fan of Mary Shelley and the Frankenstein story, so I was super intrigued by Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi. I wasn’t disappointed by this retelling, some of it told from the monster’s point of view, but I’ll admit there were parts of the story that just didn’t grab me. Frankenstein in Baghdad is a darkly comic story of life in Baghdad during the years just after the US invasion of Iraq. It’s an English translation from the original Arabic, so I’m not sure if some of the story is lost through this interpretation, or if my […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "No amount of redistribution or reorganisation of rotten meat will make a dead body more palatable."

8/20/2018 | 's CBR10 Review No:13 |

I can already say this will be my favourite of 2018.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

by 1 Comment

I’ve read a lot of good books this year, but I feel confident that Her Body and Other Parties will be my favourite read of 2018. Carmen Maria Machado’s collection of short stories is nothing short of perfection, and brings everything I was looking for in a year of reading mostly feminist, female-identified, and woman-positive fiction writers. Every story in this collection is deliciously good, though, like many, my personal favourites are “The Husband Stitch,” “Real Women Have Bodies,” and “Eight Bites.” My least favourite was “Especially Heinous” but only because it was insanely long, (much like the series it mimics) and once I got the […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "I can already say this will be my favourite of 2018."

8/14/2018 | 's CBR10 Review No:12 |


Follow CBR on Instagram

Shop on Amazon and Support CBR

Buy Original Cannonballer Prisco's book and help CBR!

Ad Partner