Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

About Pooja

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Ardent reader of pretty much anything, including the backs of shampoo bottles. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Pooja's Quick Questions interview.)

Pooja's Reviews:

“The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions.”

The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

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CBR18 Bingo: Right – As favorite to both James I and Charles II of England, the Duke of Buckingham served as the right hand of the king in helping govern the kingdom. When George Villiers caught the eye of James I of England, it was the start of a brilliant rise in politics and society for him. However, his close association with the increasingly unpopular crown would also lead to his downfall. I mostly think of James I as the king who was obsessed with witch-hunting, […]

“In the modern world, in short, you are your address.”

The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power by Deirdre Mask

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CBR18 Bingo: Refuge – People’s homes are meant to be their refuge, but this book makes the case that their street addresses also have a significant power over their lives. We usually think of our home addresses as the details we fill out to get mail, but the story of street names and house numbers, and what they say about us and the places we live, are much more complicated than you’d think. As a child I lived on Anna Road at the intersection with […]

“You are mine until the grave makes ghosts of both of us.”

The Rain Maiden by Jill M. Phillips

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CBR18 Bingo: Or – Philippe is constantly having to choose between his relationships with Isabel and other women, who care for him on a personal level, and his relationships with the sons of Henry II, which line up instead with his grand ambitions. Isabel of Hainault is married off to the young king of France as a child. Her beauty and her charm makes everyone around her fall under her spell, but Philippe’s ambitions may be stronger than their relationship. This book is a work […]

Enterprising Women on Shadowy Paths

Forbidden Fruit: The Secret, Scandalous History of Contraception and Abortion by Jessica Cale

The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective by Sara Lodge

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Forbidden Fruit: The Secret, Scandalous History of Contraception and Abortion by Jessica Cale – 3.5 stars CBR18 Bingo: You – As a woman living in the United States, the history and the laws surrounding contraception and abortion are very important to me. Though lawmakers today would have you believe that contraception and abortion are only recent inventions, in fact they have a long history. With the recent attacks on access to abortion and contraception in the United States, it is somewhat reassuring to learn about how […]

While You Were Sleeping, I Ate Mortadella

Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon

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CBR18 Bingo: Middle – This is a three star book which induced nothing stronger than middle-of-the-road feelings in me. After giving up her dreams to be a costume designer, Ellie is in danger of losing her family deli business when a major competitor is expected to come to town. But due to a workplace accident, temporary amnesia, and a fake engagement, she might be able to save everything – if only she doesn’t fall for her fake fiance first. I am from Massachusetts, so I […]

“It is a fact that it takes experience before one can realize what is a catastrophe and what is not. Children have little faculty of distinguishing between disaster and the ordinary course of their lives.”

A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes

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CBR18 Bingo: Summer – The book is set in the heat of Jamaica and the Caribbean Sea, where there is an endless summer. After a hurricane wrecks their home, the Bas-Thornton children and their neighbors, the Fernandez children, are sent off on a ship to England. When they are intercepted by pirates, their lives take an abrupt turn – but whether it is the children or the pirates who will cause the most harm remains to be seen. The cover image for the edition of A […]



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