Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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About lafocareta

CBR18 Participant
CBR18 Levels
CBR18 Comments

Reader, writer, reviewer, library worker, amateur musician, cat mom. First time to this particular rodeo, and happy to be here.

lafocareta's Reviews:

To Be Young, Bewildered, and Black

The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

May 17, 2026 by lafocareta Leave a Comment

Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry, whose famous aphorism popped into my head more than once while I was reading The Wilderness.  Flournoy has given us a portrait of young Black women’s struggle to make meaning, starting in their twenties and progressing to middle age. These women are, indeed, gifted in many ways, but it doesn’t spare them the journey we all take from youth to maturity. Their Blackness means the challenges are different, and sometimes greater. “Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness” by mypubliclands is licensed under CC BY […]

Filed Under: Book Club, Fiction Tagged With: angela flournoy

lafocareta's CBR18 Review No:15 · Genres: Book Club, Fiction · Tags: angela flournoy ·
· 0 Comments

Mother, Daughter, Friend

The Brittle Age by Donnatella Di Pietrantonio

March 16, 2026 by lafocareta Leave a Comment

In 1997, in the hills of Abruzzo, Italy, a shepherd assaulted three women while ostensibly helping them find a hiking trail. Two of the women died, but the third survived. This chilling crime, which you can read more about here, is the nucleus of The Brittle Age, Donnatella Di Pietrantonio’s somber meditation on trauma and resilience. “Italian Quilt” by Mikeachim is licensed under CC BY 2.0 . The story begins, however, in 2020, with Lucia, whose daughter Amanda, has come home from college because of COVID […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Donnatella Di Pietrantonio

lafocareta's CBR18 Review No:14 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Donnatella Di Pietrantonio ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

February 2026: The Extremely Late Recap (Coughing Edition)

March 13, 2026 by lafocareta Leave a Comment

Well hello there.  About midway through February I caught THE worst cold I’ve ever had. I ended up going to the doctor because I was pretty sure it had to have turned into bronchitis or pneumonia, but, nope. Just a cold. If that’s what colds are like now, I shudder to think what the more serious winter illnesses are like. So, I spent about a week in bed drinking tea, watching Bridgerton,  and coughing, which was all I had the energy to do. Then my […]

Filed Under: Fiction

Genres: Fiction · Tags: ·
· 0 Comments

Big Damn Robot Heroes, Sir

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

March 13, 2026 by lafocareta Leave a Comment

I don’t compare things to Firefly lightly, especially when they’re not set in space. But darned if this book didn’t give Firefly vibes the whole time “Rusty Robot Face” by Anonymous Account is licensed under CC BY 2.0 . Exhibit A: The War, by which I mean the war between robots and humanity that so many folks worry about. The robots win, but robot utopia doesn’t last very long. Our heroine, Brittle, was in The War, and flashes back on it often; even though she was on the […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Religion, Science Fiction Tagged With: C. Robert Cargill

lafocareta's CBR18 Review No:13 · Genres: Fiction, Religion, Science Fiction · Tags: C. Robert Cargill ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
Attacking Earth and Sun

OK Colonizer

Attacking Earth and Sun by Mathieu Belezi

February 24, 2026 by lafocareta 8 Comments

In 1827 the French consul got into an argument with the ruler of the Regency of Algiers. Three years later the French government invaded what we now know as Algeria; it took until 1847 for the country to officially become part of France, and there were isolated pockets of fighting and conflict that lasted until 1903. In other words, it was a nasty, bloody business. Somewhere in the middle of all this France decided it would be a great idea to send French folks to […]

Filed Under: Featured, Fiction, History Tagged With: Mathieu Belezi

lafocareta's CBR18 Review No:12 · Genres: Featured, Fiction, History · Tags: Mathieu Belezi ·
Rating:
· 8 Comments

Pride and Prejudice and Poetry

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

February 18, 2026 by lafocareta Leave a Comment

There’s nothing I love better than a good Pride and Prejudice remake. That’s probably how this book ended up on my TBR. Thankfully, I was finally able to make time to get around to it. Then I caught a ridiculous not-COVID-but-miserable ick and lolled around drinking tea and catching up on Bridgerton for a while. Fortunately, that’s actually pretty good preparation to review a P&P remake. “Indian Muslim Marriage Rituals -South Asian Islamic wedding – 6688416795” by wedstories.studio is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 . Set in […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Poetry, Religion, Romance Tagged With: Uzma Jalaluddin

lafocareta's CBR18 Review No:11 · Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Religion, Romance · Tags: Uzma Jalaluddin ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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