Book Discussions – #CannonBookClub

2024 Discussions

For Cannonball 16, we have changed our book club discussions. We switched from focusing on a specific book or books, to having periodic Zoom discussions around a book genre.

In February, to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we had a zoom discussing romance novels. We had lots of fun sharing our favorites and talking about the genre. Peruse our Goodreads shelf for a selection of the books discussed, suggested, and recommended.

On Saturday April 20 at noon Eastern, to celebrate Earth Month, we will be having a Zoom discussion on both nonfiction and fiction books about the environment. Longtime Cannonballer KimMiE” is our guest host. The Zoom invitation has gone out, please contact us if you did not receive one and would like to join us.

Though dates aren’t confirmed, we plan to have these Zoom book discussions:

June – Queer Books
September – Focus on a Science Fiction or Fantasy series
November – Mysteries

2023 Discussions

October 6-7 – Banned Graphic Novels

We held another Banned and Challenged-themed book club on October 6-7, 2023. We selected options from an array of voices, focusing on graphic novels and memoirs, that need to be heard and the scenes that need to be seen. They also have had a variety of challenges against keeping them on library shelves.

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe received 151 challenges last year alone making it the #1 most challenged book in 2022 (it was also #1 in 2021), was challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and claims it was sexually explicit.
Class Act by Jerry Craft which was banned in several school districts for fear it would teach young readers Critical Race Theory.
This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki hit ALA’s Top Ten list in 2016 (#1) and again in 2018 and was banned and challenged because it includes LGBTQIA+ characters, drug use and profanity, and it was considered sexually explicit with mature themes.

June 23-24 – Hot Fun in the Summertime

We discussed our three romances or the cozy mystery selection

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
Never Been Kissed by Timothy Janovsky
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Find the announcement and our discussion questions.

Cannonball Read 14 Book Discussions – 2022

September 16-17 – Banned and Challenged Books
In honor of Banned Books Week’s 40th birthday we read:

Cannonballers were encouraged to read any of the selections above, and write and post reviews.

May 20-21 – The Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo was the selection for the May AAPI-themed Cannon Book Club. You can still visit the discussion post to read and comment or see what else was discussed. You can also comment on a question in the Cannonball Read Book Chat Facebook group.

Cannonball Read 13 Book Discussions – 2021

September 17-18 – Fairytales and Adaptations; Zoom discussion September 18
Continuing our feel-good goals with #CannonBookClub in 2021 our Book Club team decided on a shortlist of four books to choose from and the original fairytales. Select from one or more of the following four adaptations and/or their originals:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (Rumplestiltskin by Grimm Bros.)
Deerskin by Robin McKinley (Donkeyskin by Charles Perrault)
Sea Witch by Sarah Henning (The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen)
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (Stories of the Jinn, The Thousand and One Nights)

May 21-22 – Young at Heart: Reading Childhood Favorites
For our first #CannonBookClub of 2021, we revisited books that made us think of childhood. We also held our first Zoom book club discussion. You can still comment on a question in the Cannonball Read Book Chat Facebook group or any of the three book-specific discussion posts below.

Cannonball Read 12 Book Discussions – 2020

October 16-17 – The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Our third and final book club of the year circled back around to Emily St. John Mandel and her newest book, The Glass Hotel, released on March 24, 2020. You can still visit the discussion post to read and comment or see what else was discussed. You can also comment on a question in the Cannonball Read Book Chat Facebook group.

June 19-20 – The Future is Queer theme
We celebrated Pride Month the Cannonball way with a The Future is Queer book club focusing on speculative and science fiction written by and/or featuring LGBTQ+ characters. The books we chose among to read were:

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Disasters by M.K. England
I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

You can still visit the discussion post to read and comment or see what else was discussed. You can also comment on a question in the Cannonball Read Book Chat Facebook group.

March 20-21 – Station Eleven Re-read
We celebrated five years of #CannonBookClub by revisiting our first book – Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. We had a lively discussion about airplanes, Shakespeare, and fish ghosts. You can also still visit the discussion post to read and comment or see what else was discussed. You can also comment on a question in the Cannonball Read Book Chat Facebook group.

Cannonball Read 11 Book Discussions – 2019

Classic and Retellings – A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Original Book Discussion August 16-17 and Retelling Discussion September 20-21

Retelling/Adaptation – September 20-21, 2019
Cannonballers read many different Holmes-related titles, and numerous reviews. Visit the discussion post to see what else was discussed. You can also still comment on a question in the Cannonball Read Book Chat Facebook group.

Classic – August 16-17, 2019
We had an excellent discussion about Sherlock Holmes and A Study in Scarlet in August. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

Good Omens, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

TV Series Discussion – June 14-15, 2019
We had a great time with our first Facebook Live event, featuring mswas and faintingviolet. You can still watch the video of the discussion in the CBR Facebook group, or comment on the group blog discussion post.

Book Discussion – May 17-18, 2019
The discussion of the book, Good Omens, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, was held on May 17-18, 2019. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

Cannonball Read 10 Book Discussions – 2018

Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson – led by faintingviolet – November 2-3, 2018
This book is one of eleven books that AlabamaPink read in the very first Cannonball Read in 2008, before she passed away from leukemia. Learn more about Amanda “AlabamaPink” Amos and how she inspired so many people to read, read, read. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

Kindred by Octavia Butler – led by faintingviolet – June 8-9, 2018
Kindred is one of CBR’s most popular books. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – led by MsWas- February 23-24, 2018
The first #CannonBookClub of 2018 was A Wrinkle in Time, in honor of the Ava DuVernay-directed movie. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

Cannonball Read 9 Book Discussions – 2017

The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard – led by faintingviolet- December 13, 2017
The discussion of the play The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard was Wednesday, December 13, 2017. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa – led by faintingviolet – September 13, 2017
The discussion of Khaled Khalifa’s In Praise of Hatred for the Non-Western Literary Fiction #CannonBookClub was held on September 13, 2017. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned from Eighties Movies by Hadley Freeman – Discussion – June 14, 2017
The discussion for Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned from Eighties Movies by Hadley Freeman for the Non-Fiction #CannonBookClub was held on June 14, 2017. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

The Devourers by Indra Das – Discussion – March 8, 2017
The discussion for The Devourers by Indra Das for the Fantasy #CannonBookClub meeting was held on on March 8, 2017. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

Cannonball Read 8 Book Discussions – 2016

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Discussion – led by faintingviolet – December 1, 2016
The discussion for the classic novel, The Count of Monte Cristo was held on December 1. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie – led by faintingviolet – September 1, 2016
The Young Adult Book Club Discussion of the YA novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie was held on September 1. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or comment on a question in the CBR Facebook group.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis – led by faintingviolet – June 1, 2016
The Sci-Fi Book Club Discussion was held on June 1. You can still read and comment on the discussion post for Doomsday Book by Connie Willis or join us in the CBR Facebook group.

The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev – led by faintingviolet – March 1, 2016
CBR8 Book Club Romance Discussion of The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev was held on March 1. You can still read and comment on the discussion post or in our new Facebook group!

Cannonball Read 7 Book Discussions – 2015

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – led by faintingviolet – March 9, 2015
On March 9, faintingviolet moderated the blog post group discussion of the popular 2014 novel, Station Eleven. Comments are still open on the post, so post to your heart’s content. Emily St. John Mandel’s fourth book, Station Eleven was nominated for the National Book Award. Check out faintiviolet’s book club introduction, and her review of the book, but we recommend you dive into the book knowing very little about the plot.

Pajiba Book Club Discussions – 2010-2013

Pajiba hosted several book discussions over the years. Although the comments are gone from the earlier posts (Damn Disqus!), we’ve managed to find some archived content at Archive.org’s Wayback Machine. Note – those links may have broken images or other formatting issues, but the comment text should be there.

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman – led by Steven Lloyd Wilson and Joanna Robinson – October 2013

Shift by Hugh Howey – led by lgesin – July 2013

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – led by mswas – July 2010

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison – led by Snuggiepants – June 2010

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood – led by JenK – April 2010

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – led by Yossarian – March 2010

The First Pajiba Book Club: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov – led by Yossarian – February 2010

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