Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Featured Review Archive

These reviews, which were promoted in CBR social media, on our homepage, and in Pajiba Love, appear below by review publication date, not by date featured.

 

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

by 1 Comment

I honestly have to say this was very very good. The main reason for the four stars is that the book gets a bit slow at times, and even the author points that out because of the historical notes that she focuses on that sometimes derails the main plot. I do love the historical aspects of this novel (hey history major here) but can’t pretend it didn’t drag things down. But I do love that Cañas points out that vampires existed in Mexican culture decades […]

Fairy Tales as Free Therapy

Ripening: Why Women Need Fairytales Now by Sharon Blackie

by 1 Comment

Ripening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now by Sharon Blackie is probably the only type of self-help book I like. Dr. Blackie is a psychologist and folklorist who examines how women can apply fairy tales and folklore to the different parts of their lives. She likens a woman’s life cycle to that of a tree (which is very fairy-tale of her), and makes a very sound case for the use of fairy tales as bibliotherapy. Dr. Blackie believes we are all storytellers of a sort, […]

Imagination is real

The Book Censor’s Library: A Novel by Bothayna Al-Essa

by 2 Comments

This is a wonderful book about imagination, books, libraries, and censorship. It’s a love song to some literary classics and a picture of a dystopian not-too-distant future where most literature is banned and burned. How far would you go to preserve the ideas and literary creations that have formed us? What is worth saving? What price would you pay? The characters in this book have no names; rather they have titles or descriptors. The main character is the Book Censor, a man who wants only […]

A Range of Books From Brutal to Cozy

An Ember in The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

James by Percival Everett

The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill

by 6 Comments

An Ember in the Ashes Sabaa Tahir swiftly establishes the brutality of the world the characters are living in, in this first of a 4-book YA fantasy series. The Martials conquered Scholar lands 500 years ago and the Scholars are second-class citizens who are frequently enslaved. Elite Martial soldiers known as Masks are also treated violently as they go through their training at Blackcliff. The book alternates POVs between Laia, a Scholar, and Elias, a Mask who has nearly completed his training. They come into […]

I wholeheartedly agree with you, but. . .

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

by 1 Comment

“Ronnie Childers was tripping his balls off in Jackson Square when an angel of the Lord appeared before him. She was a glorious vision, dressed in black gym leggings and a Bikini Kill T-shirt, her golden hair twisted into a messy knot on the top of her head.” First of all, best opening lines I’ve read in ages. I flipped open to page one to get a flavor of what this book was like and didn’t want to put it down. That’s a strong beginning, […]

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 […]



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