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.

 

Pearl Divers Unite! Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States

Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States by Pete Jordan

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I started a dishwashing job late last year, and it’s been one of my favorite jobs. I was curious to see what Pete Jordan liked about dishwashing so much that he decided to do it in all fifty states. The book is written as part travelogue, part memoir, with some history of labor movements along the way. Pete’s writing comes alive when he’s describing the working-class struggle and triumph. The best chapter of the book is in New Orleans and Pete learns that restaurants there […]

“Much remains unknown because there is so much to know.”

The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

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Many thanks to esmemoria for setting the example of how to review a philosophy book in this review of Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus. It inspired me to review Russell. Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy starts simply. As a thought experiment, Russell asks the reader to picture a table. What do you see? What can you really know about what you see? Do you know there is table, or do you know your sense-data, which makes you think “table”? In this way, the book is […]

Loss, Race, and Self Determination

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

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This book is, among many other things, about grief and loss, and about women unwilling to diminish their desires to live full and complex lives. – Author Danielle Evans I didn’t know anything about Danielle Evans’s book The Office of Historical Corrections when I bought it, but I loved the title. The book is a series of short stories and one novella. Although I earned my MFA in short fiction, I have discovered I don’t really like to read short story collections that much. Not […]

This one’s for the birds

The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton

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Stupid Dungeon Crawler Carl books! Ever since I finished them, I have been struggling to find a book that really sucks me in. I have read decent novels since then even, but nothing has absorbed me as much or felt as “un-put-downable” since. This novel is another like that – cute, whimsical, not at all serious, and pleasant to read but it’s not the kind of novel that has me staying up past my bedtime to keep reading. As the magical birds might give away, […]

Cleaning up the forest and your thoughts

No Ivy League by Hazel Newlevant

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No Ivy League by Hazel Newlevant was not what I expected from what I had read about it and the cover. Hazel’s story is a coming of age story, which is not a new theme. However, the way Newlevant presents it feels fresh. The graphic novel has an odd cover look to it. First it looks like it is going to be about a middle schooler or young highschooler, but for the middle school age. But then it looks more teen and for the 15 […]

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

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Not a lot to say about this one. I really enjoyed it. I didn’t care for Espach’s other book, but she managed to hit the perfect combination of drama, comedy, and even hints of romance throughout the book. I really felt for the main character of Phoebe Stone who is still reeling after her husband left and divorced her two years earlier. Watching her slowly come awake due to the insanity of the wedding and all of the people she meets was very good. And […]



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