Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A story of reinvention — willing or not

The Persians: A Novel by Sanam Mahloudji

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Cbr17bingo Diaspora (bingo) The Persians is author Sanam Mahloudji’s debut novel and focuses on a topic I seem to be drawn to lately — the Islamic Revolution and its fallout, particularly as it pertained to women. Mahloudji, who was born in Tehran but whose family left for Los Angeles after the revolution, tells the story of 5 women, three generations of one family, and their struggles for independence and agency, whether in Iran or the US.  All the women in this novel are members of […]

Beautiful and Hard to Grasp

Jazz by Toni Morrison

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Bingo: Free (taking the place of “Arts” square) I read quite a bit of Toni Morrison many years ago, and remember being dazzled. More than most writers, she could really draw deep feelings out of me. A while back I read a passage from her book Jazz, and it was so evocative it made me buy the book. Like her other works, it’s incredibly beautiful and real and heart-breaking. But it was also a hard book to read because I truly got lost sometimes and […]

There was joy for having arrived, and sorrow for having left, and no way to even pretend this was home.

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

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It’s called the illusory truth effect. If you hear something often enough, for long enough, you’ll believe it. Even if you originally knew that the information was false. ― Natasha Pulley, The Mars House It made January angry too, when people declared that giving someone poor some basic human consideration was the same as being Stalin. It was the kind of argument deployed by people who were saving up for their own private golf course. ― Natasha Pulley, The Mars House CBR17 Bingo: Migrant We […]

A TV Tie-in that Works

The Rise of Kyoshi by F. C. Yee

The Shadow of Kyoshi by F. C. Yee

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The Avatar series is one of my favorite animated series of all time. If you doubt me, take a good look at my blog ‘avatar’, which I’ve had since I first signed up for Cannonball Read; maybe a bit familiar, even if a little bit cropped? So, of course, I’m a little excited to hear there will be a new installment to the series soon; pity it’s still quite a while away. And while I’ve tried the comics/graphic novels, they’re little less mature than I […]

“I am proud to be part machine.”

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

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Cannonball Read Bingo: I am counting this book for the “N” square. Anwuli Okwudili is a young Nigerian woman who goes by AO, or “Autobionic Organism.” Due to an array of birth defects, followed by a freak car accident when she was a teenager, AO relies on cybernetic arms, legs, and organs to survive and function. But though she lives in a society where body augmentations are seen as unnatural, inhuman, and even sinful, AO is proud of who she is, both human and machine. […]

Push by Sapphire | The Book behind ‘Precious’

Push by Sapphire

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I think most people have heard of the 2009 film ‘Precious’, even if they haven’t seen it. It’s notorious, one of the most upsetting films of all time. I saw ‘Precious’ two years ago, when I was sixteen and about to start therapy for my own post-traumatic stress. The film hit me hard and incredibly close to home, and I was completely floored. Since then, I have thought of it often. Now nineteen, out of therapy and off medication, I decided to read ‘Push’ – […]



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