Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Kin

Kin by Tayari Jones

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CW: racism, obviously, but also pre-Roe-era abortion, including bad outcomes (offscreen) What is it with books about ambivalent/absent mothers and the impact on the (female) child? I feel like I’m being hit over the head with a lesson that I don’t particular need! I found this book almost impossible to put down–I had an evening to myself to do errands that needed doing, and instead found myself lying on the couch running through this as fast as I could. Kin traces the parallel but connected […]

a thoughtful, reflective book that might mean more to you depending on your experiences

We Burned So Bright by T.J. Klune

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Oh, TJ Klune. I drank up your Cerulean Sea, and then the Extraordinaires was indeed extraordinary, and then there were some follow ups that I felt were a bit on the nose (like, SMASHED nose on the nose) so I distanced myself a bit and kept you in the background. I think it’s probably going to be the same here, but I enjoyed the commitment to the bit! The bit here is that there is a black hole en route to the Earth (this is a […]

Murder on the New Frontier

Kingdom of Devils: A Tale of Murder in the Shadow of the American Revolution by Katherine Grandjean

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CBR18 Bingo: Map – We follow the Harp brothers’ rampage across maps of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi – and the brothers’ troubles started with land ownership disputes. On the heels of the American Revolution, Wiley and Micajah Harp went on a violent rampage across Tennessee and Kentucky, but while their crimes may have seemed inexplicable to their contemporaries, they may be tied to the dark realities of the newly promised American Dream. I had never heard of the story of the Harps before, and I knew […]

Children’s books were different in the 70s

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

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CBR18 BINGO: Joker, because Mr. Fox is a bit of a joker I was looking for a short diversion recently, and while skimming our collection of Roald Dahl, I realized I had never read Fantastic Mr. Fox, though I have seen the delightful stop-motion animated film by Wes Anderson. I know enough about Dahl to realize this could be a wild ride, so I was curious. The plot is simple: Mr. Fox (who is very dapper!) lives with his wife and 4 children. Every night […]

Clever Conceit That Mostly Works

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

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Rating: 3.5 In a nutshell: Sybil is a retired, divorced law clerk who writes letters (and occasionally emails) to pretty much anyone and everyone. We get a look at the letters she sends (and receives) over the course of a decade. Best for: Those who enjoy small stories that take place over longer periods of time. Quote that made me think: N/A (which is kind of surprising) Why I chose it: Book club. Review: This is an interesting way to tell someone’s story. It is […]

No one knows what goes on behind closed doors

Men Like Ours: A Novel by Bindu Bansinath

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Cbr18bingo Wealth The story opens with Matthew, a wealthy man, found dead in his car I picked up Men Like Ours at our local library, drawn in by its cover which reminded me of Parini Shroff’s The Bandit Queens. It turns out the two novels are a bit alike. Each features Indian women living in a small-ish communities with similar complaints: financial woes, bad marriages, worries about children, and thwarted dreams. Men Like Ours, however, is set in New Jersey amongst the women of Willow […]



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