Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Melania In Paris

Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak

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There’s been a trend these last few years of taking popular female historical characters and putting them in espionage situations. Queen Elizabeth. Jackie O. I’ve never read any of these books but I suppose there’s something to be mined from the genre. There’s really no interesting way to do the same with Melania Trump, given her complicity in her husband’s regime. So Anna Pitoniak decides to tweak just a few things (very few things) and write a story that covers both ends of the Cold War, […]

Melania Trump Fanfiction

Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak

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(“I felt helpless,” she said. “Here it is, I thought. This is what the bargain comes down to. This is your destiny, Lara. You will be a part of this, this tragedy. And there is nothing you can do about it. Because you chose this.”) Sofie, a former White House correspondent, is astonished to be chosen to be the biographer of the mysterious First Lady Lara Caine. As Lara tells her story, Sofie comes to realize that the secrets she’s spilling out could be ruinous […]

Power Dynamics

Necessary People by Anna Pitoniak

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BINGO: Friendship Best for: People who enjoy a quick, unexpected read, a bit in the style of Gone Girl. In a nutshell: Violet is a quiet woman who comes from a background of limited means. Stella is a very rich woman (think family money + Instagram influencer glam). They meet at college and become close friends. But that friendship seems reliant on each of them fulfilling their roles, and when one steps out, things get … rough. Worth quoting: “It wasn’t that my personality changed […]



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