Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Bear

Bear by Marian Engel

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Fishwives. Fishwidows. And we all set out to be mermaids. ― Marian Engel, Bear The world was furred with late spring snow. It was the soft, thick stuff that excites you unless you are driving or half dead, packing snow already falling in caterpillars off the greening branches. ― Marian Engel, Bear This is the story of a woman who sequesters herself in a remote area of Ontario, Canada, to catalog an estate bequeathed to the Canadian government. In her isolation, she finds herself, breaking […]

“It’s true that giving can be a part of love, but contrary to popular belief, your love should never take from you.”

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

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Nowhere Books Bingo – Graphic novel Official plot summary, because once again I have waited to long to review the book: Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend. Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps […]

“That we have some history together that hasn’t happened yet.”

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

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Why do I keep waiting so long to dig into word-of-mouth and critically acclaimed smashes? Twelve years later (and not a moment too soon), I finally get The Fuss around A Visit From the Goon Squad. I remember reading The Keep near the official release date, but Goon Squad eluded me for over a decade…or perhaps I eluded it? On the upside of being a latecomer, I am more likely to find these books in my neighborhood’s Little Free Libraries. Hooray! I love how “a novel” is emphasized on […]

Its Time for Me to Say Goodbye to Dahl

The Witches by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

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Roald Dahl was one of the authors who dominated my childhood reading which makes sense as he is one of the most celebrated children’s authors of the 20th century. I spent a lot of time deep in a few of his books, seeing bits of myself in his protagonists. But this is my goodbye to him. Dahl was an unrepentant bigot. He was profoundly anti-Semitic, perpetuating harmful tropes and falsehoods for years in his public statements and books. Dahl is also easily read as a […]

“you girl and you boy and that’s fine with me, but what’s not fine is you selling yourself short”

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

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Jonny is an open wound: raw, glistening, spilling over, and beautiful in a way that makes you unable to turn away even though you should. It’s a wound sustained from getting too drunk at a casino and crashing through a plate glass window. It glitters, it throbs, and it is going to be expensive to clean up. He invites us into his life like a tornado introduces itself to a neighborhood. We crash through, turning everything on end at a break-neck pace. Jonny is the […]

what happens to the torch-bearers, the candle holders, the vigil keepers?

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

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There is so much that I want to tell you about this book, but I won’t. I took so many notes, and placed so many scraps of paper between pages, but I do not want to ruin a single realization for you. Rebecca Makkai has crafted an intricately woven tapestry that you have to witness in its full glory; I do not want to give you a magnifying glass before you have had a chance to first witness the enormity of the project. The Great Believers hits […]



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