Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Join Our Spoiler-Welcome Discussion of T. Kingfisher’s Books  

When the walls come tumbling down

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother): A Novel by Rabih Alameddine

February 17, 2026 by ElCicco 1 Comment

This is a surprising and wonderful novel, managing to bring some light and humor to a grim setting. The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) is indeed about main character Raja and his mother Zalfa, but it is also about the modern history of Beirut and its people. Back in the 1980s when I was in high school and college, Beirut was constantly on the news due to the violence and chaos that seemed to be a part of normal life […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Beirut, cbr18, ElCicco, Fiction, LGBTQ, Rabih Alameddine, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)

ElCicco's CBR18 Review No:9 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Beirut, cbr18, ElCicco, Fiction, LGBTQ, Rabih Alameddine, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

Fear and oppression

Restless by Joseph Kai

October 11, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

This graphic novel by Joseph Kai, Restless,  is a quick but not easy read. Things are a bit abstract, surreal and very introspective all at once.  The reality of the times and the dreams and fears Kai’s character unfolds is a bumpy path. The art is either a like or not, really little to no in-between. There are possible triggers with nudity, violence, sexual situations, and GLBTQ issues. Overall, this book is not for everyone, but perhaps everyone should read it. We are looking into […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Religion, Romance Tagged With: Beirut, glbtq, Joseph Kai, Lebanon, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:735 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Religion, Romance · Tags: Beirut, glbtq, Joseph Kai, Lebanon, Social Themes ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“No loss is felt more keenly than the loss of what might have been. No nostalgia hurts as much as nostalgia for things that never existed.”

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine

August 3, 2022 by cheerbrarian Leave a Comment

In one word: Hopeful Cannonball Read Bingo Square: Cozy For a few consecutive months, I challenged my work book club to pick its book based on the heritage month (she says, realizing how smug she sounds) and thus, I read this book in April for Arab American Heritage Month. I was wholly unfamiliar with the author but excited to give something international a try. After selecting it for the club, I realized that my public library didn’t have a copy so I put one on […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: an unnecessary woman, arab american heritage month, Beirut, book about books, cbr14bingo, Middle East, national book award finalist, Rabih Alameddine

cheerbrarian's CBR14 Review No:24 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: an unnecessary woman, arab american heritage month, Beirut, book about books, cbr14bingo, Middle East, national book award finalist, Rabih Alameddine ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


Recent Comments

  • Classic
    on I was not expecting to feel personally victimised by a Rainbow Rowell novel
    Oh no! I thought about getting this one from the library because I didn't get the ARC either. Read your...
  • Emmalita
    on “But I am not the heroine of a novel.”
    I bought the first book because the wait for any book in the series from my library is over 4...
  • KimMiE"
    on “But I am not the heroine of a novel.”
    I missed Narfna's review, but this sounds delightful! Extremely vexed to find my local library doesn't have it. Now. ....
  • Lauren Behl
    on Apparently I Am All About the Grudges
    I continually found myself looking up characters to determine relationships. AI was wrong most of the time so AI was...
  • Emmalita
    on A story chain starts with hot chocolate
    That’s a great stack of books!
See More Recent Comments »

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