Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Underwhelming and Emotionally Manipulative

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

April 14, 2026 by Tracy Leave a Comment

I had high expectations for this book and was significantly underwhelmed by the execution. The main character is Zelu, a paraplegic Nigerian-American writer. Not long after the book starts, she loses her job, and her literary fiction novel is rejected yet again. She decides to write a new book, a science fiction novel that becomes a runaway success. Chapters of that book, entitled Rusted Robots, are interspersed with chapters of the main novel. Where do I start? The overall description of the novel appealed to me, […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: book within a book, literary sci-fi, Nnedi Okorafor

Tracy's CBR18 Review No:25 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: book within a book, literary sci-fi, Nnedi Okorafor ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

The scream that brought them together

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

December 28, 2025 by teresaelectro Leave a Comment

I’m completing my quarter cannonball with The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. The novel is a book within a book. Hannah is writing a mystery focused on Freddie, an Australian woman on a writing fellowship in Boston. She meets three strangers in the Boston library reading room: Cain, a fellow writer and handsome, Walt, a rich law student with no work ethic, and Marigold, a goth-esque psychology student. They hear a blood-curdling scream like someone being murdered…but no body is found. That is, […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense Tagged With: book within a book, Boston, mystery, romantic suspense, Sulari Gentill, suspense/thriller, Writers

teresaelectro's CBR17 Review No:13 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense · Tags: book within a book, Boston, mystery, romantic suspense, Sulari Gentill, suspense/thriller, Writers ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

A Novel About Race, Identity, and Satire

Erasure by Percival Everett

September 20, 2024 by Tracy Leave a Comment

I learned about this novel when the movie American Fiction came out (which I’m hoping to see this weekend). It’s striking and sad how relevant this 23-year-old book still is when it comes to race and racial stereotypes. Percival Everett provides a sharp critique of race. It’s biting and funny and depressing and tragic. Told through journal entries, it follows Thelonious (Monk) Ellison during a time when he is facing dramatic changes in his family and has chosen to write a book intended to be […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: book within a book, Percival Everett, postmodern

Tracy's CBR16 Review No:51 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: book within a book, Percival Everett, postmodern ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Not for me.

Secret Identity by Alex Segura

June 28, 2024 by narfna Leave a Comment

30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4 Book 2/30 DNF @ 30% I gave it the ole college try, as none of the kids say these days. But this book was not for me! I’m really sad about it, because the gritty 70s NYC atmosphere, the love of comics built in to it, and the MC being a queer daughter of Cuban immigrants trying to make it in comics publishing all really sounded like something I would love, but this book was so dull. What […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: 1970s, Alex Segura, book within a book, Comics, historical fiction, LGBTQIA, mystery, NYC, secret identity

narfna's CBR16 Review No:41 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: 1970s, Alex Segura, book within a book, Comics, historical fiction, LGBTQIA, mystery, NYC, secret identity ·
· 0 Comments

“Happiness is a garden walled with glass: there’s no way in or out. In Paradise there are no stories, because there are no journeys. It’s loss and regret and misery and yearning that drive the story forward, along its twisted road.”

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

August 9, 2023 by narfna 2 Comments

In another time or another headspace, I might have given this five stars. If I ever re-read, I probably will. Unfortunately, my brain was just not in the mood for a long, measured, thoughtful, historical literary fiction novel when I read this back in April (!). I should probably have done the audiobook instead. (Anyone know if it’s any good? I’ve never heard of the narrator before.) *Have I EVER been in the mood for a Margaret Atwood? 🤔 I somehow managed to read The […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: book within a book, book within a book within a book, historical fiction, lit-fic, literary fiction, Margaret Atwood, narfna, The Blind Assassin

narfna's CBR15 Review No:75 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: book within a book, book within a book within a book, historical fiction, lit-fic, literary fiction, Margaret Atwood, narfna, The Blind Assassin ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

A meta murder mystery about writing murder mysteries.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

October 29, 2022 by narfna 2 Comments

I had a really good time with this book. I am honestly pleased with most mysteries that I read because something about the genre makes me inherently happy, but I am always very excited when I find one that goes above and beyond the expectations of the genre, and plays around a little. This one definitely did that. It was like brain candy for me. A little treat. The book is split into two parts, the first being a rough draft of a murder mystery […]

Filed Under: Mystery, Suspense Tagged With: book within a book, Boston, meta, mystery, narfna, Sulari Gentill, Suspense, the woman in the library

narfna's CBR14 Review No:168 · Genres: Mystery, Suspense · Tags: book within a book, Boston, meta, mystery, narfna, Sulari Gentill, Suspense, the woman in the library ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments
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