Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Her Voice

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

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Carmen Maria Machado’s voice is a fine-honed instrument. She reads In the Dream House, her memoir of receiving abuse in a same-sex relationship, at a volume just above a whisper. She is hushed, quick, and measured yet still barreling down. Her voice is arresting. You will stop dead-still to catch her every intake of breath. She is a force to be reckoned with. I am in awe of her strength; her strength to survive, her strength to document, and her strength to share her darkest […]

“The moral of that story, I think, is that being poor will kill you.”

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

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It happened again. I excitedly picked up a book at the store, rushed it home, then let it sit in a pile for a few months. When I finally opened it days ago I was shocked (and not shocked at all simultaneously, really) that it was an oddly appropriate collection for today’s frightening world. The first page of the book is a quote from poet Elisabeth Hewer, and it lays the roadwork for the furious march within: “god should have made girls lethal when he […]

Party Down

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

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This is a great short story collection. I found it randomly in my local used book store and since picking it up I’ve seen in on all kinds of “best of” lists, which is great, because this book is great. As with most short story collections I pick up I read it over a bit of time and not all in one go. I like to use short story collections as palate cleansers while reading other books, so it’ll take me a while to finish […]

I Don’t Know What to Say

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

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This book floored me the other day. First off, thanks to Pajiba for highlighting this book in it’s best of the bunch year for 2018. The Best and Worst of Cannonball 10 article had this book as the best by Mrs. Smith Reads. It looked interesting based on her description, “Carmen Maria Machado’s collection of short stories is nothing short of perfection, and brings everything I was looking for in a year of reading mostly feminist, female-identified, and woman-positive fiction writers.” That sounded right up my alley […]

“I took a step toward her. ‘It is my right to reside in my own mind. It is my right,’ I said.” (CBR11Bingo)

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

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Her Body and Other Parties is all about expectations – both the ones on the page for the characters Machado created and for the reader as they come to the much hyped but little described work. I knew going in that the book was pushing boundaries, igniting conversations (the husband stitch, for example), and refused to stick to one genre at any given time, let alone for the entire collection. Having completed the book I understand why reviewers have, one the whole, been relatively mute […]

And I’m not even a short story fan

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I have a hard time with short stories because I really like diving deep into a novel and getting lost in the sheer volume of words and worlds which makes it all the more remarkable how electrifying and engaging I found Her Body and Other Stories to be. Be prepared to be all too attached to this book, to physically itch to read it. I was completely enthralled from start to finish. This is the third collection of short stories I’ve read this year and holy […]



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