Cannonball Read 12

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

2020 Registration Now Extended to Jan. 31! Sign up for CBR12 today, and help us stick it to cancer, one book at a time!

> FAQ Home
> Tag: contemporary fiction

The Twenty-Six Year Old Virgin

Losing It by Emma Rathbone

by Leave a Comment

I’m a sucker for coming of age stories, and I’ve read and watched a lot of them, but the premise for this one brings an unexpected combination of things: A woman in her mid-twenties, formerly a collegiate swimmer, can’t figure out her life so she moves to SEC-country to live with a plate-painting aunt and to lose her virginity. It goes ok. The protagonist is Julia Greenfield, the kind of character that might live in Stars Hollow or the dorm in Undeclared. She’s drifting through […]

I would probably have liked this better if the protagonist was the sister

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

by Leave a Comment

Official book description: Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival. One June day, an old book arrives on Simon’s doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on […]

I’m losing my mind

The Memory Book by Lara Avery

by Leave a Comment

Official book description: “They tell me that my memory will never be the same, that I’ll start forgetting things. At first just a little, and then a lot. So I’m writing to remember.” Sammie McCoy is a girl with a plan: graduate at the top of her class and get out of her small town as soon as possible. Nothing will stand in her way–not even the rare genetic disorder the doctors say will slowly steal her memories and then her health. So the memory […]

A bit like “About a Boy”, except here the Hugh Grant character is a heroin addict

Sangen om en brukket nese (The Ballad of a Broken Nose) by Arne Svingen

by Leave a Comment

4.5 stars Bart is about to turn thirteen. He’s named after Bart Simpson, because it seems his mother wanted him to be tough and clever and able to handle himself. This is also why she’s signed him up for boxing lessons. He dutifully  goes to practise several times a week, and one of these days, he may actually start hitting. His boxing coach suggests he may want to try out for some other sport, which Bart can understand, as except for having a pretty good […]

“Heartbreak is a loss. Divorce is a piece of paper.”

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

by Leave a Comment

Earlier this year, Taylor Jenkins Reid published Daisy Jones and the Six, which has generally been very well received critically and keeps popping up on “Must read” lists. In several review of that book, I saw this, Jenkins Reid’s previous release, from 2017, highly recommended. Several people who were so-so on Daisy Jones and the Six claimed to prefer The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and as movie stars seemed more intriguing to me than rock stars, I decided to give it a try. There are multiple narratives in […]



Help Our Mission

We are an Amazon affiliate. Use the links in the reviews to make your purchases and a percentage of the money you spend will help us stick it to cancer, one book at a time.

You can also make a donation through the following:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
  3. Google Pay