Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

There’s something about Mary

Allegedly: A Novel by Tiffany D. Jackson

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Cbr17bingo White (bingo #1) I’ve previously read and favorably reviewed two of Tiffany D. Jackson’s novels: Monday’s Not Coming and Grown. Jackson is an outstanding YA novelist, taking on challenging topics such as murder, sexual predation and mental illness. Her novels feature black girls who are sexualized and viewed as adults even though they are children. Allegedly, Jackson’s 2017 debut novel, involves all of the above: a black girl accused of murdering a white baby, her abuse while incarcerated, teenaged pregnancy, and lots of undiagnosed […]

“The past is the future”

Obasan by Joy Kogawa

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Cbr17bingo citizen Over the years, I have read a number of books that have dealt with the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy and Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic and When the Emperor Was Divine were all written from personal, family experiences of that shameful chapter in US history that was left out of history books when I was in school (and is probably being removed from them now). I had never heard of Joy […]

It’s not good but it has good intentions

The Maid: A Novel by Nita Prose

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Cbr17bingo Work The Maid is a mystery that features a main character named Molly Gray who is a maid at the swanky Regency Grand Hotel and who is on the autism spectrum, even though author Nita Prose never tells us so outright. Molly is socially awkward and has difficulty reading social cues. She takes things very literally, adheres strictly to her schedule, and is a rule follower. In the past, her Gran, who raised her, helped Molly interpret the puzzling statements and actions of the […]

Crivens!

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

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Cbr17bingo Borrow Wintersmith is the third book in Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series. Tiffany is a girl who knows about making cheese and tending sheep and who also happens to be a witch. Despite her young age, she has demonstrated extraordinary abilities and attracted the attention of other witches, who have taken her on to teach her how to use her skills. The first two books were outstanding. They were full of action, danger and wild adventures, and they introduced the reader to the Nac […]

“…they and their deeds were dust and ashes, but this man and his words were immortal.“

Orlando A Biography by VIrgina Woolf

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CBR17bingo O I’ve wanted to read Orlando for some time. I knew it was a time travel novel about a character, Orlando, who not only lives for centuries but also changes gender. It was made into a movie starring Tilda Swinton back in the ‘90s, but I never saw it. Apparently, the movie is more “inspired by” the novel than a direct adaptation of it, which, having now read the book, makes sense. Not gonna lie, the novel, published in 1928, is unusual, and I’m […]

Do you follow the Beast or your better angels?

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

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Cbr17bingo N Every time I read a Pratchett novel, I am just awestruck, dumbfounded by the way he could write so eloquently and with such warmth and humor about some of the nastiest parts of the human condition. Night Watch, originally published in 2002, really hit me hard because it is just so weirdly timely. I read and reviewed Guards! Guards! (the first of the Watch novels) last year, and I know that there are several other books in the Watch series before Night Watch. […]



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