Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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An Unbelievable Life

Born Again Blakfella. by Jack Charles; Namila Benson

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  Jack Charles certainly started Born Again Blakfella with a memorable scene. As a beloved actor in Australia and noted First Nations activist, you would think that he would start by drawing attention to his achievements in both of these fields. But Charles decided to start his memoir with a facet of his life that didn’t lead to him getting glowing reviews in the newspapers: “It’s the middle of the night and I’m huddled over, dragging my dilly bad, which is chock full of all […]

The first book in a series without much resolution, but a very strong start

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

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Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse is told through four points of view throughout the novel with some flashbacks here and there. Serapio is a member of the Carrion Crow nation who has been prepared by his mother to be the religious leader of their nation. Narampa is the Sun Priest of the Watchers and the figurehead of the dominate religious system of the land (though the other priests don’t all accept her leadership and conspire behind her back). Xiala is a ship captain and a […]

One body holds a universe

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

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  Home is a feeling. That’s a line in the beautifully written Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead, a Two Spirit, Oji-Cree author. But it’s also something of a manifesto for Jonny, an indigiqueer young man whose physical body carries all the love, pain and connections to land and people in his life. Like a beautiful hermit crab, he builds a shell to protect himself from homophobia, from feeling the generations of pain in his family, from loving too much. And that same shell is bedecked with […]

In-laws, outlaws, common-laws

Moccasin Square Gardens  by Richard van Camp

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Moccasin Square Gardens is a collection of short stories set in indigenous communities in Canada’s Northwest Territories- the title comes from the local nickname for the dancehall in Fort Smith.  There are nine short stories in this slim (155 pages) volume, and they cover a broad genre range- from science fiction and horror stories to romance and family drama.  Because of this range, your mileage out of each story might vary- my favourite were the romance and family dramas but I’m not sad about a […]

Beware Windigo

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

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You know how there’s that trope in the end of the world book where the city folk go up north, usually at the end of the book, to find a new place to live? They’re expecting it to be quiet, or full of people who just live off the land, and yet curiously no one ever seems to meet a First Nations person? I’ve long thought about that and what happens when the city folk start to migrate north. This book actually approaches the question […]

Must Read

As Long as Grass Grows by Dina Gilio-Whitaker

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Disclaimer: I won a copy via a Librarything giveaway. I suppose I could just say that I was reading this on the way back from work and when I looked up, somehow, the trolley had gotten to one stop from mine without me knowing. It was that absorbing. Gilio-Whitaker makes what might have been a somewhat dull topic and engages the reader. But I suppose you want more than that. When I mentioned I was reading this book to my friend who teaches in the […]



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