Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Everyday Jewish Lives Divided by Time

Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World by Jane Ziegelman

Matzah Ball Blues by Jennifer Wilck

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I did not mean to make it a Jewish double feature, but I just happened to read these books around the same time, and it was interesting to see the same traditions discussed in a historical context and then in an average middle-class family from New Jersey. Once There Was a Town by Jane Ziegelman – 3 stars After the Holocaust, since entire shtetls had been reduced to just a handful of survivors, people across continents came together to put together yizkor books to record […]

An erotica holiday romance buddy read

Tempting Klaus by Ashlee Rose

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I joined another buddy read with The Ripped Bodice book club for Tempting Klaus by Ashlee Rose. The holiday pun title piqued my interest. I’m also woefully behind on my half Cannonball, so it was time for more novellas. In this erotic holiday romance, we are introduced to Belle. She lies in wait to seduce her father-in-law, Klaus. From that first page, it was a record-scratch moment. Beg your pardon? Did I read that correctly?!  We learn she married Klaus’ son nearly a year ago and […]

“The fifth glass is unarguably clean. Especially because Haf has been pretending to scrub at a stain that isn’t there, like a horny Lady Macbeth wanting to prolong the moment.”

Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley-Jones

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I love the fake dating trope, so I was pleased as punch that November’s Illumicrate Afterlight book was Make You Mine This Christmas, even more so when forced proximity and all the bisexual chaos enter the equation. The story focuses on Haf who has been having a terrible year and lets her roommate convince her to join them at crashing a Christmas party they may or may not have been invited to. It’s at that party that Haf meets Christopher and following feeling badly for […]

“What?” Noelle protested. “You’re still my person. And Miriam is your person, and now somehow I’m Cole’s person. We’re all just each other’s people.”

Season of Love by Helena Greer

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Season of Love would not have made its way to my holiday season reading if not for emmalita’s lovely gifting of it to me, but it does check several boxes for my recent reading input: it is a queer romance which unpacks big emotions, specifically grief and trauma responses. Season of Love is also a very Jewish story told around several holidays, including Christmas. It also made Buzzfeed’s list of most anticipated LGBTQ romances of 2022 and the books I’ve read from that list (Love […]

I wish this one was better!

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

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I’m the sort of person who loves ridiculous holiday romcoms and wishes they contained more romantic content. A Merry Little Meet Cute should have been aces for me: a steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star co-star she falls in love with. This has potential! The basic plot builds on that potential. We have Bee Hobbes, a successful career as a plus-size adult film star […]

“It never occurred to me that you might be mine.”

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

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One of the prevailing bits of wisdom running around if you happen to find yourself with COVID (which I probably do – not to worry, I’m not feeling too poorly, have plenty of supplies, and have a test scheduled) is to avoid screens. With that in mind, and cognizant that my brain does not want to focus on anything weighty (which is seriously impinging on my ability to finish So You Want to Talk About Race and Eva Luna) I settled in on the couch […]



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