Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Indigenous family demons

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth

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White Horse intrigued me with its mysterious cover. It follows Kari, an indigenous woman living in Colorado who is haunted by her past. Or rather her lack of a past because her mother disappeared shortly after she was born. Her dad was stricken by grief and ended up in a car accident. Kari spent much of her life resenting her mom and being a caretaker. After some struggles with drugs, she has gotten her life together.  She hangs with her best friend and cousin Debby, […]

A Smudge on the Page of History

Better The Blood by Michael Bennett

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Sometimes you start reading a book and you know you’re in good hands.  That’s how I felt as I dove into Michael Bennett’s novel, Better the Blood.  Set in present-day Auckland, the story explores how past colonial trauma echoes on into future generations (a topic that seems timely in so many ways right now). Detective Senior Hana Westerman is on her way into a courtroom when someone sends an anonymous video to her phone.  It isn’t until later in the day (after the judge hands […]

I couldn’t think up a title so this is my title.

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth

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This is a tough one to rate because half of my strange reaction to it is I’m sure just bumping up a little against the writing style, but the other half is that it genuinely could have been written better in parts. There was A LOT of telling not showing, and the third-act conflict made the MC come across as pretty stupid. A lot of the elements here were interesting individually but didn’t seem to come together at the end? Our main character is Kari […]

“This book is meant to free, not capture, a life” ~ Lindberg

Birdie by Tracey Lindberg

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CBR11 Bingo – Own Voices   When it comes to diversifying my reading list, I’m trying to be more intentional about including voices from Canadian Indigenous communities.  Canada, for all its wonderful awesomeness, has an atrocious history (and even current relationship) with its Indigenous population – and so often, has kept so much of it quiet. Stories keep coming to light now about the horrors that ripped these families apart, the way entire communities were destroyed, and yes, despite what many of our politicians say, […]

“What is it that brings me here to stand like a rock in this river of sound?”

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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I like doing reading challenges because they give me an excuse to dig deeply through my expansive to read list (668 and counting) or give me a reason to add more diverse books to that list. Native and indigenous writers are underrepresented on my to read pile as are books about nature. Read Women this year has tasks for both, so off I went to find more books. Having some success last year with Rain: a Natural and Cultural History when I stumbled across Robin […]



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