Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Can I Just Say “Wow!” and Leave It at That?

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

June 12, 2025 by Tracy Leave a Comment

What an incredible book. I knew from reading If Beale Street Could Talk that James Baldwin was a good writer, but it is rare for me to appreciate a book on just a literary level. The prose, the symbolism, the way it’s so clear what the narrator is experiencing even though he himself is hiding from his feelings—it was phenomenal. Written in the 1950s and set in Paris, the novel follows narrator David through his relationship with Giovanni and the aftermath of its ending. We know from […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: internalized homophobia, James Baldwin, LGBTQ

Tracy's CBR17 Review No:41 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: internalized homophobia, James Baldwin, LGBTQ ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“The power of the white world is threatened whenever a black man refuses to accept the white world’s definitions”

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

April 27, 2025 by esmemoria 2 Comments

There is no American truth teller like James Baldwin. I always come away from his writing–whether fiction or nonfiction–changed. I don’t know how he could hold so much clear-eyed rage and pain alongside so much love and dignity. He never spared anyone from the truth, even himself. His book The Fire Next Time is a short book with only two essays, but he packs so much into them. The first essay is a letter to his nephew, called “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Featured, History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: James Baldwin

esmemoria's CBR17 Review No:18 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Featured, History, Non-Fiction · Tags: James Baldwin ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

Beautiful, Emotional, and Sadly Still Relevant

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

February 20, 2025 by Tracy 1 Comment

This book is beautiful and sad and infuriating, especially in that it is still so relevant 50 years after it was written. It was a hard book to read at times but so well-done and worth it. I was hooked on the story of 19-year-old Tish, who is pregnant and engaged to Fonny—who is in jail awaiting trial for a violent crime he didn’t commit. As one might expect from Baldwin, there is a lot of focus on racism, sexism, and racial injustice, especially within […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Black authors, James Baldwin, literary fiction

Tracy's CBR17 Review No:18 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Black authors, James Baldwin, literary fiction ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

This is me writing 600 words about a book I barely remember.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

September 25, 2024 by ingres77 Leave a Comment

I watch a lot of YouTube. Like, the vast majority of everything I watch is on YouTube. Everything from podcasts and history documentaries to British panel shows like Taskmaster. The one thing I haven’t had much luck with is book chanels, though. Which isn’t to say there isn’t a ton of literary content on there – but most of what’s out there, that I’ve found, is book reviews. Which I obviously can’t say anything bad about – after all, look at what I’m doing now. But […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin

ingres77's CBR16 Review No:10 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin ·
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· 0 Comments

This is the biography review

Gifts from Georgia's Garden: How Georgia O'Keeffe Nourished Her Art by Lisa Robinson

Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin by Michelle Meadows

A Grand Idea: How William J. Wilgus Create Grand Central Terminal by Megan Hoyt

October 23, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I was into biographies as a kid. Yet, I didn’t have as many selections as we have today. Mostly because only so many were made, only so many were allowed due to age limits, space and only so many my schools and libraries could afford. Yet, one thing that has stayed the same throughout the years, is we tend to have the same people. We have Amelia E. Or Helen Keller. Or Dr. M. L. King. Or the hottie of the moment (Swift, Styles). Therefore, […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: art, building, David Szalay, Georgia O’Keeffe, Grand Central Terminal, Hadley Hooper, James Baldwin, Jamiel Law, Lisa Robinson, Literature, Megan Hoyt, Michelle Meadows, New Mexico, new york, William J. Wilgus

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:772 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry · Tags: art, building, David Szalay, Georgia O’Keeffe, Grand Central Terminal, Hadley Hooper, James Baldwin, Jamiel Law, Lisa Robinson, Literature, Megan Hoyt, Michelle Meadows, New Mexico, new york, William J. Wilgus ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Listening, Feeling, and Acting like an superhero

I Am an Antiracist Superhero: With Activities to Help You Be One Too! by Jennifer Nicole Bacon

May 24, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Jennifer Nicole Bacon’s book, I Am an Antiracist Superhero: With Activities to Help You Be One Too! is exactly what you expect of a modern day, antiracist picture book. It is a bit dated as it talks about the protests surrounding George Floyd, but the rest is anytime information. The information included is less about being racist or antiracist, but how you can be a good person or a superhero.  It is about speaking up when you see someone is being picked on or something […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, History Tagged With: antiracist, James Baldwin, Jennifer Nicole Bacon, Leticia Moreno, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Social Themes, Wynta-Amor Rogers.

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:377 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, History · Tags: antiracist, James Baldwin, Jennifer Nicole Bacon, Leticia Moreno, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Social Themes, Wynta-Amor Rogers. ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Essie Dubs on Hello Darkness My Old FriendI love a good bookstore rec!
  • Classic on “It is completely unimportant. That is why it is so interesting.”This is one of my faves.
  • FyreHaar on “Had me in the first half, I’m not going to lie..”These sound lovely. Just something to escape into for a while. Ans as another ace-spec - yeah, sometimes I shake...
  • Andy Leheny on Part Fantasy, Part Messianic Fever DreamWhat's weird in the book is the reader finds out early the dead dad is one of the players. The...
  • faintingviolet on I kept imagining Father Brown’s bicycle just around the corner.I also marked it as to-read on January 6 so I'm thinking more than a coincidence!
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