Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Congratulations to the National Book Awards winner!

Blackouts by Justin Torres

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This isn’t an easy book to describe (what a reassuring thing to hear from someone who’s about to describe a book to you!). As far as plot, it’s about a young man taking care of an older man who is dying. But this book defies anything as conventional as a plot – it’s not really about what happens, although it is about what happens. But it is also about the memories of what happens. Blackouts is an exploration of memory – our own personal memories, what we share together […]

“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.”

I Would be Doing this Anyway by Jia Tolentino

Rewards by Emma Cline

Crewelwork by Justin Torres

The Tomorrow Box by Curtis Sittenfeld

If You Are Lonely and You Know It by Yiyun Li

The Summer House by Cristina Henriquez

Me and Carlos by Tom Perrotta

Simplexity by Kiley Reid

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Ahh, Lester Bangs. Or at least, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs via Cameron Crowe in Almost Famous. Did I just grab this quote because it features the word “currency”? Well…yes and no. Currency, my latest dive into Amazon Original Stories (but not the latest collection released) describes itself as being about “friends, trends, and dividends”. The link between these eight stories is the currency between people; social, professional, and personal transactions made when money is too much to offer or not enough to cover. The players […]

A Personal Portrayal of a Childhood and Coming-of-Age that Stumbles in the Final Act

We the Animals by Justin Torres

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A friend actually recommended that I see the film We the Animals recently (which I haven’t gotten around to watching yet, whoops!), so upon finding out that it was an adaptation of a novel, I decided to get into the book. It is loosely based on the author’s own life, and reads like a childhood memoir of sorts. It is also very brief, and this works well in the majority of the novel to paint a picture of memories for the protagonist, but ultimately does […]



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