Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Elastic tension lashed their cars together across space, alone on the road, nothing in his head but grief and freedom.

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

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Andrew held the clutch and eased onto the gas, pushing revs while the digital readout reminded him to hold it, wait for the right moment to explode. Sam’s fingers touched the rim of the moon hanging in the sky. A shudder ripped across the bones of Andrew’s forearms, terror and delight and the promise of risk bringing him to life. ― Lee Mandelo, Summer Sons For fuck’s sake Andrew. Is there anything in this scenario that feels heterosexual or well-adjusted to you? ― Lee Mandelo, […]

I finally read Gender Queer!

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

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I’m sure this book has already been discoursed to death here at Cannonball Read, so I won’t get too much into that. (It was a book club pick, yes?) I finally decided to read it because I have been much more active in my local anti-censorship organization this year, and wanted to be able to better defend the book if someone came after me with questions about it. The book is so stunning, warm, and earnest. It’s the most thorough exploration of this specific form […]

“The world is wide and full of grace, I promise you.”

A Gentleman's Gentleman by TJ Alexander

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TJ Alexander’s A Gentleman’s Gentleman is a passion project done very well. I loved it so much. Lord Christopher Eden is a “man of unusual make” who has built a quiet life for himself in the country that he loves. Unfortunately, his father’s will requires that he marry before his birthday in order to fully inherit the family estate. This means leaving going to London for the Season and trying to appear acceptable to society. This means he needs a valet, so he asks that […]

Kind of a Miserable Home, Actually

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

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Alison Bechdel is perhaps best known for the Bechdel Test, a measure of representation of women in media. (For those who don’t know, the test asks whether a particular work features more than one woman, whether those women have a conversation with one another, and whether that conversation centers around a topic other than a man.) But Alison Bechdel is also a cartoonist who created a long-running cartoon strip and two graphic novel memoirs. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic was her first graphic memoir, and […]

Come and Knock on Our Door

Triple Sec by T.J. Alexander

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  I immediately put this on hold at the library when I heard about it. It’s a poly romance put out by a major publisher that doesn’t take place in a fantasy setting. Triple Sec has all the qualities I enjoy in a good romance novel. The characters are fun people who I might like to hang out with in real life and the prose about things like love, life and heartbreak feel true and hit an emotional chord. If you’re looking for a realistic […]

“What would happen if we spoke the truth?”

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

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Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic had been on my to read for a bit as one of the more visible challenged and banned books since its publication in 2006  (31st most challenged  in the decade 2010-2019 according to the ALA) that I hadn’t gotten to yet, but moved higher up as it was challenged locally to me twice since 2020 (it’s been retained both times). So, it found its way to my September reading as my personal choice for Banned Books Week 2024.   As […]



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