Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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I cried six times while reading this memoir slash podcast slash pop culture book.

Slayers, Every One of Us: How One Girl in All the World Showed Us How to Hold On by Kristin Russo & Jenny Owen Youngs

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Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. First, here’s the blurb, because I’m not sure my review actually does a great job letting you know what the book is about: “A memoir reflecting on heartbreak, perseverance, and life lessons learned from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from the hosts of the hit podcast Buffering the Vampire Slayer. Kristin and Jenny’s marriage started with an ultimatum: to further their relationship, Kristin must watch Jenny’s favorite show, Buffy […]

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 […]

“Reading is one of the main things I do. Reading is everything.”

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron

I Remember Nothing & Other Reflections by Nora Ephron

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Reading makes me feel I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss. […]

Between Borders and Boyhood

Solito by Javier Zamora

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I had first heard about this book at an English teachers convention I attended. The buzz was that it fit the non-fiction, author of color, YA niche that a lot of high school teachers are looking for to teach as a whole class novel. I hadn’t had a chance to read it until my book club recently chose it as one of our picks. The author, Javier Zamora, recounts his journey from El Salvador to the United States to be reunited with his parents who […]

Eighteen minutes. That’s how long you’ve got to hold ’em.

Tanqueray by Stephanie Johnson and Brandon Stanton

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Stephanie Johnson became famous later in life via the popular blog, “Humans of New York.” I learned of her a couple of months ago when a vignette of one of her stories showed up in my Instagram feed. It was the story of how she became a dominatrix in 1980’s New York. When I searched for more stories, I learned that she had a memoir titled Tanqueray, which was her burlesque stage name. Stephanie has a distinct voice, and Stanton did a lovely job of […]

“What I was feeling, I now recognize, was the desire to be one of these people. To be proud and to beam and to look good.”

Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs by Dave Holmes

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When I was putting together my TBR pile for this year I specifically went back to lists of much older cannonballs for books I didn’t get to and was bummed about having not read and added a handful of them to this year. I’m having mixed results with that plan, though, although Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs by Dave Holmes got three stars from me which is better than the other so far, French Milk (incidentally I added them both in 2016 […]



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