Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

What’s on the Other Side of the Door?

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

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CBR18BINGO: And (2nd book by this author) Nadia and Saeed live in a nameless, though apparently majority Muslim, country. As their city becomes a battleground between militants and the army, they discover a way out through magical doors that have been appearing throughout the planet, and through which refugees pour into various other countries. This leads to an opportunity for the book to explore themes of migration, assimilation, and anti-migration sentiment. I appreciated that Nadia and Saeed’s city and country are never named, allowing the book […]

Knocking Out Three BINGO Squares

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

His Face Is the Sun by Michelle Jabes Corpora

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CBR18 BINGO: Versus (for Chosen Ones – good vs evil), Wealth (Reluctant Fundamentalist), and Map (His Face Is the Sun) Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth What happens as the dust settles after defeating the world’s greatest evil, in this case the Dark One? That’s the premise of this interesting take on the chosen one trope. There was a prophecy about who the chosen one would be, but five people ending up fitting that description. They end up working together to defeat the Dark One. But that […]

Best left to the confines of a college writing course

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

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When I saw this title at Target, I immediately grabbed it, read the opening lines, and added it to my to-read list. A town full of people suddenly starting to all turn black one day? I wanna see where he goes with this. Yet, with all that potential, all the doors you open up to yourself with that concept, he instead whittled it down to a pretty personal story about a man and a woman and their parents. To me, this felt like the sort […]

Slivers of Hope in an Unknown Doorway

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

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Listened to as an audiobook, read by the author. And what a calm and straightforward voice! I can’t remember why Exit West came on my radar (I think I saw someone talking about it on Twitter?) but in any case, it was well worth the read. A story tied to real-world pain but with a fantasy element to string the story along. Does this magical realism entirely work? Mileage may vary, but overall I think the novel was successful in what it set out to […]

CBRBingo – Own Voices. If you know anyone with the rally cry of “send her back” give them this book.

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

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CBR Bingo – Own Voices This is my second read of Mohsin Hamid, having read “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” last year. He was not on my radar except for the intentional choice to read outside of my standard zone, by way of fighting ignorance (looking at you, Drumpf) with education. I came across an article via lithub (http://lithub.com/10-contemporary-nov…) that gave 10 contemporary books to read, and a friend and I decided to tackle “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” It was interesting, surprising, heartfelt, and disheartening. It put a […]

Yadda yadda yadda, and there was peace throughout the land

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

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Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West has been on my radar since it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2017. When it showed up on the shortlist for this year’s International DUBLIN Literary Award, I figured it was time to see what all the fuss was about.  In an unnamed city in a long-simmering war with itself, Nadia and Saeed meet at a night class. At first cautious in their romance, they are thrown together when the fighting intensifies and Saeed’s mother is blown apart […]



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