Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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slick with sweat, thick with hate-and I love it

The Lover by Marguerite Duras

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Somehow, this incredible little novella flew completely under my radar until last year. Luckily, the folks over at Lit Hub are absolutely obsessed, and I was unable to remain in the dark for much longer. When it’s in a book I don’t think it’ll hurt any more …exist any more. One of the things writing does is wipe things out. Replace them. While not entirely an “autobiography”, Duras tells the tale of a very young girl who grew up in an unstable household in French-colonized […]

“Sylvia did reach her dream of becoming a ballerina. And it all started with one determined girl with one library book from one bookmobile.”

Ready to Fly: How Sylvia Townsend Became The Bookmobile Ballerina by Lea Lyon & A. LaFaye, Illustrations by Jessica Gibson

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We’re gonna start off today’s review by (potentially? I don’t think I’ve talked about this here before) learning a new thing about NTE: I used to be a dancer. Before my body decided that anything that required even standing was completely out of the question (so from age 3-15, basically), being a dancer was a major part of my identity. I danced five days a week – tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, & pointe. Pointe was – by far – my worst class (I had […]

Late arrival on the Colson Whitehead Train, but I’m here to stay

The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

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I’m using this as my #machinery square in Bingo!  I originally bought this book for an undergraduate class, like 15 years ago. And we never got around to reading it. Ever since, it’s been on my “to read” list.  I can’t believe I waited so long!  Colson Whitehead has risen to prominence for his other works – especially The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys and Harlem Shuffle – but this is his first novel. And it’s fantastic.  The Intuitionist takes place in an alternate […]

Despite the title of the book, this was not a good time

Bacchanal by Veronica G. Henry

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BINGO – Travel The G. B. Bacchanal Carnival is a travelling carnival that makes stops all around the Great Depression Era South. They have everything a carnival should: tasty treats, games that may or may not be rigged, dangerous feats from dazzling performers, and oddities from around the world. This carnival just happens to be owned by a demon from the underworld who feeds on children’s souls trying to find the one person who can stop her. Liza Meeks is the newest addition to the […]

‘I’m shadowed by doubt that I didn’t have it bad compared to others. But racial trauma is not a competitive sport.’

Minor Feelings: A Reckoning on Race and The Asian Condition by Cathy Park Hong

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This will be a tough one to review. Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings wasn’t just good – and it was unbelievably good. It was both recognizable – like a familiar friend who I just nodded along to as they spoke – and a revelation. She skillfully put into words a shade that has maybe always been super-imposed over my world view, feelings I never knew were nagging at me before. Her seven essays also covered so much ground that any review I write – and anything […]

Library Bingo

The Dark Tunnel by Ross Macdonald

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Billy Summers by Stephen King

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly

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I haven’t been able to keep up with the Cannonball Read Bingo, but I have been reading stuff for my library’s bingo, which helps because it encourages me to try things I’d either put off or left on my shelf to rot…   The Dark Tunnel ** Went back to the beginning with Ross Macdonald for this one. I love Ross’ Archer series and his standalones aren’t bad but this one is. Unfocused plotting, expository dialogue, characters conveniently bouncing in and out. Macdonald was trying […]



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