Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Thoughtful meditation on science, faith and family

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

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Yaa Gyasi is best known for her critically acclaimed first novel, Homegoing.  Unlike Homegoing, which I gather has a broad sweep in terms in geography and time (its in my TBR pile!), Transcendent Kingdom is narrowly focused on one woman, Gifty, in her adolescent to early adult years.  Although the scope of the novel expands a little to include Gifty’s immediate family and a few friends, the novel remains focused on her experiences with these additional cast members- we see them through her eyes. We […]

A personal view of intersectional feminism, narrated by the author.

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall

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This was a great audiobook. It was narrated by the author, and she has a really good reading voice. There were parts where her intonation changed in a weird way, but overall she narrates the book in a clear, strong voice, and with appropriate emotion. (Some authors try to read their own books, and it doesn’t work out so well for them.) This was an excellent book that focuses on the areas that “mainstream feminism”, aka middle class, mostly white, doesn’t take into account. Some […]

A family saga that isn’t so Black and White

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

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Desiree and Stella Vignes are twin Black girls who grow up in 1940s Louisiana. They are from a very, very small town that has valued lighter skin for generations, and Desiree and Stella are very light. Wanted to escape their small town, Deisree and Stella run away from home to New Orleans to try and find their own paths in life away from what their community has decided for them. It is there that Stella decides to run away from her sister and begin passing […]

The Intersectional Autobiographical Approach to Understanding Racism

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

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Bingo review 10: Book Club I work at a regional state university. Earlier this summer, we got an email containing a book club invitation that will begin a series of events designed to reflect each of the institution’s official values. Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist was chosen in association with “adaptability”, and probably also in association with the current focus on race and racism in the US. According to the accompanying flyer, this group will meet monthly throughout the fall semester digitally, […]

Ironically titling this review ‘A Good Book’.

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

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This is one of those books that the more it sits with you, the worse you think of it. And I liked the book at first! It’s written in an engaging style, and the characters seem likable at first. It’s also not a long book, so it doesn’t feel like a burden to pick up. I got it as my April pick for Book of the Month, a particularly slim month for interesting choices, so I thought I would branch out a little from my […]

“He’s been here one hour, but already he feels like he has never lived anywhere else. And even if he doesn’t know who he was … he knows who he is.” #CBRBingo – UnCannon

The City We Became (Great Cities, #1) by N.K. Jemisin

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I feel like I do this every time I read an N.K. Jemisin book. Part of me wants to give it five stars, but I’m going to hold off until I see where it’s going to end up. I did that with The Fifth Season, too. (And I know when I go to do my re-read, I’m going to up that book to five stars.) I feel like every time I read one of her books, she does something that I’ve never seen before. It’s […]



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