I’m excited to jump into these two books in the next few weeks. They’ll be my first two reviews of CBR22 in the new year. Books are If We Were Villains by M. L. Rios and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. These books have been blessed by my patron saints Liz Lemon, Beyoncé, and Shea Couleé.
Archives for December 2021
Go talk your weird love to the wind
Thirty Talks Weird Love by Alessandra Narvaez Varela
When I first started to read Thirty Talks Weird Love my first thought was, “Well this is crap.” But I realized I was tired and told myself to go to bed. That is the main thing you need to know about Alessandra Narvaez Varela’s book: be rested. This book is an emotional rollercoaster and if you are the tiniest bit uncomfortable or not in a good headspace, do not try this book. The journey of finding and being perfection, and how we see ourselves are […]
The Girl Who is Spring
Feelings: A Story in Seasons by Manjit Thapp
Feelings: A Story in Seasons is promoted as both a poetry book and as a graphic novel. However, it is more than that. It is also a picture book with its sensual and heavy illustrations. It is a book about emotions and the depression that changes them during the different seasons the author, Manjit Thapp, faces. This book is a poetic look at how depression is the season we are reading about. It is presented to us as a chapter, Summer, Fall, Winter, Monsoon, and […]
Hiding in plain sight.
Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood and Greg Dawson
Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis is a romanticized look at how two Jewish girls lived when millions did not. Told in alternating voices, the Narrator, and “Anna” herself or, Zhanna Arshanskaya we learn how Zhanna and her sister Frina, were hiding in plain sight. They performed for the Nazi command, allies of the Nazi and eventually, for themselves. But no matter how much they feared being found out, betrayed by supposed friends, or their hatred of the Nazis, they always felt […]
Rachel Grace Sanchez; A Completely Original Life Well Lived
I am sad to report that our fellow Cannonball Reader, RachelGraceSanchez, died on December 1st, 2021 after a valiant fight against metastatic breast cancer. I wanted to share a little bit about who she was to me as a friend so that you can join me in remembering one of the greats. Rachel was a great writer and LOVED getting lost in the world of a book. Rachel loved to write reviews and book reccommendations which made the Cannonball such a great outlet for her. […]
Like Everyone Else, I Read Dune
Dune by Frank Herbert
Dune is the type of book that I appreciate more than I enjoy. I am glad I read it, certainly, and in many ways it exceeded my expectations. It is wildly inventive, and I was immersed in the interplanetary worlds Herbert creates. For a reader in 2021, Dune covers somewhat familiar ground with its narrative of a “chosen one” who undergoes training in order to take up leadership in a fight larger than he (or she) imagined. With a book this influential, it was difficult for […]