Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Instagram
  3. Follow us on Bluesky
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • Getting Started in CBR17
    • Rules of Respect
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
    • About Cannonball Read
  • Our Team
    • The CBR Team
    • Leaderboard
    • Recent Comments
    • Participant Interviews
    • Cannonballer Location Maps
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
    • Star Ratings
    • Featured Review Archive
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • Donate
    • CBR Merchandise
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Suggest a Review
    • 2025 Registration
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Social Media

About carmelpie

CBR14 Participant
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR17 Comments
CBR17 Levels

A runner. A writer. A Pokémon fighter.

carmelpie's Reviews:

Great subject, great writing, but the story did nothing for me

A Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux

April 11, 2024 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

I do not wish to explain my passion—that would imply that it was a mistake or some disorder I need to justify—I just want to describe it. ― Annie Ernaux, Simple Passion Yet it is that surreal, almost non-existent last visit that gives my passion its true meaning, which is precisely to be meaningless, and to have been for two years the most violent and unaccountable reality ever. ― Annie Ernaux, Simple Passion At best, I’m ambivalent about this story. The writing is gorgeous. And […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Annie Ernaux, female author, middle aged romance, Nobel Prize, novella, womens voices

carmelpie's CBR16 Review No:32 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Annie Ernaux, female author, middle aged romance, Nobel Prize, novella, womens voices ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Double Cinnamon Roll Slowburn

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid

April 11, 2024 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

“I mean, everyone knows how I feel about you.” “What?” “Yeah. I think I was pretty obvious about it. The guys have been teasing me.” “Oh my god. Landon moaned. “This is going to be so weird.” “Nah, I’ll play it totally cool. “No tongue.” “No kissing at all, you fucking doofus.” “I know. Don’t worry, I won’t even talk to you. Won’t look at you. Who are you, even?” “Thank you.” ― Rachel Reid, Time to Shine Casey lit Landon up, filling all his […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance Tagged With: Alberta, Canada, Christmas romance, cinnamon roll protagonist, cozy, enthusiastic consent, gay romance, hockey romance, queer romance, Rachel Reid, Slow Burn Romance, sports romance

carmelpie's CBR16 Review No:31 · Genres: Fiction, Romance · Tags: Alberta, Canada, Christmas romance, cinnamon roll protagonist, cozy, enthusiastic consent, gay romance, hockey romance, queer romance, Rachel Reid, Slow Burn Romance, sports romance ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

The real happy ending is that she got to eat the whole plate of cheese.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

March 31, 2024 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

“Since when do you wear dresses?” he said, the second he saw her. “Ugh,” Kit said, frowning. How were you supposed to change—in ways both big and small—when your family was always there to remind you of exactly the person you apparently signed an ironclad contract to be?” ― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Malibu Rising I’ve read two TJR books in the past two months. I plowed through both of them within seventy-two hours. Addictive is the only way I know how to describe them. Nina […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: celebrity culture, codependent relationships, glitz and glam, legacy, Malibu, misogyny, southern california, surfing, Taylor Jenkins Reid, the 1980s

carmelpie's CBR16 Review No:30 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: celebrity culture, codependent relationships, glitz and glam, legacy, Malibu, misogyny, southern california, surfing, Taylor Jenkins Reid, the 1980s ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

One day your country is yours, and the next it isn’t.

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

March 31, 2024 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

No matter what happens in the world, however brutal or dystopian a thing, not all is lost if there are people out there risking themselves to document it. Little sparks cause fires, too.” ― Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark The odds had been stacked against us from the start: we had no manual, no one to show us the way. Not one example of a happy couple made up of boys. How were we supposed to know what to do? Did we even believe […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: coming of age novel, Communism, Eastern Europe, gay romance, historical fiction, oppression, Poland, queer romance, rebellion, the 1980s, Tomasz Jedrowski

carmelpie's CBR16 Review No:29 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: coming of age novel, Communism, Eastern Europe, gay romance, historical fiction, oppression, Poland, queer romance, rebellion, the 1980s, Tomasz Jedrowski ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Enter the IKEA-verse

FINNA by Nino Cipri

March 25, 2024 by carmelpie 7 Comments

“Of course Jules was alive, they had never faced a challenge whose ass they couldn’t kick, and they had the stores of righteous rage that all retail employees collected.” ― Nino Cipri, Finna “It’s okay,” Jules said. They looked….not calm, exactly, but not scared. They looked, as they had for most of their trip, thrilled that they weren’t getting misgendered while answering customers’ stupid questions about how much weight a towel rod could really hold. ― Nino Cipri, Finna Ava works at LitenVärld and she […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Science Fiction Tagged With: evils of capitalism, exes, multiverse, nino cipri, novella, reluctant hero, retail hell, soul sucking job, transgender characters, wormholes

carmelpie's CBR16 Review No:28 · Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction · Tags: evils of capitalism, exes, multiverse, nino cipri, novella, reluctant hero, retail hell, soul sucking job, transgender characters, wormholes ·
Rating:
· 7 Comments

I may have a new gold standard for romance.

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

March 23, 2024 by carmelpie 4 Comments

But here is Andy, laying himself bare, and Nick isn’t sure he’s ever seen anything so brave in his life. This is a man who plays it safe, a man who orders the same sandwich every day for lunch. And now he’s taking a risk, and he’s taking it for Nick. ― Cat Sebastian, We Could Be So Good “I’m not wasting time on things that make me sad.” He learned that lesson with Old Yeller, thank you very much. “Andy, you publish a newspaper. […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: 1950s America, Cat Sebastian, friends to lovers, gay history, gay love, gay romance, Homophobia, internalized homophobia, New York City, queer romance

carmelpie's CBR16 Review No:27 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: 1950s America, Cat Sebastian, friends to lovers, gay history, gay love, gay romance, Homophobia, internalized homophobia, New York City, queer romance ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments
  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • …
  • 34
  • Next Page »


Recent Comments

  • Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
  • Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
  • Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
  • Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
  • Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.
See More Recent Comments »

Support Our Mission

  • Support Our Mission: Donate Today!
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo

The reviews and comments posted on this site reflect the opinions of individual posters and do not reflect the views of Cannonball Read.

© 2025 Cannonball Read Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) | Log in