Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Good evening, everyone. I'm Leslie Monster, and this is Nightline. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: narfna's Quick Questions interview.)

narfna's Reviews:

Blacking out BINGO with Liz Lighty and her crown. #CBRBingo – Violet

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

by 4 Comments

I was drawn to this book by the positive reviews, yes, but first by the unbelievable cuteness that is this cover and title. (This impulse also kind of bit me in the butt, more on that later.) You Should See Me in a Crown follows Liz Lighty, high school senior, who lives in a town that is utterly obsessed by prom. It is a Big Deal. The Queen and King even get scholarships. So, when funding for Liz’s college falls through (and she doesn’t want […]

“They took everything and ground it down to dust as fine as gunpowder, they fired their guns into the air in victory and the strays flew out into the nothingness of histories written wrong and meant to be forgotten. Stray bullets and consequences are landing on our unsuspecting bodies even now.” #CBRBingo – Orange

There There by Tommy Orange

by 2 Comments

I have complained about literary fiction before, and I will complain about it again. But this book is a great example of the genre, in part because Tommy Orange is so good at his craft (this is a debut!!), but I think also because he is an author that provides a voice that is marginalized. He has things to say. The book itself is seeking (in part) to reckon with the idea of the modern Indian, the Urban Indian, and it does so with not […]

She apes Julia Child in her title, but this is a memoir, not a cookbook. #CBRBingo – How To

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen

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I feel bad about only giving this one three stars, but I think it accurately reflects my reading experience. I had to read this by e-book, and that just isn’t a format that works perfectly for me, except for when I’m reading romance or fanfic. I had a hard time focusing on it. When I was able to focus, it was clear that von Bremzen was a good writer, with things to say. She writes about food, and her experiences around, so very well. This […]

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 […]

Middle Earth or New Zealand for this BINGO square; it’s a toss up. #CBRBingo – I Wish

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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“You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!” I have always wanted to go to Middle Earth. Well, I say always, but I actually came to The Hobbit a little late (and The Lord of the Rings later than that). It was required reading for freshman year English class in my high school. I was absolutely enchanted by it, especially the “Riddles in the […]

A must read.

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

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“We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it’s necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all […]



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