Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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(Learn more about this Cannonballer: ravis_J_Smith's Quick Questions interview.)

Travis_J_Smith's Reviews:

Misery Porn of the Month

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

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For my birthday (January 19th), my fiancee surprised me with a year’s subscription to Book of the Month. From January’s options, I chose Black Cake, partly because it spoke to me the most, but mostly it was chosen at random for the thrill of it. A couple days later, I had my book and at least a half dozen emails from BOTM, including one suggesting the app and another hours later asking if I’d downloaded the app yet. In other words: pros, fast delivery, and […]

Rainbow Rowell does COVID (with a dash of love)

If the Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell

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Somehow, despite Rainbow Rowell being my favorite author, I was unaware of this story’s existence. But, in scouring through all the Rainbow Rowell reviews on here, just out of curiosity, I noticed plenty of reviews for this, discovered it was about Reagan from Fangirl, and decided I had to join in on the fun. If the Fates Allow picks up with Reagan during COVID times. Turns out she’s like my fiancee if  she were far rougher around the edges. Seeing Reagan go to such great […]

Books We Meet at Goodwill

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

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Here’s one I found at a Goodwill for $1.99 (along with a Peanuts Busy Book that had all its figures, minus the only black character, which feels intentional). I’d seen it in Target’s bestseller section plenty of times and couldn’t resist it at so low a price-point. I’m glad I decided to pick it up, because I needed a breezy breather like this after We Were Liars gave me multiple successive gut punches. People We Meet on Vacation is about friends Poppy and Alex and […]

Well, that escalated quickly

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

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Onto another of the books from my Christmas haul, We Were Liars isn’t my favorite book of the year so far, but it does probably take the title of most surprising. I thought I knew what I was getting into with this one, except I didn’t expect the lies that wound up being unearthed. What seems like an innocent enough story about a family absolutely obsessed with securing what they feel is rightly theirs from their aging, rich grandfather, and the grandkids who are unwittingly […]

Protect Molly at all costs

The Maid by Nita Prose

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  I don’t often take recommendations; generally, I prefer to find my books more organically, especially since my tastes are a bit all over the place, even more than with other types of media. You might think me weird, finicky, or downright contrarian, but it’s not like I try to be. I just know what I like when I actually see it; I give most potential books a first sentence/paragraph/page test, seeing if they grab my attention right out of the gates, because they probably […]

Doesn’t really matter to me (or does it?)

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

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Although she holds the title of my favorite author, the Simon Snow series has never resonated with me in any meaningful way and the first two books are firmly at the bottom when I rank her bibliography. My fiancee, who I’ve read all of Rowell’s books to (aside from this one), is firmly in agreement on that one. Whether it be the spells that are in fact just cliches that have amassed magical power from their frequent usage, the Harry Potter retreads that aren’t really […]



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