Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Different Take on Anne Boleyn

Queen B by Juno Dawson

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Best for: Those who are already invested in the HMRC (Her Majesty’s Royal Coven) series. In a nutshell: An alternative telling of exactly how and why Anne Boleyn ascended to the throne and then was summarily removed. Worth quoting: N/A (Audio Book) Why I chose it: Audible recommended this to me as I’d already read The Shadow Cabinet this year. Review: We start with the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, then jump back and forth between the events years prior to her marrying King Henry […]

If you want me to tell you what the scandal was, leave me a comment. CBRBINGO – Scandal

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker

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I think I will nearly always like a true crime adjacent book. Add in the faux oral history aspect of this one, and the fact that it’s about a family who choose to go on a reality TV show “to find their missing daughter” and my interest in this was pretty huge. It mostly delivered, but it was also a pretty straightforward thriller without much of interest to say about true crime or reality TV beyond that it’s gross, exploitative, and hurts people. It also […]

Woman in Sport

The Race to Be Myself by Caster Semenya

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Best for: Anyone who ACTUALLY cares about women, or women in sports, or racism, or equity. Also JK Rowling should read this as maybe she’d learn a thing or two (though I’d love to keep Semenya off Rowling’s radar, since Rowling is generally horrible when it comes to women’s issues). In a nutshell: Olympic runner Semenya shares her story, from growing up in South Africa to becoming one of the fastest women in the world, to facing the racism and misogyny of the sporting world. […]

Slayer Shenanigans

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden

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Slayers is an 8 hour story, written by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden, that brings back many of the original actors to reprise their roles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (AKA my favourite TV series, ever). But I’m going to try to be objective in this review, and not just spend 250 words squealing about James Marsters amazing return to Spike and how fun it was to hear these old friends again. Going into this audiobook, I stupidly assumed that this would be a typical […]

And now a hit Netflix show

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

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My book club chose to read The Duke and I (2000) by Julia Quinn. I wasn’t super excited about this pick because I was pretty familiar with the storyline. I’d already watched the first season of Bridgerton, which was based on The Duke and I. I was also pretty sure I’d previously read the book, but I couldn’t remember when. If I have read it, it was before Cannonball Read started because I couldn’t find a review of it. Anyway, because of the familiar territory, I decided to listen to this […]

The Power of a Beautiful Woman Against a Kingdom

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang

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Before starting A Song to Drown Rivers, I wasn’t familiar with the Four Great Beauties of China beyond a vague recollection of the phrase. As I started, I did a quick google of Xishi and her story, which has two possible endings – one where the king she served has her assassinated for fear the skills she used to topple the Wu kingdom may be turned on him, and another where she and Fanli are able to live out in freedom and happiness. The execution […]



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