Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Featured Review Archive

These reviews, which were promoted in CBR social media, on our homepage, and in Pajiba Love, appear below by review publication date, not by date featured.

 

Do I like short books?

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Boulder by Eva Baltasar

by Leave a Comment

I find it a lot harder to explain why I liked a book than word vomiting about why it did not work for me. It becomes worse when it’s something I wouldn’t be inclined to like but something about the particular execution worked for me. So bear with me while I betray my academic roots and partake in an exercise of praise-writing. These books deserve that. On paper, Eva Baltasar’s Boulder (incredibly translated by Julia Sanches from the original Catalan) should not have worked for […]

All That Glitters

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

by Leave a Comment

This was a nicely structured fantasy novel with the kind of plucky heroine I enjoy.  Jani and her younger sister, Zosa, are living grimly in a port town called Durc.  They made the trip to Durc after their mother died so that Zosa could pursue a singing career but four years later, Zosa is no closer to becoming a singer than she was when they arrived and Jani is working at a tannery to try to earn their passage back home (a task that looks […]

“I’d spent my entire life overdosing on uncut escapism, willingly allowing fantasy to become my reality.”

Armada by Ernest Cline

by Leave a Comment

I recently finished Armada by Ernest Cline – my second read by that particular author, after Ready Player One. And while it did not live up to the first book for me personally, there was still a lot to enjoy about Armada. Gamers saving the world through mad gaming skills is always an enteraining theme. This was a light and fun read, particularly the first half with the setup of our hero (Zack Lightman) and learning how his upbringing and experiences have defined who he […]

Sins of the Fathers

Icarus by K. Ancrum

by Leave a Comment

CBR Bingo square- Dun Dun I got Icarus by K. Ancrum from a list of retellings of Greek mythology, and it made me do something I never do anymore, I skipped ahead a few chapters to make sure nothing happened to Icarus, who is a child. Yes, he’s a kid in high school, but I needed to make sure he was okay. He is almost a legal adult, but it still freaked me out that he was in the situation he found himself in. Icarus […]

She’s so soft like silk chiffon

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

by 1 Comment

  This was a selection for my book club and it’s not something I would have picked up on my own. It’s a sapphic YA romance with a cover that’s so very pink. But once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. It captures many of the feelings of being a young person so well. The main character struggles in a very real way with her own identity and if she’s accepted by her peers. It’s a lovely little book that occasionally veers into […]

A harrowing story of shipwreck, death and survival on a godforsaken island at the edge of the world

Island of the Lost by Joan Druett

by 2 Comments

Never has a description been more true. This is an absolutely incredible true story, and the author Joan Druett has some a marvellous job bringing it to life. This was a re-read for me, after first reading it several years ago. The story stayed with me, and I was glad I revisited it to refresh my memory. We follow the Grafton as it sets off from Sydney in 1864; it’s five man crew, led by Captain Thomas Musgrave and his business partner Francois Raynal, is […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo