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.

 

Like Pretty Woman in a tropical setting

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

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CBR Bingo – Rings. Marriage. Caution: Spoilers. Anna Green and Liam “West” Weston were divorced and went their separate ways after they finished their studies at UCLA. Their sham marriage was just so they could get inexpensive housing on campus. Three years later, Anna finds herself with a fine arts degree, jobless, no prospects to sell her art, and saddled under her dad’s medical bills. She gets a surprise visit from West, the handsome, extremely wealthy heir apparent to the Weston Foods supermarket chain. West […]

“Dreams, they’re for those who sleep”

The Virgin Suicides (1993) by Jeffrey Eugenides

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Content note: The novel contains graphic death scenes and deals with suicide extensively. This review also discusses suicide  and death quite briefly. Bingo square: Earth day: the novel deals with pollution and decay and environmental ruin I was by way of being a movie buff for a while in the early 2000s (which is how I found Pajiba), and I watched Sofia Coppola’s 1999 adaptation of The Virgin Suicides then, and read the book afterwards. I think it was that way around–I remember being surprised […]

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allen Poe

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After watching Mike Flanagan’s outstanding The Fall of the House of Usher, I felt compelled to revisit some Poe and look for references I’d missed on my watch through. I recognized the name Arthur Gordon Pym (the Usher attorney) but didn’t realize it was Poe’s only novel until looking deeper. With it being free on Audible I figured I had to give it a shot. It’s weird as hell, first of all. And gruesome. Some of the most horrific scenes in any Poe story happen here: […]

“First your actions change, then your thoughts, then finally your feelings, in that specific order.”

Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas by Alexi Pappas

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In five words: Olympic, inspirational, poetic, raw, memoir This book came like a wrecking ball out of nowhere and hit me upside the head, in the best way possible. “Run like a bravey. Sleep like a baby. Dream like a crazy. Replace can’t with maybe.” I had never heard of Alexi Pappas but a run club friend, knowing I love to read, loaned me her copy of the memoir of this Olympic runner/poet/filmmaker. I took it to a Silent Book Club meet-up and read non-stop […]

Feeling lost after loss

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

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When you’ve been a children’s librarian for years, it is easy to get burnt out on the material. For me, that also meant I got cocky. Can any kids book really hook me anymore as a bitter adult who has READ IT ALL? Are there any GOOD STORIES LEFT? Yes, of course, to both of those things. THE LOST LIBRARY by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass proved just that. The last day of fifth grade is approaching, and Evan is pretty nervous about moving up […]

Vampires in Old Mexico (AKA Texas). What’s Not to Love?

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas

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cbr16bingo horses Mexican gothic has, to my surprise, become a new favorite genre for me.  It’s a different flavor from the British gothic that I grew up on, more of a sense of connection between the living and the not-so-much living, that seems to be a part of the Dia de los Muertos Mexican mentality.  So it’s always a treat to get a new sort of being, such as the vampires in this book.  So yes, they want to drink blood for nourishment (not unheard […]



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