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.

 

The book that made me realise: my husband is a philosopher.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

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I feel like, rather than review this book, you should just go read it. Or listen to it, like I did, for free on Audible. It’s not terribly long and it’s well narrated. Highly consumable. Because how on earth am I supposed to review a book that is basically one giant, really good quote about getting your shit together and being less of a competitive, materialistic arsehole? At least that was my main take away. It’s just a whole mess of good advice and sensible […]

A Funny, Sweet, Escapist Delight

Hand Picked by May Archer

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Hand Picked is a breezy, sweet Hallmark movie of a romance novel. You know the kind I’m talking about: an idyllic small town, adorably over-invested and wacky townsfolks, from first kiss to marriage in a matter of weeks. It’s all formulaic and absurdist, but somehow manages to work.  Luke, a first grade teacher with nipple rings under his sweatervest and an inability to swear like an adult (Oh, sugar!) has moved to Little Pippen Hollow, Vermont after winning his dream house in a fiber magazine […]

The Genealogy of Southern Cooking

The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty

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This is a book that showcases my shortcomings as a reviewer. I really enjoyed listening to this book, but am struggling to write about it. It is a memoir, a history of southern cuisine and a book on genealogy. Twitty reads the book himself which works well because the book is a very personal journey. He describes himself as an “obsessive cook with compulsive genealogist tendencies who can point to a map of Africa, Europe, North America, and with it, the South, and guide you […]

Messy, grief-filled story

The Minus-One Club by Kekla Magoon

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Oof, this book is messy and emotional. At it’s center The Minus-One Club is a story of grief and finding your way forward after the death of a loved one, but it is also a story of friendship and identity. Kermit just lost his sister after a drunk driver hit her car head-on, and now he has to go back to school and try getting back to “normal.” But he finds an anonymous note in his locker inviting him to a secret meeting, where other […]

What happens in Vegas might not stay in Vegas

Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai

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When I picked up “Partners in Crime” by Alisha Rai, I had big expectations. I loved Rai’s Modern Love series so much and this book had big shoes to fill. Luckily, this book ended up being such a fun and wild romp. The story follows Mira Chaudhary, a mid-30s accountant who is looking for a stable man to settle down with. She turns to a matchmaker for Indian American singles and meets Naveen Desai, a lawyer at one of the best law firms in the […]

Sad, informative, and moving

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

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I’m not a big reader of graphic novels, but I usually read one or two a year and appreciate the differences in storytelling. With graphic novels, I’ve always steered towards memoirs, and Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (2022) by Kate Beaton, is no different. I first saw Ducks on NPR’s Best Books List. I almost immediately felt a connection to Beaton. We’re not too far apart in age, and I felt her pain as she tells the story of how she struggled after she graduated from college with […]



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