Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

CBR15 Bingo: Africa (Triple Bingo and Blackout)

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamande Ngozi Adichie

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CBR15 Bingo: Africa Not going to lie, I originally planned to read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, but as we were nearing the end of October and I had this last square to complete on my Cannonball Bingo card, I decided to be strategic and read something rather shorter instead. Hence this essay, which I’m ashamed to say is the first thing I’ve actually read by Ms. Adichie. Do I own all three of her novels in e-book form? I do indeed. Should I read them […]

Colonialism Lives!

The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain's Colonial Legacy by Philippe Sands

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CBR 15 Bingo – Africa: This book is about the Chagos Archipelago, which is a part of Mauritius, as well as the aftereffects of colonial legacy in Africa more generally. In the 1960s, Britain created its last colony when it detached the Chagos Islands from the fledgling nation of Mauritius, forcibly deporting the residents whose families have lived there for centuries. Philippe Sands, who was one of the lawyers representing Mauritius at the World Court, tells the story of how this came to be, and the […]

Family connections

I'll See You in Ijebu by Bunmi Emenanjo

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I usually am a fan of the books from Barefoot Books. And with I’ll See You in Ijebu I think I found my new favorite book this year (or for sure in the Top 15).  This is a delightful story of one young girl and the rich culture and family she comes from. We see how she celebrates both her mother’s family and their Muslim faith, and her immediate family and their Christian (specifically Catholic) faith as well. The two worlds are not separate, but can be […]

Our Man in Ghana

Anansi's Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World by Yepoka Yeebo

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: Africa. This non-fiction story centers around the country of Ghana, which is part of Africa. I didn’t know much about Ghana before picking this one up. Great soccer squad, often the nemesis of the United States Men’s Team. West African location. I had always assumed that the slave trade had ravaged their country but I didn’t know who were the worst perpetrators (the British, who also robbed them of their gold, though they were not alone w/r/t slavery). Fortunately, one […]

A multi-generational exploration of Black experience from the early days of the slave trade through modern day.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

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CBR 15 Bingo: Africa – The book begins, ends, and half of it takes place in Africa. Yaa Gyasi begins Homegoing with a pair of sisters (Effia Otcher and Esi Asare) separated at birth at the height of the African slave trade.  One sister, Effia, is raised and married off to a white Englishman on the Gold Coast.  The other sister, Esi, stays in a tribal African village.  The story covers seven generations. Each chapter is a new person advancing down the timeline and alternates between […]

Picture books are Fun

Indigo Dreaming by Dinah Johnson

Not Quite Narwhal and Friends: Weather Together by Jessie Sima

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  cbr15bingo Africa: Indigo dreaming has the African connection I enjoy doing picture book reviews and doing a round-up review of a few titles at once. The thing with picture books is that they are short. So, they are easy to read. And yet, they can be packed from cover to cover with amazing goodies. Just sometimes that does not lend itself to a regulation review word count. The below titles are perfect for most people, yet different enough and varied in age ranges that […]



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