Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

3/4 of a Good Book (Belated Bingo – Yellow)

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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This book was a journey for me, a loooong road from start to finish. A friend sent it to me in the mail, having not finished it, but thinking I would like to read it. Her disclaimer was that she was reading it while pregnant and due to something that happened to a pregnant woman wasn’t able to read on. I mean, a book about a civil war is going to be a tough read for anyone, but certainly for an expectant mother possibly a […]

The Book of the Phoenix-a great work by a new favorite author

The Book of the Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor

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I first heard of the works of Nnedi Okorafor through a friend who attended a writing workshop with her many years ago but this is the first work of hers that I have read. And I loved it but it is a complicated, dense work. The story begins in Africa. The world has been devastated by some calamity and this older man is seeking shelter to avoid an unusual storm. In a cave, he finds computers that provide him with a recording of the woman […]

Less thriller, more meditation

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

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American Spy opens with a literal bang, the way most spy novels do. But then it becomes something different – more of a memoir, more of a reckoning with the past that led to the opening shot. Marie, the titular spy, is the lone black female employee in her FBI field office. Attacked in her home, she flees New York to her mother’s country of Martinique; meanwhile, she reflects on her girlhood with her sister, now deceased, and her time as a spy during the […]

Watch out, boy, she’ll chew you up

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

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#CBR11 Bingo: Pajiba (reviewed by Kayleigh here) (Would also work for “Award winner”, “Own voices”, “Listicle”, “Cannonballer Says”, and possibly, “Far and Away”) Official book description: Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead. Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her car is big enough for a body, and she keeps […]

Has anyone told you how dramatic you are?

One Day to Fall by Therese Beharrie

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I requested this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review at the same time that I requested Therese Beharrie’s Island Fling with the Tycoon. I’m so glad I was given both books. I follow Beharrie on Twitter, where she is funny and smart. One Day to Fall is so good. It’s out on August 12. Sophia is at the hospital with her mother and younger sister while her older sister is in labor. Parker is at the same hospital where his mother has been treated for injuries […]

First book in a new series

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

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When I first heard that James was writing a fantasy that used African myth, legends, and folklore, I was very excited, so it should be noted I had high expectations of this novel. Also, I love James’ but it takes about 100 or so pages for me to get into his books, but then I can’t put it down. So, here’s the thing – most readers are going to fall into one of two camps with this book – you are either going to love […]



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