Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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a thousand apologies and what feels like a thousand reviews (through November 2023)

Edinburgh by Alexander Chee

The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Kindred by Octavia E Butler

Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Hinumegin er mars by Sólrun Michelsen

Trust by Hernan Diaz

How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't by Ian Dunt

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones

The Establishment: And How They Get Away with It by Owen Jones

In the Beginning was the Sea by Tomás González

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

The City & the City by China Miéville

A History of Burning by Janika Oza

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin

Passion Simple by Annie Ernaux

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller

The New Enclosure: The Appropriation of Public Land in Neoliberal Britain by Brett Christophers

The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas

Politics On the Edge: A Memoir From Within by Rory Stewart

Rivals by Katherine McGee

Reign by Katherine McGee

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

The Iliad by Homer, Emily Wilson

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

10 Things that Never Happened by Alexis Hall

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

A Dangerous Kind of Lady by Mia Vincy

A Little Life by Hanya Yanighara

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

The Starting Over Game by girl_with_kaleidoscope_eyes

December 31, 2023 by wicherwill 1 Comment

Edinburg by Alexander Chee CBR15: Sex True fact, when someone British asked me what I was reading I pronounced this “Edin-BERG” and to their credit they didn’t laugh but instead asked, with some horrified sincerity, if that’s how Americans say it. It’s not! At least, not on purpose. It’s just how can the English language claim to have been invented in a country that seems to not have grasped even a shred of understanding of how the various letters in it work? I digress. This is […]

Filed Under: Book Club, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Non-Fiction Tagged With: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Alexander Chee, Alexis Hall, Ali Hazelwood, alice oseman, ann patchett, Annie Ernaux, Bonnie Garmus, brandon sanderson, Brett Christophers, but on average the word count works, Carolyn Keene, China Mieville, claudia gray, Curtis Sittenfeld, Diana Biller, Dipo Faloyin, Emily Henry, georgette heyer, girl_with_kaleidoscope_eyes, Hanya Yanighara, hernan diaz, Homer; Emily Wilson, Ian Dunt, Janika Oza, Julie Soto, Katherine McGee, Kevin Kwan, lauren groff, Mia Vincy, Michael Harriot, octavia e. butler, owen jones, R.F. Kuang, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Rory Stewart, Sherry Thomas, Sólrun Michelsen, some review amnesty in there, Suzanne Collins, t kingfisher, Talia Hibbert, Tomas Gonzalez, Travis Baldree, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Zadie Smith

wicherwill's CBR15 Review No:67 · Genres: Book Club, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Non-Fiction · Tags: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Alexander Chee, Alexis Hall, Ali Hazelwood, alice oseman, ann patchett, Annie Ernaux, Bonnie Garmus, brandon sanderson, Brett Christophers, but on average the word count works, Carolyn Keene, China Mieville, claudia gray, Curtis Sittenfeld, Diana Biller, Dipo Faloyin, Emily Henry, georgette heyer, girl_with_kaleidoscope_eyes, Hanya Yanighara, hernan diaz, Homer; Emily Wilson, Ian Dunt, Janika Oza, Julie Soto, Katherine McGee, Kevin Kwan, lauren groff, Mia Vincy, Michael Harriot, octavia e. butler, owen jones, R.F. Kuang, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Rory Stewart, Sherry Thomas, Sólrun Michelsen, some review amnesty in there, Suzanne Collins, t kingfisher, Talia Hibbert, Tomas Gonzalez, Travis Baldree, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Zadie Smith ·
· 1 Comment
The book,"Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices" edited by Swampna Krishna and Jenn Northington next to a book bingo card.

A love letter to Arthurian legend told through inclusive re-imaginings

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices by Edited by: Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

September 5, 2022 by Dome'Loki 6 Comments

Thank you, llamareadsbooks for gifting this book to me in the CBR Book Exchange! CBR14 Bingo: “Time” – This anthology moves through time, from the ancient past to the far future. Sword Stone Table first came to my awareness through emmalita’s review.  When narfna reviewed it a few weeks ago, it prompted me to move it to the top of the read pile.  I have a deep affection for stories about King Arthur and Camelot that probably started with the Disney animated version, was strengthened by […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Sports Tagged With: Alex Segura, Alexander Chee, Anthology, Anthony Rapp, Arthurian legend, ausma zehanat khan, cbr14, cbr14bingo, Daniel M. Lavery, Dome'Loki, Edited by: Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington, Jenn Northington, Jessica Plummer, ken liu, Maria Dahvana Headley, nisi shawl, Preeti Chhibber, roshani chokshi, S. Zainab Williams, Sarah Maclean, Silvia Morena-Garcia, Sive Doyle, Swapna Krishna, waubgeshig rice

Dome'Loki's CBR14 Review No:37 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Sports · Tags: Alex Segura, Alexander Chee, Anthology, Anthony Rapp, Arthurian legend, ausma zehanat khan, cbr14, cbr14bingo, Daniel M. Lavery, Dome'Loki, Edited by: Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington, Jenn Northington, Jessica Plummer, ken liu, Maria Dahvana Headley, nisi shawl, Preeti Chhibber, roshani chokshi, S. Zainab Williams, Sarah Maclean, Silvia Morena-Garcia, Sive Doyle, Swapna Krishna, waubgeshig rice ·
· 6 Comments

There was a game he could see and another he couldn’t, and he would play them both.

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

July 3, 2021 by Emmalita 7 Comments

My formative King Arthur works were the 1963 Disney movie The Sword in the Stone, and 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When I discovered Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave, as a preteen, my life as a reader of fantasy and romance was set. I’m a King Arthur enthusiast, but not a purist (except for Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 King Arthur – great cast, beautiful visuals, terrible movie that should never have been marketed as “historically accurate”). Hearing that a work is a retelling of […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction Tagged With: advance reader copy, Alex Segura, Alexander Chee, Anthology, Anthony Rapp, arthurian legends, ausma zehanat khan, Daniel M. Lavery, Jessica Plummer, ken liu, king arthur, Maria Dahvana Headley, NetGalley, nisi shawl, Preeti Chhibber, roshani chokshi, S. Zainab Williams, Sarah Maclean, silvia moreno-garcia, Sive Doyle, Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington, trans author, waubgeshig rice

Emmalita's CBR13 Review No:65 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction · Tags: advance reader copy, Alex Segura, Alexander Chee, Anthology, Anthony Rapp, arthurian legends, ausma zehanat khan, Daniel M. Lavery, Jessica Plummer, ken liu, king arthur, Maria Dahvana Headley, NetGalley, nisi shawl, Preeti Chhibber, roshani chokshi, S. Zainab Williams, Sarah Maclean, silvia moreno-garcia, Sive Doyle, Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington, trans author, waubgeshig rice ·
Rating:
· 7 Comments

It Runs in the Family

Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman

Can You Feel This? by Julie Orringer

The Lion's Den by Anthony Marra

Zenith Man by Jennifer Haigh

The Weddings by Alexander Chee

January 13, 2021 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Another year, another onslaught of bits and bobs to keep me from sitting down and giving my undivided attention to a hefty book! Everything My Mother Taught Me 3/5 Dang it Alice Hoffman, misadventures at lighthouses are my catnip! Lighthouse Keeper was my dream job when I was younger- big thanks to Ahab’s Wife- it’s a  lonesome and perilous career but also pretty cool! I was a huge Hoffman fan in high school, but I drifted away over the last 15 years or so. I dipped […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Short Stories Tagged With: Alexander Chee, Alice Hoffman, amazon original stories, Amazon Originals, amazon originals inheritance, Anthony Marra, family, identity, inheritance, Jennifer Haigh, Julie Orringer, Marriage, Motherhood, trauma

andtheIToldYouSos's CBR13 Review No:11 · Genres: Fiction, Short Stories · Tags: Alexander Chee, Alice Hoffman, amazon original stories, Amazon Originals, amazon originals inheritance, Anthony Marra, family, identity, inheritance, Jennifer Haigh, Julie Orringer, Marriage, Motherhood, trauma ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

An Opera Story that Doesn’t Include Phantoms

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

October 14, 2020 by Ale 2 Comments

I will start this review by saying I DNFed this book at about a hundred pages, but not because I didn’t like it. I really liked it. But I’ve realized I am a bad reader on digital platforms. I tried Hoopla for the first time, hoping to fill the void that’s been the suspension on our county-wide library lending program. I borrowed Queen of the Night from Hoopla and had an immensely hard time reading it on my computer screen. Which seems ridiculous since I […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: 19th Century France, Alexander Chee, cbr12bingo, music, opera, picaresque

Ale's CBR12 Review No:22 · Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: 19th Century France, Alexander Chee, cbr12bingo, music, opera, picaresque ·
· 2 Comments

My favorite book of 2018

December 4, 2018 by Dusty Highway 2 Comments

It’s official: I have the yips. I finished reading this book three weeks ago, but every time I’ve tried to write a review, I freeze, not because I have nothing to say but because I can’t seem to calm my mind enough to write the review this book deserves.  For you see: Alexander Chee’s How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is my favorite book of the year. Chee shares essays about his life and writing career, keeping the subjects separate at first, then integrating them […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction Tagged With: #CBR10, #memoir, #writing, Alexander Chee, essays, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, lgbt, Non-Fiction, Race, sexual abuse, The Best

Dusty Highway's CBR10 Review No:64 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction · Tags: #CBR10, #memoir, #writing, Alexander Chee, essays, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, lgbt, Non-Fiction, Race, sexual abuse, The Best ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments
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